She loves exploring, and we love finding new places for her to explore. But even in Old Town Alexandria, one of the most dog-friendly towns in America, it can be tough to find ways to include her in everyday activities. Yes, there are many off-leash dog parks and many restaurants that allow her on the patio. But when it’s the peak of Virginia summers (HOT! HUMID!) and spending more than a few minutes outside is simply painful for her, or it’s too cold for outdoor seating, how do we get her out of the house? I would search online for dog-friendly places, but that often resulted in frustration as the results are the typical places I already know. So when I planned my weekends or trips, I’d pick up the phone and call every place I wanted to visit, particularly those you wouldn’t think to take your dog. And I found quite a few were open to Rummy.

I began sharing these on social media to help others and also hoped to connect with people who could share their suggestions with me. I connected with quite a few and discovered there are many others who want to include their dogs in more activities, but just need suggestions. So here we are! My goal is to provide a place for people to discover and share their own suggestions for anything and everything dog-friendly. This is focused on the DMV (Washington DC, Maryland & Virginia), but I’d love suggestions for all of America. Why? Because we love including Rummy in our travel and know others feel the same. So please use the forms on each page to share your suggestions and let us know if there is something else you’d like to see added to the site. We want to make this a valuable resource so that every pup can be a Leisure Pup!