Dog Friendly City Guide: Washington, D.C., USA

Washington is a better city for a dog than its marble and monuments suggest. National parkland runs right through it: Rock Creek Park stretches from the Western Ridge Trail at Boundary Bridge down to Georgetown Waterfront Park on the Potomac, the towpath of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal sets out from Georgetown, and the National Park Service says plainly that its parks in the capital welcome you and your dog. The District adds its own fenced dog parks from Shaw to Southwest, and its beer gardens are made for a long afternoon with a dog at your feet.

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 faces the simplest requirements. A dog that has spent any of that time in a high-risk country for dog rabies faces stricter ones, and one from a high-risk country that has not been vaccinated against rabies will not be allowed in at all, so start with the CDC's dog importation pages well before you book.

Reagan National is well set up for a dog. Its pet relief areas page says pets are welcome in all of them, and lists areas after security in Terminal 2 near Gates E46 to E59 and at both ends of National Hall, and in Terminal 1 near Gates A1 to A9. Before security there are more beside the North and South Metrorail entrances and at either end of the A gates curb. Each is stocked with waste bags.

Where to Stay

You can compare every hotel we have inspected in the city on our ranked dog friendly hotels in Washington, and the four below hold a B.

The Darcy on Rhode Island Avenue is the one to book with a big dog. It is a five star hotel of 226 rooms, most of which take dogs, and there is no fee, no deposit and no weight limit. Your dog can join you in the bar, the restaurant, the lounge and on the terrace. A bed, bowls and treats are waiting in the room, staff are trained for canine guests and will point you to the walks, and a settled dog may be left in the room while you go out.

Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC on F Street is just as generous on the money. Dogs stay free, with no deposit and no weight limit, in most of its 183 rooms, and they are welcome in the lounge and the garden. There is a bed, bowls and treats, staff trained for dogs, and you may leave a calm dog in the room.

InterContinental Washington Willard stands on Pennsylvania Avenue, and it lets dogs into the bar, the restaurant, the lounge and the terrace. Up to two dogs of up to 40 pounds share a room, and the welcome runs to a bed, bowls, treats, toys and poo bags. The fee is $200 per stay, with no deposit.

Four Seasons Washington DC, further along Pennsylvania Avenue, charges no fee and no deposit for dogs of up to 25 pounds. They are welcome on the terrace and in the lounge, there is a bed, bowls and treats in the room, and the hotel can arrange a dog walker and has an emergency vet to call on. Cats are welcome too.

Three more hold a C. Yours Truly DC on New Hampshire Avenue takes two dogs of any size free of charge. The Avery Georgetown, a house of just 16 rooms on P Street, puts out a bed and a treat, can arrange grooming and runs dog events, for a fee of $40 and dogs of up to 40 pounds. InterContinental Washington D.C. The Wharf has a garden and a dedicated dog space, and takes one dog of up to 50 pounds for $75.

Eat and Drink

In Washington the patio is where your dog eats out. Two of the breweries below keep dogs out of their taprooms and cite the health code for it, and the best places have built their outdoor spaces around that.

Dacha Beer Garden calls itself the best beer garden in Washington. Its Navy Yard garden on Potomac Avenue pours German, Belgian and American craft beer with a seasonal menu inspired by Bavarian beer gardens, and its own invitation is to bring a dog, find a date and grab a bite. At its Shaw garden, Thursday is Yappy Hour, a weekly dog friendly happy hour when your dog gets a free pup cup and local rescue groups come by through the season with dogs for adoption and fostering.

Also in Navy Yard, Atlas Brew Works runs a large outdoor beer garden with communal tables and pizza from Andy's, and its own page says dogs are welcome on the patio, though not inside, because of the kitchen. Its second taproom, on Howard Road a quick walk from the Anacostia Metro, has a large outdoor beer garden looking at the Frederick Douglass Bridge, where leashed dogs are welcome too.

In NoMa, Red Bear Brewing welcomes dogs on its outdoor patios as long as they are leashed, well behaved and kept at your side. Over in Logan Circle, Aslin Beer Company has a 211 seat indoor and outdoor beer garden on 14th Street pouring 21 of its own beers, with the very first Aslin Coffee bar at the same address, and dogs are allowed in the beer garden. For a morning coffee, Colada Shop serves Cuban coffee and food at three branches in the city, on 14th Street NW, Pearl Street SW and N Street NW, and says many of its locations have patios where a leashed dog can sit with you.

Walks and Parks

Rock Creek Park is the walk that makes Washington. It is a national park inside the city, home to more than 1,100 species of plants and animals, and the Park Service says that you and a leashed dog are welcome in all of its outdoor spaces, from the Western Ridge Trail at Boundary Bridge down to Georgetown Waterfront Park on the Potomac. Stay on the designated trails.

Georgetown Waterfront Park itself is the easy stroll. It runs along the Potomac from 31st Street to Key Bridge, with wide paths kept free of cars, rain gardens, a labyrinth and a seasonal fountain, and views over the river to Theodore Roosevelt Island and Key Bridge.

Mules once hauled boats along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal between Georgetown and Cumberland, Maryland, and today the Park Service says lots of people walk its towpath with their dogs. Dogs are welcome on a leash of no more than six feet. The park is trash free, with no bins, so carry your bags out with you, and bring a bowl, because there are water fountains along the way but no containers. Dogs are not allowed on section A of the Billy Goat Trail or the boardwalk to Great Falls further upriver.

For a run off the lead, the Department of Parks and Recreation keeps fenced dog parks all over the District. The S Street park is at 17th and S Streets NW, the Shaw Dog Park sits at 11th Street and Rhode Island Avenue NW, Francis is at 25th and M Streets NW, Swampoodle is at 3rd and L Streets NE, Lansburgh is at M Street and Delaware Avenue SW, and Virginia Avenue is at 901 Virginia Avenue SE.

A Day Out

Start early on the canal towpath in Georgetown, then loop back along Georgetown Waterfront Park. Have coffee and something Cuban on a Colada Shop patio, and give the afternoon to Rock Creek Park. In the evening, take a table in the Aslin beer garden on 14th Street. On a second day, let your dog run in the Virginia Avenue dog park, then spend lunch and the afternoon in Navy Yard, with a beer in the Dacha garden and another on the Atlas patio. On a Thursday, end it at Yappy Hour in Shaw.

Good to Know

Under the DC Animal Control Act, every dog on public space in the District must be firmly held on a leash, except inside a dog park the Department of Parks and Recreation has designated. In the national parks the federal rule is a leash of no more than six feet at all times, and the Park Service asks you never to leave a dog unattended, whether in a car or tied to a post, gate or bike rack. Bag every mess and bin it, or carry it out where there are no bins. In summer, plan long walks for the cool of early morning and evening and carry water. When you eat out, expect your dog to sit with you on the patio rather than indoors.