5 Unique Things to Do With Your Dog In Seattle

Seattle is one of the most dog friendly cities in the U.S. You may have heard but there are actually more dogs than kids in Seattle.

It’s hard to go anywhere without seeing people driving with dogs in their cars, eating outside at restaurants with their dogs, or out walking with their dogs.

Dog friendly hotels and specialty pet stores are everywhere.

A an internet search of Seattle will reveal many places to go and things to do with your dog.

However, I found that most of the articles talked about the same things over and over.

I thought I would share 5 unique things you can do with your dog in Seattle for locals and travelers looking to do something a little different.

UPDATED: January 8, 2023

1) Ride a Bus with Your Dog to a Hiking Trail

Visiting Seattle and want to go hiking but don’t have a car? No problem.

Well-behaved dogs are allowed to ride the King County Metro Buses.

You and your pooch can board the Trailhead Direct bus in downtown Seattle, or Bellevue, and ride to the Mt. Si, Little Si, and Mt. Teneriffe trailheads on weekends and holidays during the summer.

Visit the Trailhead Direct website (link) for more info.

You can also ride the bus within the Seattle city limits for an urban hiking experience at one of the many parks.

If you are ready for a moderate climb, hike Little Mount Si for a view of the Snoqualmie Valley.

©Depositphotos.com - Photo by gnives50
Discovery Park Photo Courtesy: Depositphotos/gnives50

If you want an easier hike in Seattle that includes urban forest, beach views (dogs are not allowed ON the beach but there is a short path that walks along it), and a lighthouse, head to Discovery Park.

2) See the Biggest Cowboy Boots and Hat in America

The 22-foot high boots and 44-foot wide cowboy hat were once restrooms at a 1950’s gas station.

During it’s heyday, the gas station was the biggest selling station in the state.

Rumor has it that Elvis stopped there when he was in town for the 1962 World’s Fair.

If that didn’t make them famous enough, the giant cowboy boots and hat also appeared in the opening credits of the movie National Lampoons Vacation.

They have been restored and are currently located in Seattle’s Oxbow Park at 6430 Corson Ave S, Seattle, 98108.

3) Take Your Dog Paddleboarding or Kayaking

Both Green Lake Boat Rentals and Ballard Kayak Rentals allow you bring your dog along on your watery adventures. You can rent kayaks or paddleboards at either place.

If you rent from Green Lake Boat Rentals, you will find yourself paddling a 259 freshwater lake surrounded by one of the most popular walking/jogging paths in the City of Seattle.

Ballard Kayak Rentals is on Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and they offer a 30-minute one-on-one lesson for newbie paddleboarders.

Note: Ballard Kayak only lets dogs in their kayaks, not on paddleboards.

Paddleboarding Dachshunds 1

4) Browse the Ballard Farmer’s Market

A lot of farmers markets don’t allow dogs but the Ballard Farmer’s Market is dog friendly.

Here you’ll find fruits and veggies straight from the garden, beautiful, inexpensive bouquets, and artisan products such as hand made soap, freezer jam, and jewelry.

The farmers market is open Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. year round.

5) Ride the S.L.U.T (South Lake Union Trolley)

This is something you do just to say you did it.

In 2007, the City of Seattle launched a development plan to revitalize the South Lake Union neighborhood.

During this revitalization, the South Lake Union Trolley was born.

The trolley is part of the King County Metro transit System so, like the buses, well-behaved dogs are allowed on board.

The 1.3 mile stretch that connects downtown Seattle to the South Lake Union neighborhood is short but it has a funny story.

Politicians were so proud of the new trolley that they failed to realize that the acronym for the name spelled SLUT.

Seattleites jumped on this, taking every opportunity to poke fun at the name, and some genius printed “Ride the S.L.U.T” t-shirts (affiliate link).

Politicians, probably embarrassed, switched the name from “trolley” to “streetcar”.

While, technically, it’s no longer the S.L.U.T, many Seattlites still remember it as such and your friends from out of state won’t know any better when you tell them the funny story.

I can’t vouch for the looks you will get when you proudly exclaim “my dog rode the S.L.U.T while we were in Seattle” though.

Final Thoughts

Seattle is a great City for dog lovers.

If you are traveling here with your pooch I think you will be pleased.

If you live here and own a dog, I encourage you to get out and explore your City.

See Also: 11 Reasons Why Seattle is the Most Dog Friendly City (link)


Seattle is a great city to visit with your dog. If  you search for dog friendly things to do, you will come up with a lot of suggestions. However, most articles list the same ones over and over. I'm a local so I put together this list of unique dog friendly things to do.


About the Author

Hi, I’m Jessica. I’ve been studying the Dachshund breed since 2007, owned 3 of my own, and shared in the lives of thousands of others through their owner’s stories. When I’m not sharing what I know on this blog, you can find me hiking, camping, and traveling with my adventurous wiener dogs.

16 Comments

  1. Bookmarking this for the future 🙂 We’ve been wanting to take a trip to Seattle!

  2. I love how dog friendly Seattle is; if it wasn’t such a long drive, I would consider bringing Rodrigo down with me.

    1. “Long drive”…you are funny 🙂 We regularly drive to Bellingham which is only 1.5 hours. We just drove for two days to Jackson, Wyoming. I will be driving to Portland and back next week. I think it’s a mere hour from Seattle to Marysville. I guess it’s all relative though 🙂 If you don’t do much driving….

      You should just come down sometime!

      1. Very true; it’s all relative. For us, it would be a long drive, because our dogs aren’t used to being in the car for more than 15 minutes, because we stick to local areas with them. Driving a long distance with 4 large dogs in traffic to Seattle would be hard on all of us, but that’s just because we chose rural living – it’s more our speed. But it would be fun to try; I’m just not willing to risk the stress to our dogs 🙂

        1. That makes sense. Chester grew up driving hours and hours with me……and I can’t imagine riding with 4 stressed out dogs!

  3. Seattle is definitely on my bucket list. I have always wanted to live there because I think the climate would be perfect for me. Their dog-friendliness makes it that much more desirable! Detroit needs to learn from them and so many other cities!

    1. You live in Detroit Caren? I’m not sure I knew that. Strangely, my hubby wants to go there to see it since a lot of things shut down – he pictures a big, abandoned industrial city.

      1. yep I live 34 miles north of Detroit. I lived in Cleveland, Ohio for 35 yrs before moving here in 2001. Tell your husband it isn’t quite like that. A lot of people left Michigan when the economy tanked but it is far from a scene from “The Day After” lol……..well…there are a number of zombies walking around!

  4. LOL I want to ride the SLUT! We’ve been to The French Quarter in New Orleans where dogs could do everything BUT ride the trolley. I love the water and I keep hearing more and more about paddle boarding which would be sooo much fun! The closest I’ve ever gotten to Seattle is “Sleepless In Seattle” but maybe one day…

  5. Wow, they actually let dogs on the bus and the S.L.U.T.? How cool is that? It will probably be a long time before they allow that where I live. We really need to visit Seattle some day.

  6. Great post! I daresay that Seattle has some stiff competition, though 😉 I’m writing a post about my old stomping grounds of Annapolis, MD, definitely one of the pet-friendliest cities in North America!! xo

    1. Great. Be sure to come back here and leave a link to it. I am not sure I would ever make it there but I like to know about other areas of the country and some of my readers might go.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.