Composite story, based on the real-world patterns we hear from PawSpot field owners. Some details changed for privacy.
Geoff Elsworth retired in 2021 after 38 years of mixed-arable farming in north Shropshire. The farm went to a tenant farmer; Geoff and Jen kept the farmhouse, two outbuildings, and a paddock, about 1.5 acres, that had been used for sheep until 2019 and had then been growing thistles for several years.
"It was the eyesore of the patch," Jen says. "Every time I made coffee, I looked out at it. Brambles, thistles, a half-fallen gate, a water trough turning green."
Their daughter, who has a Border Terrier and works at a vet's, mentioned dog field hire over Christmas 2025. "She said something like 'you've got the perfect field for it. People pay £12 an hour for less than that.' I laughed at her at the time."
By March 2026, the field was on PawSpot. By July it was bringing in roughly £600 a month.
The setup
Geoff and Jen approached it cautiously. Jen kept a notebook. Their initial budget was "no more than £5,000 to find out if anyone would use it".
The work, in the order they did it:
Council planning chat (free). A 20-minute phone call with the planning officer at North Shropshire. Verdict: low-impact, no formal application needed, but they should keep visitor numbers below 28 days/year of intensive use or apply for a Lawful Development Certificate. They later applied for the LDC anyway, just for peace of mind. £200 fee plus £700 for a planning consultant.
Insurance (£180/year). Their existing farm insurance covered "diversification" with a small policy extension, Jen had to sign a form. Public liability up to £5m.
Fencing (£3,800). Existing post-and-rail was 4ft and patchy. They went around the perimeter (about 240m) with new 6ft stock fencing, replacing posts, dropping a kickboard at the bottom, and patching a gap behind a hedge.
Double gate / airlock (£480). Two 6ft galvanised gates with a small holding area between. Geoff's neighbour did the welding for the latch.
Parking (£300). Type 1 stone over an existing hard-standing area near the gate. Already drained well.
Signage (£90). Two weather-proof signs ordered from a local sign-maker.
A bench, a water tap, a poo bin (£120 total).
Total spend: about £6,000, including the planning consultant. Jen had budgeted £5,000 and overshot by £1,000 due to fence work being more involved than they'd hoped.
Listing on PawSpot
Jen wrote the listing. It took her about an hour over two evenings.
"We took photos on a Saturday morning when the light was nice. I felt slightly silly photographing a paddock at 9am, but the photos came out well, the morning sun, the stock fencing, the gates. We had Geoff hold a treat for the neighbour's dog so we'd have one with a happy dog in it."
She set the price at £11/hour for a 60-minute slot, £8 for 30 minutes. Multi-dog: +£1 per extra dog. Available 7am–7pm seven days, with a 15-minute buffer between bookings. Cancellation policy: flexible (full refund up to 24h before).
The listing was approved within 18 hours. The first booking came in three days later, a couple from Telford with two reactive Lurchers. They booked Sunday morning.
Month one
A nervous first month. The Elsworths tracked everything:
- Week 1: 1 booking
- Week 2: 3 bookings
- Week 3: 5 bookings
- Week 4: 8 bookings
"The first review was the moment we knew it was going to work. Five stars. The lady said it was the best field she'd been to in three years. We literally took the children's school reports off the kitchen calendar to make space for the review."
By month three, the field was booked 12–18 times a week. By month six, it was filling 80% of advertised slots most weeks. Average revenue: £550–£700 a month after PawSpot's fee.
What the work looks like now
The Elsworths are not full-time field operators. The day-to-day is:
- Morning check (10 mins): a quick walk-through, top up the poo bag dispenser, empty the bin if needed
- Weekly mow (30–60 mins): ride-on, light work
- Monthly fence walk (30 mins): looking for any animal-dug gaps, loose wire, leaning posts
- Quarterly bigger jobs: water trough scrub, signage check, any small fixes
- Annual gate maintenance: bolts, latches, hinges
Total time investment: probably 6–8 hours a month. Jen handles 90% of customer messages (which are minimal, most owners book without questions). Geoff handles 90% of the physical maintenance.
"It's not nothing. But it's not a job either. It's a couple of hours a week of moderate effort for £500–700 a month, plus we get to look out the kitchen window and feel pleased that the paddock is doing something."
What they wish they'd known earlier
A few things they'd tell other rural landowners thinking about it:
- The fence is the thing. "We over-budgeted for everything else and under-budgeted for the fence. Fence work is the difference between a great field and a stressful one."
- The planning chat is free and worth it. "Twenty minutes on the phone saved us either months of worry or a potential enforcement notice. Just call the council."
- Don't be precious about your existing infrastructure. "We tried to use the old gate. It was a saving of £150 and a daily worry. We replaced it after month two."
- Reviews are everything. "Ask everyone. Politely. Most happy customers are willing to leave a review if you mention it."
- Don't try to do everything. "We thought about adding agility, a paddling pool, an indoor shelter. We've added none of those things. The field is what it is, a clean, secure paddock with parking. People love it."
Where they are now
Two years in, the field has paid back its setup cost roughly five times over. The Elsworths still don't think of it as a business, they think of it as Jen calls it, "the hobby that pays the council tax and a bit more". They've taken on no other dog-related work; they're not interested in daycare, training, or grooming. The field is enough.
"It's odd to think that the same patch of ground we walked past every day, embarrassed of, is now this lovely thing in our lives. Dogs come and go. We get nice notes. We've made a couple of friends. The income is real. Mostly though, it's just satisfying, a thing that was nothing, that's now something."
If you've got under-used land and you've ever wondered what it'd take to turn it into a dog field, our field owner guides cover listing, setup, insurance and planning, and pricing.