The Best Dog-Friendly Places In Toronto

Luckily, Toronto is an inclusive city that has many dog-friendly places to explore. Whether you’re looking to enjoy the outdoors, take a walk, play in the park, shop or have a party. We thought it would be fun to wrap up the year with a round-up of our favorite dog-friendly places to take dogs downtown in our hometown.

We wanted to try out the new Sony Action Cam we borrowed and film Kilo the Pug as he visited some of his favorite spots in The 6ix.

See the product review for the Sony Action Cam here.

The Best Spots For You and Your Dog in Downtown Toronto

Sadly, pet-friendly PawsWay closed in 2017 but it was the perfect place for Kilo to try agility on a winter day, for us to film our auditions and for events like the launch of our Talent Hounds Rescues Rock TV series,  PugALug‘s Pug Claus and other fundraiser parties, fashion shows like Strut Your Mutt,  classes like agility, doga and puppy school and Rescue Adoption drives.

Walking Along the Waterfront

Toronto’s Waterfront is the perfect place for a walk with your dog in any weather. Toronto is home to one of the longest urban lakefronts in the world. From the Rouge River to Etobicoke Creek, the 46-kilometre shoreline has attractions ranging from parks, beaches, marinas to concert venues, art galleries, skating rinks and even a BMX park. I love to see the Tall Ships, grab a coffee at the Starbucks in the Radisson Hotel or Williams Cafe and sit on one of the many lakefront benches or shop at the markets.

Read: Walking Toronto Waterfront With Dogs

Evergreen Brick Works 

The Evergreen Brick Works located in Toronto’s Don Valley has been transforming public landscapes into thriving community spaces with environmental, social and economic benefits. The beautiful space is perfect for enjoying nature, eating or grabbing a coffee, exploring the wooded area and shopping at the farmers or garden markets. It connects with a huge network of ravines and parks to explore. Dogs have to stay on leash to protect wildlife which makes it much easier to enjoy walking there with Kilo.

Read: Walking the Dog in the Brick Works

The Fairmont Hotel

Out of all Toronto’s many wonderful pet-friendly hotels, nothing beats the historic 5-star Fairmont Royal York right in the heart of the city. The Fairmont Royal York is a luxury hotel that often sleeps celebrities visiting Toronto including canines like the King of Pop Culture, Doug The Pug. We filmed an interview with Doug and an episode of Backseat Barkers there and loved it.

See all of the highlights from our time at the Fairmont Hotel HERE.

The Westin Harbor Castle Hotel

Woofstock held their fabulous fashionable High Tea at the Westin in 2017. Celebrity Doppelganger Dogs and dog lovers were made to feel so welcome as they walked the red carpet then strutted on the runway.

Dog-Friendly Restaurants

What’s better than having an amazing meal or delicious coffee? Being able to enjoy it with your dog. Sadly there are not many places you can dine with your dog in Ontario outside private homes or events because of a health law.

Tom and Sawyer    This place serves coffee and cold drinks for humans so you don’t have to tie up your best friend on the street, but its real raison d’être is to serve up freshly prepared pet food. We had our meeting on our 2 dog-related films “Music Rescues” and “Pippy Love” there just before Christmas and it was such a great ambience.

Thor Espresso Bar – bring your dog on the patio or grab a drink and head to the nearby Victoria Memorial Park.

Williams Coffee Pub– used to be located inside Purina PawsWay – you could enjoy sitting indoors and actually eating with your dog as they have a special license.

Trinity Bellwoods Park ‘The Dog Bowl’

Trinity Bellwoods Park is a large public park located in the downtown west end of Toronto, bordering on Queen Street West and Dundas Street.  It is favorite place for local residents to walk their dogs. The ravine, known as ‘The Dog Bowl’, is the designated leash-free area for dogs to play.

We attend the Toronto Pug Grumble hosted by our pal Helmut the Pug at The Dog Bowl. It’s the perfect place to host meet-ups for pugs to socialize and play. I have to say it was a bit frosty in December when we tried to film with the Sony Action Cam and so the turnout was low and I had a few technical fails.

Cherry Beach Off Leash Dog Park

In the warmer month’s Cherry Beach’s Dog Park is the perfect place for dogs and owners to cool off in the water. It has one of the largest areas of lakefront and beach of any off-leash dog park in the city. In fact, almost the entire West side of Cherry Beach is designated just for dogs. With the beautiful views of the Toronto skyline and of Lake Ontario, it’s a scenic experience for everyone. The park is large enough to really tire dogs out and is usually busy with a constant flow of dogs to meet and greet. Even unsociable Kilo loves roaming around with his dog cousins and humans there.

See more photos from our Cherry Beach Day

 Toronto Dog Parks and Off-Leash Areas in Toronto from Toronto Dog Stuff

Have You Visited One Of These Dog-Friendly Places or Do You have a Favorite?

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