Dog Friendly City Guide: Seattle, USA

Seattle is a city that takes its dogs outdoors whatever the weather. It sits between salt water and fresh, with Puget Sound on one side, Lake Washington on the other and forest parks threaded through the neighbourhoods in between, and the city has set aside more than a dozen off-leash areas where a dog can run free. The beer gardens and brewery patios that fill on a dry afternoon count dogs among their regulars, and downtown has a cluster of hotels that set out beds and bowls, two of which charge nothing at all for a dog. Bring a good raincoat for yourself, and a towel for the dog.

Getting There With a Dog

A dog entering the United States, whether it flies into Seattle or comes down by road from Canada, has to meet the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the first question is where it has spent the past six months. If that time has been only in countries the CDC treats as rabies-free or low risk, the dog must be microchipped, at least six months old, and travelling with a receipt for the CDC Dog Import Form, which you complete online before you travel. Time in any country on the CDC's high-risk list for dog rabies brings more paperwork and stricter checks at the port of entry, so read the CDC's guidance on bringing a dog into the United States before you book anything. Once you are in, most of what follows lies downtown or a short drive north of it.

Where to Stay

The best of our ranked dog friendly hotels in Seattle is also one of the most generous. Kimpton Hotel Monaco, at 1101 Fourth Avenue, holds an A, and dogs stay free. Most of its 189 rooms take dogs, there is no weight limit and no cap on how many share a room, and the room comes with a bed, bowls, free treats and toys. Your dog is welcome in the lounge and on the terrace, there is a relief area on site, the desk keeps spare poo bags and suggests walking routes, and guests are given access to the WAG! app for dog walking, so a settled dog can stay in the room or go out with a walker while you see the city.

Its sister hotel one avenue over, Kimpton Hotel Vintage at 1100 Fifth Avenue, holds a B and is also free for dogs, with no weight limit and no limit on numbers. A bed and bowls are waiting, dogs are welcome in the lounge, and a crated dog may be left in the room. Close by, the Fairmont Olympic Hotel on University Street holds a B too. It charges $75 a stay for up to two dogs of any size, sets out a bed, bowls and treats, welcomes dogs in its garden and on the terrace, and runs both a dog walking and a dog sitting service for the evenings you want to dine without the dog.

There are good choices further out. Hilton Garden Inn Seattle Downtown, on Boren Avenue, holds a B, charges $50 for a stay of up to four nights and $75 beyond that, welcomes dogs in the lounge and provides bowls, treats and poo bags. In Fremont, Staybridge Suites Fremont, also a B, takes one dog of up to 60 lb for $50 for a stay of up to six nights, and has a garden, a dedicated dog space and a terrace your dog can use. Staypineapple runs four C ranked hotels in the city at $25 a night with a bed, treats, toys and poo bags in every room; at Staypineapple Five, on Fifth Avenue in Belltown, your dog is welcome in the bar as well as the lounge, and at Staypineapple Watertown, in the University District, it can join you in the bar, the restaurant and on the terrace. Every hotel, with its fees and its grade, is on our ranked dog friendly hotels in Seattle.

Eat and Drink

Seattle's dog owners do their socialising in the open air, and the breweries lead the way. Fremont Brewing calls its Fremont Urban Beer Garden family friendly and dog friendly, a place to bring the family and your furry friends to a big open-air garden with picnic seating inside and out. Its second garden, the Columbia City Urban Beer Garden in the south of the city, welcomes furry companions in just the same way.

On Beacon Hill, Perihelion Brewery is a small, all ages brewery and kitchen whose own page says that well behaved dogs, and miniature pigs, are allowed on the patio. It takes no reservations, so arrive early on a sunny weekend. In Greenwood, the Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery, the state's first cooperative brewery, says it is open to the public and welcomes families and their pets.

For a meal with a view, Pub 70 sits on Alaskan Way at the edge of Elliott Bay, and its dog friendly patio looks straight out over the water. And for an evening game, Flatstick Pub mixes craft beer with indoor mini golf; its own answers say dogs are welcome at its Pioneer Square pub, though not at every Flatstick, so check the location before you go.

Walks and Parks

The city's ground rules are set out on the Seattle Parks and Recreation off-leash areas page. Dogs are welcome in parks on a leash, they must be on a leash at all times outside the designated off-leash areas, and under the Seattle Municipal Code they are never allowed on organised athletic fields, beaches or children's play areas.

The best of those off-leash areas is at Magnuson Park, on the shore of Lake Washington in the north east of the city. Its 8.6 fenced acres make it the biggest in Seattle, and the only one inside city limits with access to the water, so a dog that swims can go straight into the lake. A winding gravel trail runs through it, and there is a separate area for small and shy dogs; keep the lead on in the rest of the park, which has more than four miles of walking trails beside the lake.

On the Puget Sound side, Golden Gardens Park in Ballard looks out over the water to the Olympic Mountains. Its one acre off-leash area, covered in wood chips and scattered with trees, sits in the upper northern part of the park, with a covered shelter for rainy days. The sand below is off limits to dogs, as on every Seattle beach, but the forest trails above are yours on a lead.

Closer to the hotels, Regrade Park, at Third Avenue and Bell Street, is a small fenced off-leash area in the heart of downtown, with double gates and running water. Further up the hill, Kinnear Park on Queen Anne has a small off-leash corral in the woods, and a steep nature trail beside it with views over Elliott Bay that leads down towards Myrtle Edwards Park on the waterfront.

Green Lake Park, north of Fremont, is the city's favourite stroll, a path all the way round the lake shared by walkers, runners and dogs. The park's own rules ask that dogs on the path stay on a leash no more than five feet long, so keep it short when the path is busy. For a longer walk, Discovery Park in Magnolia has a loop trail through forest and meadow above the Sound; dogs go on a lead, and the beach below is closed to them.

A Day Out

Start with a run at Magnuson Park, where the dog can swim in the lake before the crowds arrive, then drive across to Green Lake for a lap of the path on a short lead. In the afternoon, head to Fremont for a beer in the Urban Beer Garden with the dog under the table. Finish at the waterfront: walk the trail down from Kinnear Park towards the bay and end the day on the patio at Pub 70, watching the light go over Elliott Bay.

Good to Know

Keep your dog on a leash everywhere outside the off-leash areas, and remember that every beach in a Seattle park is closed to dogs, along with athletic fields and children's play areas. Most of the places to eat and drink above welcome dogs outside rather than in, so a patio or garden table is the thing to ask for. Seattle is wet for much of the year, and several off-leash areas can turn to mud, so pack a towel for the dog before you head back to the hotel.