My family loves going out to dinner, but we almost never go out anymore because we feel sad having to leave Sadie home alone. So we get excited when we discover a new restaurant that is dog friendly. Sadie loves going out to dinner with us, exploring a new place with exciting new smells. And we love having Sadie as a dinner companion. But it’s hard to find places that allow dogs in my area, even if they have outdoor dining areas. And you can’t necessarily rely on reviews or word of mouth to find out if a restaurant  is dog friendly, because one manager may love having dogs, but if someone else is in charge that day, he or she may be too nervous to allow your dog to stay. So my best piece of advice is don’t hesitate to ask, because what the restaurant staff says may surprise you.

For example, Sadie and I recently stayed at a dog friendly hotel that had an attached restaurant. The hotel clearly had frequent canine guests, as they had welcome treats and food and water bowls already set up in the rooms. So I assumed it would be an every day request to eat with my dog on the patio of the restaurant. As usual, assuming didn’t work out well. Apparently I am the first person to ever ask to eat there with my dog! The wait staff and kitchen staff had a discussion about my request and decided it was fine with them if the hotel manager approved. So then they had to track down the hotel manager to give permission for me to eat outside with my dog at the dog friendly hotel. Eventually the manger approved and we had a nice dinner on the patio. But the point of my story is that no other dog owner ever thought to ask. Imagine all the other poor doggies left alone in their hotel rooms when they could have been enjoying dinner with the rest of the family. All it took was a simple question.

This post is part of Thoughtless Thursday blog hop hosted by Ruckus the Eskie, Love Is Being Owned By a Husky, and M.K. Clinton.

This post is also part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.