Adventures with Four Legs

Exposing your dog to new places, sounds, and experiences is a great way to build their resilience

If you’re in Rhode Island and looking for places to take your dog and expose them to new sights, sounds, and experience, there are a ton of great options. While we all know we can take our dogs to parks, trails, and other outdoor locations; there are some unusual dog-friendly places that may not be on your radar!

Going to new and different places can be engaging and interesting for you pup and can help get them comfortable with being exposed to new places, sounds, and scents (a great skill if you plan to go on more adventures with your dog!). These are also great places to work on training your dog in environments with lots of distractions. I’m a big fan of working on our skills no matter where we are and these unusual dog-friendly locations are great for working on the basics when there are tons of interseting things going on around us.

1. Shopping Excursions

There are a ton of pet-friendly stores that allow you to bring your dog inside. While some national chains like Lowe’s, Joann’s, and Home Depot are known as being dog friendly, a quick google search will show other dog-friendly stores in your area.

If you’re local to Rhode Island, Garden City Center is a great open-air shopping center that is super dog friendly. A number of the stores allow dogs inside and there are several restaurants with dog-friendly outdoor seating (they even hold yappy hours in the summer!). Taking your dog in out of stores and exposing them to building features they may not have at home (like automatic doors and polished concrete floors) is a great way to build their confidence.

When you take your pet to shops, they get exposed to crowded areas, new surfaces, strange sounds (like th squeaky wheels of carts!) and all sorts of other new experiences.

2. Grab a Drink

While you should plan to leave your pet at home if you are interested in touring the facility, many breweries and distilleries with outdoor seating areas are pet-friendly.

If you’re in Rhode Island, consider visiting Apponaug Brewing Company, Narragansett Beer’s Providence Brewery, or Buttonwoods Brewery . And if you’re in downtown Providence, we recently visited and enjoyed the Industrious Spirit Company’s outdoor, covered seating area.

Always check on a venue’s website to verify that they are pet-friendly and consider giving them a call to make sure that the pet-friendly seating is available the day you’re planning your visit as breweries host a lot of events that may have event-specific policies. Also, wineries – especially those that grow their own grapes – tend not be dog friendly but policies vary and it can’t hurt to ask if they’re dog-friendly.

3. Hit the Streets

Many of the street fairs, arts and crafts festivals that are free and open to the public are also free and open to your dog. While ticketed and gated events like music festivals, fine craft sales, and sporting events may not permit dogs, a lot of the community focused events welcome dogs.

In Rhode Island, this includes events like the Gaspee Days Arts & Crafts Festival, Waterfire, and Providence Flea are all places you’ll find dogs (note: the Providence Flea is indoors in the cooler months and indoor locations are not dog friendly). Additionally, a number of outdoor farmer’s markets in Rhode Island are also dog-friendly. Local and state laws vary so you should consider doing a quick google before taking your dog to events like festivals and farmer’s market; but you may find yourself surprised by how many places are dog-friendly!

Before you head out…

When taking your dog out in public, it’s important to make sure both you and your dog have a positive experience. While it can be completely okay to work on training in public and take advantage of distracted environments to work on buildling your pup’s skills, you should make sure your dog has some basics under their belt including being able to walk comfortably on their leash and will be generally comfortable in loud and crowded environments.

Also, one of my personal rules of thumb is to pretend that absolutely no one wants to interact with me or my dog. When I’m with my dog, I make an extra effort to give others more space and keep my dog’s focus on me. I admit I think my dog is the cutest goldendoodle in Rhode Island, but cuteness doesn’t mean he can behave badly or that he should approach others without an invitation. Lots of people approach us and ask to say hi and these interactions are almost always enthuisiastically welcome; but, unless the other person approaches, I focus on keeping us in our own bubble.

No matter where you choose to go, I think you’ll find that exposing your dog to different environments and new situations can help them be a more comfortable, confident, and social pup. Just make sure you follow local regulations and listen to staff when visiting new places with your dog.