In order to be hip, our dogs must be cool

[TribalRats]

By SUE CARLTON
Published February 4, 2007
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Recently in Miami Beach, I was surrounded by dogs.

No, this was a good thing.

Big, small, short, tall, they lounged with their people outside South Beach restaurants. They occupied every fourth or fifth table at chichi Lincoln Road cafes.

Here was a Great Dane, a chihuahua, a pair of sleek hounds whose lineage was clearly superior to my own. As their owners gabbed, the dogs lay quietly under tables, next to Dolce & Gabbana handbags or across a Versaced lap.

For someone who thinks dogs make a city that much more interesting, this was nice. But what was remarkable was how unremarkable they were.

One of them might thump a tail if someone spoke to him. But mostly they just hung out watching the pretty people pass by.

Why can't that happen here?

The local prodog lobby - those of us who believe dog-friendly towns are better places to live and play - was dealt a small but instructive blow last month.

St. Pete's Moon Under Water, our first local restaurant to take advantage of a state dog dining law passed in June, hung up the leashes.

The restaurant had been quietly welcoming well-behaved dogs to its outside tables for years. But the new law and all its publicity changed things.

Once it was officially legal, dogs starting coming in packs (so to speak). Suddenly, a diner might show up tethered to two or three dogs. Big ones. So many dogs wanted in they had to wait outside. Sometimes servers had to hop over them.

"It tripled probably the amount of traffic," says restaurant owner Mark Logan.

Naturally, this led to barking and, well, let's just say some behavior inappropriate even in a place where a little hind-end sniffing is considered okay. Moon Under Water had to think of its customers. So for now, No Dogs Allowed.

While the antidog lobby may be doing the Snoopy dance, this was not a failure of the law (which is actually a three-year pilot program.) In fact, the level of enthusiasm tells you people and their pooches want this.

Given Moon Under Water's prime dog-walking location amid high-rises, green spaces and water views, this was like opening the gates to Dog Disney.

And for the record, it should be noted that Bella Brava restaurant on Central Avenue has not had those kind of problems with dog dining.

So what's the answer, besides more venues?

Easy: good dogs.

Dog training expert Amy Ammen (most recent book: Hip Ideas for Hyper Dogs) says most should be able to handle public dining.

"It really depends on who's on the other end of the leash giving them direction," she says. A good dog in public remains "under the radar screen until he's invited to do otherwise."

I say if a dog can't manage that, maybe he's best left at home.

Listen. If we want to win this one, we dog people can't assume everyone wants to fawn over or even acknowledge our dogs. (Though we can privately feel sorry for those who don't.) Why should anyone in a restaurant be forced to listen to howling or witness scuffling when he's trying to dine?

Our first lesson in the prodog war: If we want our cities to be cool, apparently our dogs have to be, too.