Dog Friendly City Guide: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Every dog that walks into Patas & Rolhas, a wine bar on Rua Uruguai in Tijuca, is handed a chicken treat on the house before its owner has looked at the wine list. Gabriela Mizarela and Ronaldo de Andrade opened it in 2024 with dogs in mind from the first day, and the idea has spread across Rio. Brunch houses and bars now write menus for dogs, an Italian gelateria on Copacabana's seafront makes an ice lolly for them, and the city has fenced off squares across the Zona Sul as dog runs. Rio is loud and busy, but it has made real room for the dog, mostly outdoors.

Getting There With a Dog

Every dog entering Brazil needs an International Veterinary Certificate or an official pet passport, and the health rules sit under Portaria MAPA 741 of 2024 on the Ministry of Agriculture's page for bringing pets into Brazil. From the United States, a USDA accredited vet issues the certificate for Brazil, which stays valid for 60 days from signing and must still be in date when you land. USDA endorses it digitally and a printed copy travels with the dog; the USDA page for pet travel to Brazil walks through each step.

Brazil is on the CDC's list of high risk countries for dog rabies, so a dog vaccinated in the United States comes back with the CDC Dog Import Form receipt and the Certification of U.S.-Issued Rabies Vaccination, signed by a USDA accredited vet and endorsed before the dog leaves. The dog must be at least six months old and microchipped, and enters at the port named on the form, as the CDC sets out for US vaccinated dogs returning from high risk countries. Travelling from Britain, start with the government's guide to bringing your pet to Great Britain.

Where to Stay

Hotel Fasano Rio de Janeiro is the one for a small dog. Most room categories take dogs, up to two to a room, and the room is ready with a dog bed, a pet kit with training pads, food and water bowls, and treats on request. The Butler Team can arrange a walk or look after the dog, subject to availability, and the hotel keeps an emergency vet number to hand. Dogs come with you through the lobby and to the restaurant's outside tables, and a park and the Ipanema promenade are close for the morning walk. The fee is R$350, there is no deposit, and the limit is 15 pounds, about seven kilos.

At Yoo2 Rio de Janeiro, most rooms take dogs, a bed and bowls are waiting, and the treats are free. Dogs are welcome in the bar, on the terrace and in the lounge, and they may stay in the room on their own while you go out for dinner. The fee is 140 reais a night, with no deposit.

On the beach at Copacabana, Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana opens its bar, restaurant, terrace and lounge to dogs, puts a bed and bowls in the room, takes no deposit and lets a settled dog stay in the room alone. Most rooms take dogs. It allows one dog to a room, up to 55 pounds, and the fee is R$50 plus 10 percent, with a further 5 percent for each additional night. For the full picture, see our ranked dog friendly hotels in Rio de Janeiro.

Eat and Drink

Start in Tijuca, in the north of the city, at Patas & Rolhas. Its own page says it plainly: 100 percent pet friendly, all pets welcome. The floor is non-slip, food and water bowls are always out, and the dog menu runs from a yam and chicken cãoxinha to Chef Bob's natural meals in beef or chicken, then a liver brigadeiro or a dog ice cream for dessert. The people get self-service wine taps and more than 250 labels. On Saturdays and Sundays, from ten until three, kittens up for adoption are there looking for homes.

A short ride away, Berries Brunch & Bistrô on Rua Mariz e Barros was the first brunch house in Tijuca, and it opened a second one on Rua Machado de Assis in Flamengo, with a veranda full of plants. Visit Rio, the city's convention and visitors bureau, wrote in May 2026 that its dog menu was built with Chef Bob, a natural dog food brand: Arab-style risotto with quinoa, beef with linseed and chia, chicken with fine herbs. Water bowls are always out.

In Flamengo, Brejo Bar opened in 2025 on Travessa dos Tamoios, run by women, with cooking by chef Priscila Continentino and drinks by Laura Paravato, whom Veja Rio named bartender of the year. The dog menu, Visit Rio reports, is called AUmoço, a rice, chicken and carrot risotto in small, medium and large. The bar opens at noon from Wednesday to Sunday.

For a long afternoon with a cachaça, head to Noo Cachaçaria in Praça da Bandeira, whose own page reads, simply, pet friendly. It pours dozens of artisan cachaças and batidas in odd flavours, cooks serious bar food and carries the Rio state government's Pet Friendly seal. The dogs order from their own list: the Cãocrete, the Cãoxinha and the Aumôndega.

In Ipanema, Nusa Café on Rua Vinícius de Moraes is a brunch café and bistro that signs off its own page with two words, pet friendly. Its dog menu, made with Chef Bob, runs from beef sautéed with ginger to chicken mineira with okra, and even the coconut water is on offer to the dogs. It opens at eight every day.

On the seafront, Gelateria Piemonte at Avenida Atlântica 3056 makes the Dog-lé, a fruit ice lolly for dogs in mango, banana, coconut water or watermelon, with no sugar and nothing added. The Coladangelo family brought Italian gelato technique to Rio, and this flagship has outdoor tables looking over the promenade. Further west, D.O.C. Bakery bakes long-fermented sourdough and French pastry in Recreio and on Rua General Venâncio Flores in Leblon. Its own site says it is pet friendly, the outdoor area is the dog's, and the dog menu offers a crunchy farm treat, a country risotto and a sweet potato picadinho.

Walks and Parks

Start at the Parcão da Lagoa, the dog park on Avenida Epitácio Pessoa near the Corte do Cantagalo, on the shore of the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. The city runs its Acãodemia Carioca here, a dog gym where trainers lead agility circuits and vets are on hand, on Wednesdays from nine to eleven and Saturdays from ten to noon. Sign up on the spot with your dog's vaccination card. The agility sessions stop when it rains.

In Leblon, the dog run in Praça Antero de Quental was built by the city's street cleaners from things that would otherwise have been thrown away: a eucalyptus fence, ramps and rings made from pallets, and bicycle tyres to play with. It gets busy in the mornings and evenings, the city says.

Copacabana has two. The Praça do Lido has a 690 square metre dog area with its own circuit of play equipment, which residents asked for and opened with a dog parade in 2018. In the middle of the neighbourhood, between Rua Djalma Ulrich and Rua Almirante Gonçalves, the city reopened Praça Sarah Kubitschek on 12 October 2026 with a new dog park beside its chess tables and playground.

Closer to the centre, the Parcão da Glória in Praça Nossa Senhora da Glória has a fence and gates all round, ramps and tunnels, and concrete tables and benches for the owners. In the North Zone, Parque Madureira Mestre Monarco has a dog area by gate 5, beside the Rocha Miranda viaduct, where the Acãodemia runs on Thursdays from four to eight in the evening.

A Day Out

Give a morning to the Lagoa. Walk the lakeside path in the cool before nine, let the dog run in the Parcão da Lagoa, and on a Saturday sign up for the agility class. Then cross into Ipanema for a late brunch at Nusa Café, and finish on the seafront at Copacabana with a gelato for you and a Dog-lé for the dog at Gelateria Piemonte.

Keep another day for the north: brunch at Berries in Tijuca, an afternoon at Patas & Rolhas, and a cachaça at Noo as the evening comes on.

Good to Know

Patas & Rolhas is built for dogs indoors; D.O.C. Bakery keeps them to its outdoor area, and everywhere else ask for the veranda, the terrace or a pavement table when you book. The city's dog gym asks for an up to date vaccination card, and it is worth carrying one everywhere. No city page we can point you to sets out the rules for dogs on the sand, so ask your hotel before you head for the beach. For anything run by the city, from the parks to the dog runs, the City Hall answers on 1746, or (21) 3460-1746 from outside Rio.