There’s a surge in pet dogs in Delhi, and with that, a rise in pet-friendly restaurants in the city too (list below!). Adorable desi dogs Remo and Milou share 9 tips to make your dog-friendly restaurant outing pleasurable for you, your dog and the other customers:

1. Make sure your dog is healthy and up to date on vaccinations!
2. Exercise your dog before the visit so she’s more likely to be calm during your meal.
3. Let the first visit be at a non-peak hour so as to ease your pup into this environment. A walk around the cafe (if appropriate at the time) and 1-2 short walks can break the monotony and prevent restlessness in your pup.
4. Make sure she’s done her job before entering the cafe and that she can hold it in for the entire duration. Puppies are cute, but have to be clean and respectful of the establishment!
5. Make sure your pup is settled right by you on the floor (not ideal, but can work) or under the table (space permitting) so that other patrons are not inconvenienced. Solid sit-down-stay commands can help with this. Not everyone likes dogs and you must respect that.
6. Your pup cannot be allowed to approach people without permission. Yes, they should be friendly, but not over-friendly! With prior exercise, a good recall and sit-down-stay commands, over-friendly behaviours can be controlled for.
7. Make sure your dog doesn’t beg for food, bark and play about! She needs to be calm. If you want your dog to run around, visit a park and not a pet-friendly cafe.Milou is a bit wary of certain objects. At this outing, he got uncomfortable at the sight of a yoga mat and a helmet! Remember to remain calm, and use your basic obedience training during such situations. Here, we asked Milou for a ‘paw’ to get back his attention on us.

   

8. Give your pup a LOT of praise and attention for being calm, good behaviour. Make them want to be calm!
9. And the most importantly – your dog should enjoy being at this space!! If they’re nervous about strangers, dogs, sounds, sights etc, don’t bring them to a pet-friendly cafe. It’ll do more harm than good. You can always leave them at home, indulge in activities that they may like such as long quiet walks, games of fetch, nosework and/or work with a canine behaviourist to work through the dog’s fears.

Not all dogs are born calm and zen to ace their first time at a pet-friendly cafe. You will have to to be alert and watchful for signs of stress in your dog. It takes effort to train your dog and build a strong bond between her and you! It gets easier, and more pleasurable with every visit.

Pet-friendly Restaurants in South Delhi (call ahead to confirm!):

• Big Fat Pizza, Safdarjung
• Big Fat Sandwich, Hauz Khas
• Big Fat Sandwich & Pizza, GK2
• Blue Tokai, Saidulajab
• Blue Tokai, Safdarjung
• Brown Box, Panchsheel Park
• Cafe Dori, Chattarpur
• Chateau de Pondicherry, Adchini
• Diggin, Anand Lok
• Fig and Maple, GK2
• Jugmug Thela, Saidulajab
• Miam, Lado Sarai
• Quick Brown Fox Coffee Roasters, Chattarpur