Dog owner makes his own dog-friendly patio guide for Kitchener-Waterloo

Dog owners can no longer feel guilty about leaving their pets at home for one owner has come up with a local guide of dog-friendly patios.

Erik Erwin, a brokerage agent in Waterloo, has put together a list of restaurants across Kitchener and Waterloo that allow patrons to have dogs on the patio. 

Erwin says he came up with the idea when he and his girlfriend adopted their own dog, Gin.

When Gin's behavioural training progressed, Erwin wanted to start taking her everywhere with him.

“I looked all over online to see what patios in K-W would allow dogs, and I couldn't find any database.” says Erwin, “So I said… let's just make a database ourselves.”

During the next few months, Erwin called restaurants, coffee shops and bars across Kitchener and Waterloo, including a few that he frequented to see if they allowed dogs.

Not only did Erwin discover that many places in Kitchener-Waterloo allowed dogs on their patio, but some also offered brunch too. 

As he put all the information together, Erwin says he realized the potential of creating a guide for dog owners.

“There was a need that I saw,” says Erwin, “I know I have a lot of friends who that have dogs that have the same passion for patios as we do with our very short summers.”

When the data base was finished in May, Erwin ran into the challenge of finding someone to take information and turn it into a visual.

“I'm not a great at design work,” says Erwin, “trying to find a graphic designer to put something together that I liked, that's easy to read, that someone could put in their pockets or their purse… that was the challenging part.”

When the guide was published in July it got a lot of positive responses with many people surprised to learn how many businesses allowed dogs on the patio.

“It's those small ones, like Taco Farm has three or four tables just outside, and its those coffee shops that people forget about.” says Erwin. 

With the guide now complete, Erwin says that he plans to expand the guide to cover other areas in Waterloo Region, but will need some feedback first.

“If people feel that they want something for Cambridge, or even different areas with either dog-friendly patios or just kind of a patio list for next year, that would be awesome and I would love to see if there's a need for that.” says Erwin.

“It was a lot of fun putting it together.”

To download a free copy of the guide, go to Erik Erwin's Instagram page.