2nd the Outer Banks...many of the houses/cottages you can rent their allow pets, and if you go before summer, dogs are allowed on the beach freely. VA Beach is the same...as long as you're here before or after the summer, dogs are all good on the beach!
For west coast (where I'm from), San Diego is awesome for dogs...there are 2 dog beaches there, and we were there quite often. The one on Coronado Island is the best, but the other one is great as well.
We have been in Miami Beach for the past month. The restaurants here, especially in the South Beach area, are dog friendly if they have outdoor seating and most do. There is a beach that is dog friendy in Surfside, I believe is the name of the town about 1 mile from us. We have not taken her to the beach yet (bad doodle parents). There is also a beach called Rickencbacker Causeway (Miami)- Dogs allowed year-round on this stretch of beach. There are also several dog parks and at the end of every month, the So Florida Doodle Group has a romp (you find that group on Facebook) but several DK members reached out to us and we made life-long friends very fast. I have posted several pictures on my page. If you decide to come to Florida or whatever state you go to I suggest joining their group here in DK. You will get lots of info there.
Paws House in West Dover Vermont is a great place to take dogs and vacation. We have gone there a couple of times and have met great pet friendly people and great dogs! Plenty to do there even if you don't ski!
Have you looked anything up on www.dogfriendly.com? It doesn't always know all of the places you can take your dog, but it has a pretty good list. We took Fenway to St. Simon's Island in GA last year and she went with us to the beach. Dogs are really only allowed on the beach after 4p.m. and before 9a.m. but others brought their dogs down during the day and so we did too. The dogfriendly website will let you know if the beaches in the area you are looking at allow dogs and when. Another thing to think about may be to rent a house. We rent from a websit calle www.vrbo.com. It stands for vacation rentals by owner and has houses all over the world. Anyway, if you look up a specific place it has icons next to each rental that let you know what the house offers and there's an icon for pet friendly houses. We just found a beach house that was pet friendly and a beach that was pet friendly and a couple of restuarants and we were set. We had a ton of fun.
We live in SC and I'm pretty sure most of the beaches here are dog friendly year round if you keep your dog on the leash. There may be some time restrictions here too during the peak season, but not sure.
Also, I went with a friend to Plantation, FL, which is just outside of Ft. Lauderdale and there were tons of dog friendly places down there. We even took the dog shopping with us in the outdoor shopping areas. It was lots of fun. Hope you have fun traveling with you doodle!
Plantation also has a FABULOUS dog park!
Happy Tails Dog Park at Seminole Park
City of Plantation
6600 S.W. 16th St.
The Doodle Club of So. Florida - via Facebook - had their Doodle Romp there last week which we went to. So many nice DP!! Not surprising!
In Miami, there is a beach at 90th Street and Collins. No signs that say 'no dogs' - we went there today with Ellen and Beau Beau. What an incredible time. NO ONE minded they were there playing. In fact, they laughed at Samantha at being afraid of the little 'waves' and smiled when she finally got wet!
Rickenbacker Causeway - between Miami and Key Biscayne is totally dog friendly beach.
google dog friendly + whereever state/town you think you want to go.
petfriendlytravel.com - gives pretty good information.
If you decide to come to Southern Florida, email Ellen akaBeauBeau's Mom and Lee & Barbara Seidman. They are
fantastic people and very welcoming. They will give you the lay of the land.
We went to Va Bch off season and stayed in a Motel 8? It was a few years ago and dog friendly then. It was near the beach and everyone was very pelased to meet Honey. We are dying to go again, just can't figure out when. I think "off season" matters sometimes.
Hi Lauren - a couple of people suggested the Outer Banks - but look into the laws in each township regarding dogs on the beach...when we looked a couple of weeks ago, the one place we noted that allowed the dogs on the beach during the day in the summer months was Duck. Very cool place to visit...cute town.
Check out Southern Shores Realty and Resort Realty....I've rented from both and been pleased. Southern Shores might be a little easier to check in/out on rental day (b/c of where their office is located. And, if possible, look for a Sun-Sun rental (as opposed to Sat-Sat) for traffic reasons. Have fun! Diane