traveling with pups

we both have two dogs (a big & a little), and we both enjoy going places and really hate to leave the pups behind. in our journey of pet parenthood, we decided to figure out some unexpected (and expected) places you could take your pets and share those places with you! (note: we have actually tried all of these except one)

there are some things to consider before hitting the road with your pup:
1. it never hurts to call the store ahead of time - just to be safe. some locations might have different policies due to management.
2. bring any needed necessities for the visit - treats, leash (always!), and water (if you're in it for the long haul).
3. recognize how your pet acts is certain situations and know that you are responsible for how your pet acts in that store.

places to bring your pup:
1. Any and all pet stores (Petsmart, Petco, Earthwise, etc...)
keep in mind there will be other animals in the store so if your dog is hell-bent on catching that rabbit in the cage, you might want to consider leaving them at home because no matter how hard they go after the glass, they just won't catch it

2. Lowes, Home Depot, and Menards
since we tend to do a lot of DIY projects, we frequent these stores pretty often. personally, our pups have only travelled to Lowes and Home Depot, but it looks like a Menards adventure might be in the future.

3. Hobby Lobby & Michaels
more DIYs involve more trips to craft stores...

4. Atwoods, Ace Hardware, & Tractor Supply

5. Lush Cosmetics
we have yet to try this personally because both locations we frequent are inside of a shopping mall

6. Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Home Goods

7. Restaurant patios
some of our most frequented places in OKC are:

1. McNellie's 
2. Barrios 
3. R&J Supper Club
4. Anchor Down
5. Picassos

since we're on the subject of traveling with pets, we thought it would also be helpful to know the places that will give your pups special treats when stopping for that snack or caffeine during a road-trip
1. McDonald's
sure it's just a little baked biscuit, but they sure seemed happy & were less concerned about trying to grab my french fries

2. Starbucks
ask for a puppichino and wait for the photo-op (whipped cream + dogs is always a good time)

3. Cain's
I mean the restaurant is named after a dog....

4. Dairy Queen
pup cups are a summer favorite for my pups

5. Chick-fil-a

6. Sonic
once again, pup cups for the win!

in doing a little bit of research, I also came across two really great resources for figuring out dog-friendly places
1. BarkPost.com - not only does this talk about dog-friendly places, but it has many different blog posts about all things dog!

2. Dogvills.com - this is a comprehensive list broken down by state that was uploaded in January 2018.

happy adventuring with your pup(s); enjoy the dog days of summer!