LA and dog-friendlieness

[borderfreak]

Hey, I was wondering how dog-friendly LA is? I want to travel in the usa with luke. and maybe even move to (sick and tired of germany ). LA seems to be my favorite, but I have no idea if it's a good area for dogs. Are there places where dogs can walk without leash? Can I take him with me to... like starbucks or something? Can dogs go swimming somewhere? Luke loooooooves to swim with me. I hope for many many answers!

[jvw]

I only visited once but they had many dog parks.

 

Jennifer

[Sid]

Wow...it has been awhile since I lived in Calif but when I left about 20 years ago from Northern CA, dogs had to be restrained all the time. I have not lived in LA but have visited many times and everything is leashed, with of course the exception of dog parks, which I do not like (to rough) Even the beaches are restricted and you must find a "dog area" to let your dog loose in, which is very limited. If you go camping ....providing you make reservations far enough in advance are all leashed areas as well. Did I mention the fleas??? Not my cup of tea....that is why I enjoy Colorado so much....much more freedom with my pets, however more restrictions are being placed on this area as well

[ZoZo]

As you might imagine, conditions will vary widely based on where you are and how your dog behaves, but if you dig around you could probably make an interesting dog vacation happen in LA

Pet Friendly Travel Guide

 

I live south of LA in Orange County and I haven't seen any fleas on my pets in over 20 years, so I wouldn't worry much about that.

[1sheepdoggal]

I cant blame ya for getting fed up out there. My dad lives out there, and trains dogs and takes his clients and thier dogs for walk abouts in town as part of thier training, he says that dogs of certin breeds are having to wear muzzels in town at all times now, and that shops and stores are getting less and less dog friendly, and that the rules are getting pretty strict. My mom lived in the LA area, for about 22 yrs and says they do have some pretty strict leash laws. And that a lot of the folks that take thier dogs to the dog parks, just kinda let them go and dont pay much mind to what the dog is doing to the other dogs. She had a small breed dog, and was a bit over protective of him, but still... Anyway, because my dad has recently retired, he is thinking of coming back to the states because he says he's fed up too. I hope he does. Sure would be easier to visit, and our phone bills would definitly shrink!

[Mojo]

If you're talking about Los Angeles and not Louisiana, I can help! In short, some people love L.A., and some people hate it. I am here because of my job, so I had no choice but to move here from NY four years ago, and there are definitely times that I both love and hate it!!! The vast majority of the population where I live is employed in the entertainment industry, so the hours people keep are quite odd, but there are some "normal" folk here and there.

 

The single biggest change, dog-wise, that I noticed between moving from NY to L.A. is the FLEAS. Oh, my, doG. I maybe found one or two fleas on Godiva in approximately twelve YEARS while living in NY, thanks to the bitterly cold winters--in L.A., when we were still in an apartment, I was constantly slathering on Frontline and spraying every room, washing all her bedding, and giving her baths every four or five days, and yet the fleas still got so bad that they were biting ME--I felt like we were both going insane with the itching, and I was ready to pack it up and go back home! Now that we have the privacy of our own yard, however, I have not had much of a flea problem, to be honest--if anything, the dogs will occasionally bring back some from the dog park, and rarely a single tick, but I groom them daily and they both get baths no less than every two weeks, so I have not even had to use Frontline anymore. Still, there are definitely bugs all over southern California that seemingly did not exist back in NY...like termites.

 

Anyway, L.A. is and is not dog-friendly. In general, it is *very* dog-friendly if you have a small dog (i.e., not much larger than a pug). Pretty much everyone here is used to seeing young women carry purse-sized dogs in designer bags everywhere they go, including when shopping. Medium- to large-sized dogs are almost always not welcome in public, and there is a terrible, widespread public prejudice against pit bulls. That said, some neighborhoods are friendlier than others: West Hollywood, for example, is very dog-friendly, and you will always see leashed medium- to large dogs sitting with their owners at restaurants in the outdoor seating section (at, e.g., Starbucks), but this is really up to the individual establishment, and most are not allowed inside stores (e.g., Best Buy will only let dogs in if they are carried or put in a shopping cart, which precludes big dogs from entering, and Target does not allow dogs at all. Most Rite-Aid pharmacies allow dogs, and Long's Drugs does not. No U.S. Postal Office will allow dogs). I live in Hollywood itself, where pretty much anything goes (for people OR dogs), and there are often leashed dogs who browse the aisles with their owners in my local video rental store. Outside of Hollywood, however, L.A. is not unlike most any other city in America in terms of dog-friendliness. I see that you are from Europe; if you are hoping that L.A. is as dog-friendly as, say, Paris is, where dogs can freely stroll with their owners into *most* commercial establishments, it is not--I have not yet seen any city in the U.S. that is as welcoming of well-behaved dogs as Paris is!! Perhaps the problem is that many dogs in L.A. (and the U.S.) are not very well-behaved, and neither are their owners.

 

Nevertheless, there are a *lot* of dogs and dog owners here. It is wonderful that a high number of these seem to be shelter rescues/mutts, and purebred rescue is very active here, as well. There are also a lot of dedicated breed clubs (almost every AKC breed represented, I think) focusing on conformation, obedience, etc. There are several commercial options for group training lessons in dog agility, although only three private instructors are available, as far as I know. USDAA and AKC agility trials are frequent here. There are a few CPE, the occasional ASCA, and I think very few, if any, NADAC. Many dog obedience trainers, few actual dog behaviorists. If you are into herding/stockdog training, there are not many options in L.A. proper (it is obviously hard to keep stock in the city)!! The closest facility I know of (sheep) is about 45 minutes to the northeast, followed by 1.5 hours to the northwest (sheep and goats), and then 2 hours south of here (sheep and cattle). There are no shortage of veterinarians or 24-hour emergency hospitals, and there are also multiple options for board-certified specialty veterinary care if you need it. There are plentiful options for doggie daycare, dog boarding, kennels, and pet sitters/walkers, which are fringe benefits of living in a large city filled with young, energetic, and otherwise unemployed actors and musicians.

 

Considering how large our population is, we do have a high number of off-leash dog parks in L.A. proper to try and accomodate them as compared to most other cities, I think. Of the five enclosed/fenced parks within 15 miles of my house, the largest is 5 acres, and the smallest is about 0.5 acres. All of these have areas dedicated to small or timid dogs only, and have water fountains, etc. Most are just dirt with chain-link fencing, but they serve their purpose--although one is very nice, as it is in the Hollywood Hills, and is grassy with a great panoramic view (well, they keep *trying* to grow the grass, but it keeps dying...this IS the desert, after all). The main hiking attraction near where I live is Griffith Park, which is fantastic because it is right in the middle of Los Angeles, and yet there are thousands of acres of wooded hills/mountains and ON-leash trails--you just have to watch out for horseback riders and wildlife (rattlesnakes and coyotes are regular sightings) and falling off the mountain, as there are no fences. There is a section of it called Runyan Canyon that is 160 acres of OFF-leash trails, and it is truly awesome to go hiking there with a dog, but again, being a wildlife park, it is not fenced at all, so your dog needs to have a superb recall. Plus, it is packed to the gills in the mornings, evenings, and on the weekends, so it is not really feasible to take a dog-aggressive or people-aggressive dog there--nevertheless, many people often do, so you have to use dog parks at your own risk. There are some remote, less-traveled areas of Griffith Park, but they are technically on-leash. I believe that there's another huge wildlife park closer to Malibu, which is an hour west of Los Angeles, but I've never been there. In summary, yes, there are plenty of remote and busy wilderness hikes to go on with your leashed dogs, but limited (though, in my opinion, suffiicient) off-leash areas.

 

*Regarding the leash issue: as noted on a different thread, there IS a leash law here, meaning that all dogs need to be on a leash unless in a designated off-leash area. In state parks, they do specify a "six-foot leash." Many people, however, choose to ignore this law, much to my chagrin. Contrary to what most others have said here, however, I've never seen an officer ticket someone for it, at least in my neighborhood. Then again, not too many officers patrol my area.

 

Regarding beaches, all California state beaches are off-limits to dogs, period, either ON- or OFF-leash, on the sand or in the water, except for the very few designated off-leash dog beaches. There is one very small dog beach in L.A. county, but most people I know go to Huntington Dog Beach, which is about 1.5-2 hours south of L.A. I have posted previously regarding how awesome I thought this beach was--one full mile of prime coastline dedicated solely to dogs, and your dog can run and swim free to its heart's content--but others have posted that they found the beach crowded and overcast. I think it just depends on the day you go--we went on a weekday morning, and it was one of the best memories I have of being in L.A., ever.

 

The weather is warm to hot 90% of the year, with the winters being cool and occasionally very rainy/windy. For the most part, it really is what you would imagine a desert to be like--hot during the day, and freezing at night, even in the summer, and very, very dry. The traffic is awful 100% of the year due to the vast numbers of commuters on the freeways, as L.A. is much more spread out as a city than, say, New York City (with which I am also very familiar). So, while there are indeed many houses with yards here, compared to only townhomes/condos/apartments in NYC, which would initially make L.A. more attractive from a dog-owning standpoint, notably, the cost of housing here is astronomical. The rent for a 250 s.f. studio apartment (i.e., no yard) in, e.g., Hollywood starts at about $1000/month, and a 2-bedroom apartment starts around $2400/month. Luckily, some are rent-controlled (i.e., the rent can't go up exponentially each year), but these are hard to come by--you literally need to shop for apartments with a checkbook and paystubs in your hand, because if you don't put down the deposit and proof of income the minute you see the apartment you want, someone else will take it. Just about the best you can do for a studio is approximately $750-$800/month, but that would mean it is out of town or in an undesirable area, which is why many people choose to live together/have roommates, to help make the cost of city housing more affordable. I believe the average home price is somewhere in the high $400,000s, but in Los Angeles proper, that literally won't buy you anything, except for a condo (again, no yard)--you'd have to go outside of metro L.A. to get a single family home for that price. Around here, you can expect the housing prices to start more realistically at $750,000 and up if you want a yard. In that range, many homes will also have swimming pools. So, you see that while there IS room and space and fairly good weather, it's unfortunately not very easily affordable for most people--but the space IS here. I am not too familiar with Orange County (Long Beach, Irvine) just to the south of us (30 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on traffic), but I know many people who live down there and commute to work up here with relative success, as I think the housing is just slightly more affordable down there.

 

Hope that helps! In all honesty, if I had had a choice about where I was going to live with my dogs, it would NOT be in L.A., mainly due to equine considerations (the situation for boarding horses in the city is not the best here, due to the lack of grassy pastures)--I actually hope to move up to Santa Barbara at some point, which is much more horse-friendly. All horses aside, however, between N.Y.C and L.A., L.A. is definitely better for a medium- to large-sized dog due to the availability of outdoor exercising options, particularly as faciliated by the largely pleasant weather. San Diego might be another city to consider--the weather is even better down there (not as hot), and they have a great dog beach, too.

[borderfreak]

That sounds shit. A friend recommends florida. He's traveling every year there 'cause a part of his family lives there. what do you think? I fear that Luke and me will melting like a snowman.

[vaporflowers]

That sounds shit. A friend recommends florida. He's traveling every year there 'cause a part of his family lives there. what do you think? I fear that Luke and me will melting like a snowman.

 

Florida can be dog-friendly. I live in Orlando and most of it is dog-tolerant. The cost of renting in Central Florida starts at about 800-900/mo for a 1 bedroom. There is cheaper housing, but usually that means a scarier part of town. The homes usually start at around 300,000 and go up from there.

 

I'm currently working on moving to the west coast of FL (Sarasota specifically, around Tampa) and I've found it to be dog-friendlier when I've stayed there. A tad bit cheaper too, despite it's closeness to the beach.

 

Just be prepared for the extreme heat and humidity. Dog exercise is not done in the middle of the day most months. Much of our exercise occurs after 8 or 9 pm. It gets cold here a few days a year.

[kelpiegirl]

Well, I live in NY, which isn't that dog friendly, but it has nice seasons, and you are close to many other areas- and beaches. Weather is pretty temperate.... I have a friend at work who is from Belgium- I will ask her what she thinks of this area versus home..What do you do for a living- that may sway things a bit.

[borderfreak]

I'm apprentice on sheep farm right now.

 

@sid: Tell me more about colorado. I searched in the internet for it, looks pretty nice.

 

I heard that maryland is pretty cool when you have livestock.

[Laurae]

Colorado is fantastic! The Rocky Mountains and its foothills are a playground for both humans and canines, and the weather can't be beat (er, usually). It can be hot in the summer, but it's not at all humid, and it can be cold in the winter, though usually the sun is shining so it's not bad. Most of the population (including me and board members Anda, Jay, Dana, and Amy (Rockstar)--not sure about Sid) lives in the "Front Range," a corridor that runs north to south just to the east of the Rockies. It's 27 degrees right now (9 am) and today's high will be 42. Very sunny today. When it snows, it usually melts within a few hours due to the strong sun (last year and this year, this has not been the case, but it's due to el nino/la nina, so not the norm). Colorado is very dog friendly, with specialty dog shops all over the place, and dogs are allowed in many stores. There are great dog parks in Denver, and dogs can legally be off leash on many of the trails in the foothills and mountains as long as they are under voice and sight control. Colorado has world-class skiing, and if you ski or snowboard, you can often bring your dogs to the backcountry. There is also an active stockdog club. It's a great place to live with dogs!

[Anda]

Yay to Colorado, its weather (though we do complain a lot ), its dog-friedliness, active lifestyle of most of the population and its fantastic dog parks.

 

Drawbacks? No Oceans

[Sid]

Colorado, some say is the best kept secret...due to its 300+ days of sunshine and great people. At my past job visitors would come from the East coast and be amazed at the great weather we would be having in the middle of January! I have lived in Colorado Springs (on the front range) for 18 years and 2 years ago moved to Woodland Park (into the mountains), both places are great for getting outdoors with our furry friends. We are very land locked however, and the lakes they have here I refer to as puddles affectionally (they are generally pretty small) but you can swim with you dog in some of the various rivers we have in the high country during the summer....very cold water but once you are numb, it is great. My dog loves to swim as well.

The elevation takes a little while to get used to...Colorado Springs is right around 6000 ft above sea level and Woodland Park where I live is a little over 9000 ft so a litttle bit of adjustment is required.

And to Laurae's point when the weather is in the 40's with the sun out it is beautiful and only a sweater or jacket is needed, which I found just amazing when I moved here from Northern California.

I love it here....would never move away.

[borderfreak]

woof woof! colorado, we are coming!