So, you've got your pet with you in the hotel room. Now what? Are you going to stay inside with him and watch My Dog Skip on pay-per-view all day? No, sirreee. You want to get out and explore the sights. Maybe checkout a museum, a park, or go somewhere to eat. The problem is, you don't think your pet will be accepted. Well, we say PHOOEY to that! At petswelcome.com it's always been our philosophy (not to mention our sick, driving compulsion) that taking along a pet requires more than pet-friendly lodging. After all, you don't want to drag your pooch halfway across the country to sit on a different bed with him. Wouldn't it be great to sit in a bar in Key West with your Golden Retriever, nursing a beer and watching the sun go down? That's the point of this section: to show you fun and cool places that accept pets--from restaurants to stores to museums to concerts to historic places (and much more); anywhere, in short, you wouldn't think a pet would be allowed. Also places like pet-friendly rest stops along highways, so you will know where to stop if you're passing by.

While we'd like to take the credit for finding all of these places ourselves, a sense of appreciation (as well as various plagiarism and libel suits) compel us to share the credit with many of our visitors at petswelcome.com. You are the ones out there finding offbeat places to take pets and we get great enjoyment in passing that information on to other pet owners who can then enjoy the find for themselves. If you know of a place, just fill out the Watchdog Club Form and tell us about a unique pet-friendly area you've found on your journeys. Every week we award a Watchdog T-shirt to the best entry. So if you know of, or find, any places we have don't have listed, please join the club. You might even win a cheesy T-shirt. More importantly, though, you'll be helping out traveling pet owners everywhere who would love to take their pets to these great places.

As with everything on our site, the golden rule is always call ahead (if possible) before you take your pet with you. Since many of these places are not traditional pet-friendly venues, we don't want you getting in trouble when you show up with your dog. Pet-friendly jails is not one of our categories. We're sure that won't happen, but we know you'll have a better time if you're confident in your plans.