Best Pet Friendly Places in San Diego to Visit with Your French Bulldog Puppy!
One of my best short vacations with my pet French bulldog (Zara) was in San Diego. San Diego is one of many pet-friendly cities in dog-friendly California. Being an enthusiastic pet parent and also a pedigreed dog breeder it takes a lot to get me really excited about visiting a city to vacation a second time and San Diego did just that. It’s a vacation spot which I can’t wait to visit again with my frenchie. In addition to all the usual pet-friendly activities like beach visits, shopping with my pet and for my pet; eating at pet-friendly restaurants San Diego has something really special.
My Frenchie and I watched our first ball game together here. As most other doggy parents would understand my french bulldog is a part of my family. So for me and frenchie, it’s all about doing things together, making amazing memories and bonding together to strengthen our pet and parent relationship. I have tried to summarise the best of the places visited here which places I imagine any pet parent with a small dog (like a french bulldog) would love to visit.
My Highlights of the Trip
The highlight of the trip, of course, was watching a baseball game with my french bulldog. It was a Major League Baseball San Diego Padres game at Petco Park in downtown San Diego. My french bulldog Zara, and I had tickets to the Barkyard and we really enjoyed spending most of our evening there watching the game with friends, both fellow canines, and pet parents. Some may say, taking a dog to a game ??? How does that work out ?? Well at Petco Park they have a special box area for pets and pet parents to watch the game together. Petco Park in San Diego is the home field for the Major League Baseball team called the San Diego Padres.
They also host special doggy and parent event games like the famous Dog Days Of Summer. This is one game event however that you have to apply for the way in advance as there are limited seats for you and your dog. For a regular non-event game, you can buy tickets for yourself and your pet French bulldog ( any canine pet is allowed) at the Barkyard in Petco Park.
Not usually available on a walk into the box office it is wiser to book tickets for the Barkyard much in advance. The Barkyard at Petco Park has six premium boxes with space, a little privacy, and seats that are dog-friendly. They are just perfect to watch a game with your canine pet like my french bulldog. Each of these boxes seats four people and two dogs and the tickets must be purchased for the entire box. So it’s best enjoyed with some friends or family. There is in this pet-friendly area a water station, a separate designated entrance gate, a pet check-in and a pet concierge. These box seats come complete with complimentary treats for your pet, a goody bag for you and access to good food with an in the seat menu from The Patio in Left Field. As you can see watching the ball game with my French bulldog was the favorite part of my holiday trip to San Diego. We also bought some great San Diego Padre’s gear and pet clothes for frenchie and for myself to remember our trip with. Of course, no game at Petco Park is complete without trying out your first Sonoran hot dog if you can even if it’s a bit touristy.
Pet-Friendly Beaches
San Diego like most of sunny California has some great pet-friendly beaches like…
- The Original Dog Beach at Point Loma Boulevard
- Fiesta Island off-leash recreation Center at Fiesta Island
- The Ocean Beach dog beach and
- Cabrillo Tide Pools Trail
among others.
We chose two beaches to visit, my french bulldog and me and also the Cabrillo trail. The first beach was The Original Dog Beach at Point Loma Boulevard and that visit was followed by a dog bath at the Dog Beach Dog Wash at Voltaire Street before heading back to the hotel. Every beach should have a dog bath ! It’s an easy way to get the sand out from your pet, since the last thing I was in the mood for was a doggy bath in the hotel bathtub!! The second beach day was a well spent afternoon and evening fill of sun, salty air and sand frolicking at Fiesta Island off leash recreation Center and the Fiesta Island off leash Dog Park.
Lots of Pet-Friendly Restaurant
When visiting San Diego and having an outdoors meal with your pet canine at a restaurant consider The Patio on Lamont Street. This restaurant has a great outdoors patio with a home made gourmet treat biscuit for your dog and a water bowl and the restaurant staff is very pet friendly. Great place with good food ( locally sourced healthy food and great bottomless mimosas) for pet parents also. A meal here with small dogs like my french bull dog is a great idea. Another place to visit with Fido irrespective of size this time is the McP Irish Pub and Grill on Orange Avenue in Coronado Village. This has to be the best casual dining dog-friendly restaurant in San Diego with its canine Yuppy hour every last Wednesday of the month from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. 10% of the proceeds of Yuppy Hour goes to the PAWS of Coronado and there’s the best complimentary salsa and chips to be had here. Lots and lots of pedigreed dogs here big and small with their pet parents. The best place with its Yappy Hour is the Hotel Del on Sunday’s on the sun deck.
There are also many many more pet friendly restaurants in San Diego. With pet friendly wineries and breweries also adding to the list pet parents are spoiled for choice. The La Jolla Brewing Company has its own superb furry friends menu for your pet, in addition to its kids menu and it’s regular menu. There are also pet friendly wineries like Woof n Rose Winery, the Eagles Nest Winery although we didn’t have enough time to do that. Amazing also are the mini sugar free pup cakes (cupcakes) at Sprinkles Cupcakes in La Jolla Drive.
Shopping Spots with your Frenchie
Some fantastic shopping spots in San Diego like the Seaport Village also make your pet welcome. The Spanish Village Arts Center, the Westfield UTC Mall and Delmar Plaza are some other spots to name a few more. These shop areas and malls ( the Seaport Village is more like a shopping area) has some great shopping and many of the shops here are pet friendly. The Spanish Village Art Center also has pet friendly events. If you need more information for these it’s a good idea to first follow their blog online where Bella the dog journalist reports on the pet friendly events at this art centre in Balboa Park. Their pet friendly art festival Christmas on the Prado is another great way to enjoy the spirit of Christmas with your pet in San Diego although we didn’t go for it this time but for that we have to make another Christmas vacation trip to San Diego.
When in San Diego you could also visit Howlistic which has some neat dog wash and in house natural products spa treatments for your dog. Both Howlistic and also Dexter’s Deli are worth a visit to buy natural dog foods both of these have great health food for pets.
Other Places you can visit with your Frenchie
The most touristy thing we did during our visit to San Diego was take a walk at the Cabrillo National Monument. The highlight of this walk was the .5 mile trail leading to the Cabrillo Tide pools which is the only trail dogs can walk on a leash in the Cabrillo National Monument. While I did carry my french bull dog part of the way there is some amazing ocean wildlife here and my frenchie enjoyed exploring the little tide rock pools.
For dogs and pet parents that love swimming (not my french bull dog so while we didn’t try this for too long it’s worth trying at least once as a first time experience ) there is doggy and parent stand up paddle boarding or SUP. A lot of fun if your dog enjoys the water even your small dog as they can stand on the same paddle board as you do. SUP PUPS (from SUP Connection) has some great beginner and first timer paddle board sessions. It’s a wonderful fun way to spend a morning or afternoon at the beach. They have doggy life vests and human life vests which they provide and it’s organised by a doggy lover so your dog and you are well taken care of.
What amazed me as one of the most unusual pet friendly activities was a doggy yoga session recommended by a friend. Believe it or not the Downward Dog Yoga Studio at Yogasmoga boutique in La Plaza La Jolla does just that once every month. If your trip happens to coincide with one of their sessions it’s well worth booking a slot for you and your french bull dog.
This trip to San Diego with my french bull dog is really one of my favourite petcations of all. My list of places to visit ( which we missed) in San Diego with my french bulldog is already ready for my next San Diego visit. I am a French Bulldog Breeder from San Diego, come and visit us and see our french bulldog parents as well as french bulldog puppies for sale.