Jimmy's Farm, Dog Friendly Wildlife Park

Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park, nestled in the picturesque heart of Suffolk, isn't just any ordinary wildlife park—it's an acclaimed sanctuary for rare breeds, a delectable dining destination, and it allows dogs. Spearheaded by the renowned TV personality and conservation advocate, Jimmy Doherty, this sanctuary boasts top-tier amenities, including Europe's largest polar bear reserve.

From adorable pigs to majestic polar bears, the park serves as a place of excellence for British rare breeds. But its allure doesn't stop there; visitors can also marvel at camels, primates, tapirs, and crocodiles, among other captivating creatures. Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park isn't just a place to observe wildlife—it's a sanctuary where the magic of the natural world comes alive.

When to Go

Our visit to Jimmy's Farm in the week, during school term time, provided a touch of intimacy to the overall experience. The presence of no children added peace, and the absence of crowds allowed us to relax more. Despite seeing a few other people, the park never felt overcrowded. Mulder remained relaxed throughout the day. While we did see approximately three additional dogs throughout the entire day, avoiding them was effortless thanks to the open spaces and we avoided any reactions.

Although a school trip brought around 50 children during our visit, manoeuvring around them was a breeze, which might not be the case for more human and noise reactive dogs. Nonetheless, the park's accessibility was great; Mulder had no trouble navigating the pathways, even with his hip condition. For a reactive dog like Mulder, Jimmy's Farm proved to be an ideal outing. However, our off-peak visit limits our insight into how busy the peak-times would be.

How to Get There

Jimmy's Farm is easily accessible by car, and is located close to the A12 and just a 5-minute

drive from the A14 near Ipswich. Parking is free, so this makes Jimmy's the perfect destination for both grabbing a bite to eat or exploring for the day! The full address for a SatNav is Jimmy’s Farm, Pannington Hall Lane, IP9 2AR. The postcode will do the job for your SatNav. For those a little further out, Jimmy's is only approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes from London!

Alternatively, for those travelling by train, Jimmy's is approximately 10-minutes in a taxi from the Ipswich or Manningtree railway stations- both having direct links to London Liverpool Street. There are coach trips to Jimmy's farm also.

Additional Information

Tickets for adults are £20, and tickets for children are £17. Parking is free, dogs go free and are allowed in all of the outdoor areas, the gift shops and restaurants. They are not allowed in the lemur walkthrough, the reptile house or the butterfly house. Jimmy's Farm is open 7 days a week, and is very accessible for wheelchair users and dogs with disabilities alike.

There are rules that dog owners are expected to follow, and these rules are as below:

• Dogs must be kept on a lead and under adult control at all times

• Dogs may not be taken indoors, children's play areas or any areas with free roaming animals

• Dogs must not be left unattended anywhere in the park

• Please keep a respectful distance from the animals

• Please pick up after your dog

Our Rating:

Fun Score:

• I love a zoo, so this is automatically going to be five stars for me

• There was plenty to do, plenty of unique and well cared for animals to see, and even plenty of talks to attend to learn even more about the animals they had at the zoo

Accessibility Score:

• The park is very accessible to wheelchair users

• The park is easily accessible for less abled or arthritic dogs

• There is only one route that I am aware of that has stairs and isn't accessible to wheelchair users, however, there is an alternative route to take so no parts of the park are missed

Reactivity Rating:

• Dogs are to be kept on-lead and under control at all times for the Farm animals safety.

• We went on a drizzly Tuesday in term time so there was less people and foot traffic at the farm. At off-peak times it will be a lot busier, so it would not be suitable for really nervous and human reactive dogs.

• Huge open spaces, we didn't have any reactions from seeing the other dogs as we were able to give ourselves a lot of space

• Obviously, this will not be suitable for super prey-reactive and prey driven dogs as it is an animal park.

• There was a visiting school trip when we went, but again, it was really easy to avoid them as the park was so big and there were plenty of open spaces.

Amenities:

• The car park was great, there was not many potholes and it is free parking

• The restaurant and gift shop are really nice- and the food that they sell is delicious (especially the sausage rolls)

• There are plenty of hand washing stations dotted around the park which is good as you are able to touch some of the animals

• The only downside is the toilets didn't lock when my partner was trying to go to the toilet, and they are eco toilets outside. I'm sure there are some indoor toilets but we didn't see any.

Final Thoughts- Do we Recommend Jimmy's Farm For Reactive Dogs?

We had an absolutely fantastic time walking around, we saw lots of different animals

including arctic foxes, meerkats (which are my favourites), capybaras and many rare breeds of sheep, horses and cows! Because Mulder is only reactive to dogs, we found it really easy to avoid the three other dogs we saw. The park's open layout made it simple to steer clear of any potential triggers.

Our experience suggests that Jimmy's Farm may be suitable for reactive dogs, particularly during off-peak times like our visit. However, it's worth noting that the park may not be an ideal outing to dogs driven largely by prey instincts—a consideration worth bearing in mind. It should also be noted that for more nervous dogs, the scents of animals and sounds of people might trigger them. For less human reactive dogs this outing could be ideal.

Thank you for reading!

Ella, Mulder and Scully