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These cities would ideally have, plenty of dog parks, at least one dog daycare, trails or beaches that allow off leash dogs, at least one dog bakery, NO breed bans, plenty of Vets to choose from and various other pet related activities/shops.
Bonus points if you can take your well-behaved dog with you to coffee shops or restaurants and sit at the outside tables.
Double bonus points of the city is walkable and some (non-food) stores will allow well behaved dogs inside.
Does such a place exist? Where are all the pet lovers living?
Western Washington is pretty hard to beat for dog lovers. First,. people really love their animals. And there are myriad pocket parks around to take them for walks in.
California is good in the sense of people loving their animals, but not as many parks as Washington (probably because the land is just too valuable). The Mexican-American population also tends to treat dogs like crap, which I find heart wrenching. If I see another pinhead hispanic gangbanger with a pit bull I'm going to scream. Those idiots have a screw loose.
I'll second that -- W.WA (esp. Seattle) is dog friendly
I'd say that overall, Seattle is pretty dog friendly. It has at least 1 good dog bakery (Three Dog Bakery in downtown Seattle, https://www.threedog.com/default.aspx). I know of at least 1 dog park close to Capitol Hill, also. It's not fancy, just a gravelly lot, but even those are hard to come by in downtown. There are numerous dog daycares in downtown, and many in neighboring cities. Marymoor Park near Lake Sammamish (east of Seattle) has a 40-acre off-leash dog area. Seattle proper does not have BSL to my knowledge, but neighboring cities, such as Kirkland, do. There are also plenty of vets to choose from.
There used to be a pub that you could bring your dog into in West Seattle, but then someone apparently complained and they had to stop allowing it. I only saw well-behaved, quiet dogs in there, and they added to the relaxing and fun atmosphere of the place. It's really a shame, esp. in light of the Seattle Times article that stated that there are more dogs than kids in Seattle: The Seattle Times: Pacific NW 05/14/2006: Metro Dog).
Some parts of Seattle are walkable (depending on whether you are in downtown or a suburb), but I know of no stores other than pet stores that will allow your dog inside officially. I've seen people sneaking their small dogs into Starbucks, but I think we all know you're really not supposed to do that, and the fact that it's a small dog stuffed into your purse doesn't make it ok.
A lawmaker proposed a bill this year to allow dogs in pubs, but I don't think it went anywhere: Doggy diner bill moves forward). At least he's trying. Anyway, it seems that there is opposition from health officials concerned about dogs spreading "disease-causing bacteria"...funny that patrons in such establishments can be subjected to the various germs people carry around, as well as their hygiene issues, and the health officials don't seem too concerned about that. Personally, I'd rather take my chances with a dogborne pathogen vs. a humanborne one.
I had heard that Austin was a very dog-friendly city, but when I was there about 3 weeks ago, I saw surprisingly few dogs outside of the downtown and Zilker Park areas.
We like taking our dogs to the San Diego area. Can't find the link that lists them, but there are dog-friendly restaurants there, too. I think LocalWally.com gave some accurate info on dog-friendly places in San Diego.
San Francisco is very dog-friendly, except when it comes to housing... took me FOREVER to find a place to live, which wasn't $3000+ a month! But once you're settled in, dogs are very welcomed in this city. We have a whole plethora of dog-friendly parks & beaches, including most of Golden Gate Park, McLaren (my favorite), Fort Funston, and Ocean Beach. You can also shop most places with them, and store-owners will usually let you bring the doggie inside. As for eating, I haven't really explored those options yet... but we have tons of outdoor cafes, where I often see people sitting with their dogs. Here's a good website for you all: DogFriendly.com(TM) - Pet Travel Guides and City Guides for Dog/Pet Owners
I'm considering several cities for relocation, specifically Albuquerque, Phoenix and Denver. While Denver has the most items from my "Must Have" List, it still appears to be a dog-unfriendly place. Yes, it has dog parks, but I'm rating "pet friendly" by the number of places that will rent to people with pets. (I see more NO pet listings in Denver than the other two cities, right now I only have an indoor cat).
If any of the pet boardies here live in any of these three cities, would you mind posting your thoughts on your area? All comments welcome! Thanks!
Denver is dog unfriendly with BSL. Pitbull types or anything with a square head from what I read. Not sure about Phoenix but Albuquerque has no such law.
Madison's great for dogs. Beautiful, big dog parks all over, a couple with lakes/swimming areas. Downtown, you see people sitting at sidewalk cafes with their dogs all the time. (I've only been turned away once, and it was a swanky Italian restaurant.) Two or three big doggy daycares, several venues for training (even agility, flyball, etc, right in town). And a ton of yuppy grooming places and hippie organic/natural food pet supply stores.
I grew up in Evansville, Indiana and it is not a dog lovers city at all. There were no dog parks when I was there and I think they are just now working on building the first one. There really aren't any hiking trails/dog daycares/dog bakeries, etc... either and the only store I know of you could take your dog was Petsmart.
However, Bloomington, Indiana is a great town for dogs (and a great town in general!) It is a beautiful town with a great dog park that opens up to some trails near Lake Lemon. The downtown square is very dog-friendly and many shops will allow you to come in with your pooch (including the outdoors outfitters that I used to work at called J.L. Waters). Taking a walk through the Indiana Unversity campus is a great place to walk your dogs, especially in the spring when everything is in bloom...it's gorgeous! They have a great area called Kirkwood where people are always perusing the shops while walking with their dogs and most little restaurants/coffee houses have tables to sit at outside. Also there are no breed bans there.
I now live in Columbus, Ohio and so far it is so-so for dog lovers. We have a lot of great public dog parks and the people there are always very friendly. There are breed bans in certain parts of town, but I have two bully breed dogs and I haven't gotten in trouble anywhere yet (knock on wood). However, there's not much in the way of outdoor activities and really no shopping with your dogs, etc...
I really like this post CoffeeAddict, because I too am hoping to move to a great city for dog lovers and have been searching high and low for the exact same qualities you have been looking for. I loved living in Bloomington, but I would really like to find a larger city with some of the same qualities.
When we were looking at Boise we saw a lot of places that allowed dogs.
I don't know about the cities that you listed though.
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I'll second that -- W.WA (esp. Seattle) is dog friendly
But once you're settled in, dogs are very welcomed in this city. We have a whole plethora of dog-friendly parks & beaches, including most of Golden Gate Park, McLaren (my favorite), Fort Funston, and Ocean Beach. You can also shop most places with them, and store-owners will usually let you bring the doggie inside. As for eating, I haven't really explored those options yet... but we have tons of outdoor cafes, where I often see people sitting with their dogs. Here's a good website for you all: 
