INDIA, Dec. 2 -- On a late summer weekend, when I visited the storybook-sweet Fowlescombe Farm, I spied a sign announcing that Tiggs was the employee of the month. A cute sandy blonde, Tiggs won the accolade for keeping the farm's flocks of Manx Loaghtan sheep in check "with admirable precision and perfectly timed herding maneuvers." Her reward? Extra biscuits, twice-monthly massages, and surely plenty of belly rubs and ear scritches.

In case it wasn't clear: Tiggs is a farm dog, one of several who call the valleys, meadows, woodlands, and grazing pastures of Fowlescombe Farm her home. While the 450-acre estate dates back to 1537, the hotel business is a new addition, ushered forth by Caitlin Owens, her partner and the hotel's creative d...