Dog Friendly Sonoma Coast Beaches
The Fido Factor team and our doggie pals just got back from a fun filled New Year's weekend on the Sonoma Coast / Russian River. We rented a great dog friendly house on the Russian River in Duncan Mills and decided to spend New Year's Day exploring the nearby beaches. We started at Blind Beach and headed down Highway 1 stopping at most of the dog friendly beaches. All of the beaches are officially on leash areas but depending on the beach the rules seemed to be loosely enforced.
Dogs playing at Blind Beach
Trax and his ball on Blind Beach
After Blind Beach we headed to dog friendly Wrights Beach.
Captain Enjoying Wrights Beach
Finally, we stopped at Carmet Beach before heading to Bodega Bay.
Captain at Carmet Beach
You can see all the dog friendly beaches in Marin and Sonoma on Fido Factor. The beaches we visited are part of the Sonoma Coast State Park although their website doesn't offer detailed directions. We've geotagged all the locations on Fido Factor. The ones mentioned above can all be found on Highway 1 between Bodega Bay and Jenner, CA. You can also see more of our photos from the weekend in the Fido Factor Flickr set.
Raleigh Pop Review: Hillside Dog Park in Brooklyn
This is a recent blog post from the Raleigh Pop blog. If you have a post to share please email us.
After days weeks of not blogging, we felt pretty bad about neglecting the fans. So we hit the pavement pretty hard today in search of new material. And by that we mean the kick off of a new series: The NYC Dog Park Big Bark: a thorough review of the best and worst places to shed the leash and run like a Great Dane is chasing you. Today, we saw six parks in one day. For future reference: NOT recommended. But we love you readers, and seeing as how we can’t jump through hoops for your affections, we decided to run through some wood chips. So here is the first post, a review of the Hillside Park in Brooklyn.
The basic verdict is that if you are in Brooklyn and cannot get to the pre-9 am off leash hours, this is your best option for open-all-day dog runs. Don’t let the proximity to the BQE scare you, this is one scenic hillside near both the Brooklyn Promenade and DUMBO.
This is one of the rare dog runs that actually has room for running. Other perks include a water fountain, multiple entrances, benches and some pretty shady trees.
This hill has been a dog park since 2000 and boasts over two acres of space. That is nothing to sneeze at in this real eastate crazy city. It’s open 24/7, so if you are up right now and need a place to run. Get over there!
Muddy Point Isabel Dog Park Fun
Yesterday we headed over to Point Isabel Dog Park for some off leash doggie fun. Everything looked clear on our way over to the dog park but shortly after we got there the rain started to fall and the mud puddles began to grow. Usually our dog acts like he is going to melt in the rain but oddly enough he seemed unaffected! Maybe all the fun at the largest dog park in the U.S. got the best of him.
Captain had a great time playing with Trax, Keoni, Ziggy, and the rest of the SOMA Dogs. He also met a few new Vizsla friends. After all the fun it was time for a bath at Point Isabel's Mudpuppy's Tub & Scrub. We love the fact that this dog park has its own cafe, dog store, and dog wash.
Check out some of the photos from Point Isabel below or our full set of photos on Flickr.
Bay Woof Party at Stray Bar
Last Saturday we spent the day enjoying Bernal Heights Park and hanging out with the Bay Woof crew at Stray Bar. Bernal Heights is one of the most dog friendly neighborhoods in San Francisco. Cortland Street is packed with dog friendly spots and we saw dogs of every shape and size during our visit. It seems like most of the stores have water bowls out front or dog treats at the counter. We especially enjoyed our visit to Bernal Beast, where we bought a new leash, and Progressive Grounds, where we got a delicious tuna melt.
After our park time and shopping we headed to Stray Bar for the party to celebrate the Beast of the Bay awards. The party featured live music and an raffle to support the Hearing Dog Program. Some of the raffle prizes included a stay at The Inn at Schoolhouse Creek, Hearst Ranch Dog Food, and toys from Pet Food Express.
Be sure to check out the March issue of Bay Woof for the most dog friendly Bay Area businesses and locations. If you want an excuse to visit Stray Bar there is another dog friendly event on Feb 12 from 4-8 PM to benefit the Hearing Dog Program. For more great photos from the event check out our Flickr set.
Fun at Point Isabel
The Fido Factor team was out at Pt. Isabel this Saturday spreading the word and getting some puppy playtime. Pt. Isabel is the largest off-leash dog park in the U.S. Over 500,000 dogs a year visit the park. So far it is the only dog park we've been to that has its own dog store, Mudpuppy's, and cafe. Unfortunately, both were closed but we still had lots of fun!
Fun at Fort Funston
Today the Fido Factor team headed out to Fort Funston for some doggie fun. Fort Funston is one of the best dog parks in America. On a sunny weekend day you can find hundreds of dogs frolicking in the sand, running down the beach, or chasing balls into the ocean. We met lots of cute dogs out enjoying the day. Check out all the photos.