Dog Friendly City Guide: Dallas, USA

Dallas looks like a city built for cars, and then you find the trails. An old railway line runs green through Uptown, a reservoir on the east side is ringed with paths and picnic lawns, and downtown has decked over a freeway to make a park with its own fenced dog run. The patio culture is as strong as anywhere in Texas, and the city licenses restaurants that want to welcome dogs outside, so a dog that likes company will eat out often here. Spring and autumn are the sweet spots: long mornings on the trail, long evenings on a patio, and none of the midsummer heat that makes a Dallas afternoon hard going for a dog.

Getting There With a Dog

Arriving from abroad, your dog has to meet the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and they turn on where it has been in the six months before it lands. A dog that has been only in dog rabies-free or low-risk countries needs one document, a receipt for the CDC Dog Import Form, completed online before travel, and must be microchipped and at least six months old. A dog that has spent any of that time in a high-risk country for dog rabies faces stricter requirements, and an unvaccinated dog from one of those countries will not be allowed in, so start with the CDC's dog importation pages well before you book.

Most dogs fly into Dallas Fort Worth International, which keeps pet relief areas in every terminal: inside security at A29, B28, D18 and E31, and outside the lower level entry doors at A8, D15, D29, E2 and E38, with a temporary area in the parking garage near C17 while Terminal C is rebuilt. Dogs must be leashed everywhere in the airport. From there a car is the easy way to reach the trailheads.

Where to Stay

All four hotels below are inspected and ranked, and you can compare them side by side on our ranked dog friendly hotels in Dallas.

The Joule holds a B and is the one to book. It is a revitalised neo-Gothic landmark on Main Street in the heart of downtown, with a rooftop pool, an art collection hung through its public spaces, a Taschen library, and a run of places to eat and drink under one roof: CBD Provisions for brasserie cooking, Sassetta for Italian, the subterranean Midnight Rambler for cocktails and Weekend Coffee for the morning. Most rooms take dogs and there is no weight limit, so a big dog is as welcome as a small one. Bowls and free treats are waiting, staff are trained to look after canine guests, and your dog can join you on the terrace, in the public areas and in the garden. A settled dog may be left in the room while you go out, and there are parks close by for the morning walk. The fee is a one time $100 for cleaning.

Fairmont Dallas, ranked D, sits on North Akard Street in the Arts District. There is no weight limit and the hotel sets aside a dedicated dog space. Your dog gets a bed, free treats and poo bags, staff will suggest walks, and a dog sitter can be arranged for an evening out. The fee is $100, with no deposit.

Two more are ranked F. Canvas Hotel Dallas, south of downtown, welcomes up to two dogs of up to 60 pounds to a room, lets them into the garden and allows a settled dog to be left alone; the fee is $50 per pet with a $250 deposit. The Sheraton Dallas Hotel on North Olive Street takes one dog of up to 35 pounds in most rooms, keeps an emergency vet number at the desk and will point you to good walks; the fee is $150 a stay.

Eat and Drink

In Dallas the patio is the whole story. Restaurants may only let dogs sit outside once the city has inspected them and granted a variance, and the approved places carry a bilingual "Dog Friendly Patio" sign at the front entrance and on the patio itself. Look for it.

Vector Brewing on Walnut Hill Lane in Lake Highlands, in the northeast of the city, is a family owned brewery and taproom with a dog friendly patio and a clear set of house rules on its own page: dogs stay outside even when it rains, as city health code requires, they keep out of the children's play area, and a dog that dislikes crowds is better left at home on a busy day. It is closed on Mondays. Across town on Lemmon Avenue, On Rotation Brewery and Kitchen pours its own beer in a bright brewpub with spacious dog friendly patios, and the planes climbing out of Love Field overhead are part of the entertainment.

Deep Ellum, the old warehouse quarter east of downtown, is the evening neighbourhood. Backyard is a sports bar there with live games, American food and a dog friendly patio, open Thursday to Monday. For barbecue, Terry Black's Barbecue answers the question in its own words: its patio is welcome to all dogs on a leash, which makes brisket and a dog the easiest pairing in the city.

After a walk at White Rock Lake, Lake House Bar and Grill on East Northwest Highway is the natural stop, with a dog friendly patio a short drive from the dog park and on the city's own list of approved patios.

Walks and Parks

The Katy Trail is the walk every Dallas dog knows: three and a half miles of path on an old rail line, cared for by the Friends of the Katy Trail, running from the American Airlines Center north through Uptown to Airline Road, with a marker every quarter mile. The trail's own rules ask for a short leash, and the city's rule on every Dallas trail is the same, as the parks department puts it: pets are allowed, but must be on a leash.

For a fenced run in the middle of the city, Klyde Warren Park, the deck park built over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway between Uptown and the Arts District, has its own dog park, My Best Friend's Park. It is free and open daily from 6am to 11pm, there is a separate Little Dog Lounge for dogs of 30 pounds and under from 6:30am to 10pm, and the park asks you to pick up, close the gates behind you and keep an eye on your dog at all times.

White Rock Lake is the big day out. The White Rock Lake Dog Park, at Mockingbird Lane and West Lawther Drive on the northwest shore, is a three acre off leash park with separate areas for large and small dogs, a dog drinking bowl, benches and lake views. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 5am to 11pm, and closes on Mondays and on rain days. From the lake, the Santa Fe Trail runs to North Hill Avenue, a good walk on a cool morning.

North of the centre, the Northaven Trail runs from Valleydale to Preston Road. For something wilder, the Oak Cliff Nature Preserve south of the river is 121 acres of woodland and meadow with over eight miles of multi use trail, open dawn to dusk and run by the Texas Land Conservancy. Pets are allowed on a leash at all times, and the trails are shared with mountain bikers, so keep your dog close on the bends.

A Day Out

Start early on the Katy Trail from Uptown while the shade is still long. Drive out to White Rock Lake mid morning, any day but Monday, for a run at the dog park and a stretch of the shoreline path, then lunch on the patio at Lake House. Spend the hottest hours back at the hotel, and come out again in the evening for Klyde Warren Park's dog run as the towers light up, before barbecue at Terry Black's or a match at Backyard in Deep Ellum.

Good to Know

Dogs never go inside a Dallas restaurant, only onto an approved patio. Under the city's dog friendly patio rules your dog must be on a leash and under your control, wear a current rabies tag on its collar and stay off the chairs and tables. It may be given water in a disposable container but no food or treats, staff are not allowed to pet it, and it must reach the patio by an outside entrance. In the city's fenced dog parks the off leash rules apply: no more than three dogs per person, no female dogs in heat, no food or treats inside, prong and spiked collars off at the gate, leads on when entering and leaving, and a current rabies tag. Children under twelve are best kept outside the fence. Summer afternoons are hot, so plan walks for early morning and evening and carry water for the dog.