I’d absolutely love to take my dog along for an early morning knock when the course is quiet. I would never do it though as he is a lunatic. No pond would be safe. He wouldn’t rake his paw prints in the bunkers and wouldn’t think twice about curling one out wherever the need arose. Plus, our course has a lot of deer, hares/rabbits and foxes. He’d be off like a shot every 5 mins trying to get hold of one of them. He would love a sausage butty from the halfway house though.
I used to play at Linden Hall, a hotel course in the countryside. It was usually pretty empty, particularly in the evenings. I took our spaniel one time when I knew I would have the course to myself. She was like a 7yr old who had eaten 3 bags of haribos and 2 cans of full sugar coke. Had the time of here life, in and out of every bunker, through the woods following trails of foxes, badgers, rabbits, deer, zig zagged each and every fairway. Thankfully she didn't go in the water but that was about it. I spent my round, 9 holes only, raking bunkers I'd never gone into, watching to make sure she didn't empty herself out of sight. She had an absolute blast but I never repeated the experience.
I love the mental picture of your dog having something at the halfway house, it just makes me smile.