It’s Tuesday, March 19, 2024 and 46°F in Austin, Texas

Austin - Number One City for Dogs

another reason to love our town

Austin Number One City for DogsWell, it has been said — "put a cute dog on a website and you can sell anything".  Today is July 4th and what better way to celebrate the holiday than to talk about dogs. Americans well we love our dogs, they are part of our families.  There are around 80 million of them sharing our lives here in the USA and that's a lot of dog food (who can guess the number of fleas!).

If Spot, Lakota and Yogi could vote I am sure they would rate Austin as the Number One City for Dogs in America.  We have a huge number of dog friendly businesses here,  just like England you can take your dog in many of our pubs and bars.  The King Fu Saloon on Rio Grande Street is an example of one. Bartender Ernie Zuniga is waiting to greet you and your dog for a beer or two.

We have dog bakeries and dog treat street-side stands where you can select mouth watering treats for your canine buddy like mini dog pizzas and peanut butter bones.

Austin hosts a number of off-leash parks, like my favorite, Red Bud Isle.  My dogs, Lillie, a Scottish Terrier and Gilbert, a big black Schnauzer can read my mind, they know whenever I am just thinking about taking them there.  They start dancing, jumping and laugh-bark, circling around me as we head for the car.  How do dogs know these things?  Do they read our minds?  Do they watch for facial signals?  Who knows.

Red Bud Isle is amazing, surrounded by sparking water with turtles basking on rocks, big white swans and even snakes swimming by (yes, snakes  I HATE snakes but these have never been a problem and I have no idea what kind they are, but they are big and seem to swim in pairs), There is a huge field for dogs to run in plenty of shady trees and dense undergrowth.  There are these really cool 'beaches' — just for dogs.  Mine make a beeline for these and swim every time they come to Red Bud.  There are lots of dogs for them to swim with.  The people of Red Bud are friendly, laid back and obviously share a passion for dogs.  Week after week you see the same folks and their dogs.

Another dog park is Auditorium Shores, which is frequently by people living downtown.  It attracts a young, hip and attractive clientele of humans and dogs.  This is a great place for unattached people to meet.

According to the Austin American Statesman, which ran a great article on this subject a few days ago (thanks Michelle Cerulli!) a number of Austin luxury residences in downtown Austin - like the Four Seasons - are offering doggie mixers where residents can interact while their dogs enjoy chef-prepared treats.

If you live in Austin and love dogs you'd agree that this is one dog-friendly town.  It's another cool thing about Austin and a reason people — and dogs — love it here.

Happy Fourth!

Bob Atchison

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