A family vacation should be one with the whole family, and yes, that includes your four-legged babies that offer unconditional love and acceptance, but not all vacation destinations make it easy for this to be. Fortunately, you have chosen the extremely pet-friendly town of Gulf Shores for your vacation destination, and you even went a step further, choosing Poole & Associates and our pet-friendly retreats for your accommodations. This ultimate guide to enjoying the most Gulf Shores pet-friendly vacation (and surrounding towns) will ensure that this family getaway will be fulfilling, relaxing, and filled with love and excitement!
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Packing Made Easy
We’ve all been there. Packing for a family vacation is probably one of the most stressful parts of travel, especially for moms who generally are the people in charge of the luggage. We can assure you that most travelers do forget something important, including leashes for their dogs or even their favorite dog food. But that’s ok, the companies we have listed below will render it unnecessary to bring your pet’s favorite food and will have your back when it comes to anything you may have forgotten!
PetSmart, 2498 S McKenzie Street in Foley
We’re venturing a little further outside of Gulf Shores, simply because most people prefer familiarity when it comes to feeding their pet, and PetSmart, located all over the US, is usually the best place to find the food your pooch is already used to eating. Foley is a charming Alabama town, located just 11 miles outside of Gulf Shores, so the drive will be short and sweet, relieving your mind and getting the job done most expeditiously!
Posh Pets Boutique, 25753 Canal Road in Orange Beach
When you look into the warm brown eyes of your beautiful spaniel, all you see is love and adoration, and when you want to show how much she means to you, a visit to the Posh Pets Boutique should do it! Offering adorable pet accessories that are actually affordable, something you wouldn’t expect from a boutique, they also sell bones and treats, including the cutest dog cookies that actually look good enough for humans to eat. (They are not, so stay out of Sophie’s treats!)
Beach Dog, 1556 Gulf Shores Parkway #4 in Gulf Shores
Isn’t it funny how quickly your pup manages to find the stinkiest stuff to roll in? We are constantly shaking our heads at this furry phenomenon, and we make use of Beach Dog quite often because of it. Offering self-service dog wash stations, grooming services, and even dog walking, in case you are on an adventure where you had to leave your precious pug behind for more than a few hours, it is comforting knowing how close Beach Dog is to your beach retreat!
Just in Case
Vacations are supposed to be fun and lighthearted, and we sincerely hope that everything is absolutely wonderful during your stay, but life happens. We’ve spent more than a few nights on vacation in emergency rooms with our kids, and yes, that includes our pets, and since it is better to be prepared than not, we are offering information about emergency vets in the area. Or in this case, one specific emergency vet, VCA Magnolia by the Gulf, located at 19930 Oak Road West in Gulf Shores. We use this vet service ourselves when our pets are ill or hurt and we can assure you that the wonderful staff will offer caring and loving treatment to your most precious cargo, ensuring that your vacation will soon get back to being lighthearted and fun!
All the Fun You Will Have
Now that we have the necessities out of the way, it is time to play, and yes, our dog-friendly towns will offer plenty of activities that your entire family can participate in, not just hiking and bark parks. The activities listed below are just a sample of what you can expect when you are exploring all that makes the Gulf Shores area wonderful.
Unleashed in Orange Beach Dog Park, 27920 Canal Road in Orange Beach
Yes, there are more things to do than dog parks, but Unleashed in Orange Beach Dog Park is sure to be your pet’s favorite activity, offering a fenced playground for pets, water stations, and plenty of benches and shade for their human parents to relax as they get all their zoomies out with their new friends. It’s not often dogs are allowed to run free, and this wonderful bark park, divided into areas for big dogs and small dogs, really will be a highlight of your fantastic Frenchie’s Alabama adventures.
Nicole Fishing Charters, 1577 AL-180 in Gulf Shores
A day out on the water with the family is going to be the best day, and Nicole Fishing Charters invites your corgi to join in the fun! Offering more than just fishing charters, this company is proud of their dolphin watching tours, their sunset cruises, and of course, their angling adventures that may include shark fishing trips if you want to up the thrill levels. There is just something serene and peaceful about skimming across the water, and reasonable prices make this pet-friendly activity a viable one for tighter budgets.
The Wharf, 23101 Canal Road in Orange Beach
Shopping on vacation is a time-honored tradition, and the Wharf is one of the largest shopping centers in the area, offering entertainment and dining choices as well, and yes, it is a pet-friendly establishment. Not every store or restaurant will welcome your precious pooch, but enough will that we think your day of shopping will be most successful. Home to the Good Dog Boutique, offering a variety of dog accessories, they also sell dog breed accessories for humans, including purses and tees.
Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail, 24037 Perdido Beach Boulevard in Orange Beach
The beauty of the Alabama landscape deserves to be experienced up close and a hike along the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail is our favorite way to do so. Leashed dogs are welcomed on the 28-mile-long trail that takes guests through a variety of ecosystems, including freshwater marshes and coastal hardwood swamps. The trail connects Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, winding along some of the most stunning landscape in the world while also offering glimpses of some of our local wildlife and will be an adventure your entire family will remember happily, even if you don’t complete the entire 28 miles!
Pet-Friendly Events in the Gulf Shores Area
The events that take place in Gulf Shores offer a peek into what makes our town special, and sometimes those events are pet-friendly, including the National Shrimp Festival that occurs every October. For over 50 years, we have been celebrating the most delicious crustacean with a festival that offers all type of seafood but pays special attention to the shrimp.
Offering four days of food, fun, and music, there will be arts and crafts for the kids, a sand sculpture contest for whoever is interested, and shrimp festival races that will make you feel better about all the food you have just consumed. Crab cakes, conch fritters, lobster, and shrimp cooked in all the ways, this delicious festival is also dog-friendly, as long as your pet stays on its leash and is well-mannered. We really don’t want any food catastrophes!
Blessing of the Animals, 14755 Oak Street in Magnolia Springs
This next event involves another road trip, this time to the charming town of Magnolia Springs (Even the name is charming, don’t you think?) in time for the Blessing of the Animals. Held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Chapel and celebrating the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, blessings and collar medals are given to each dog, ensuring that your poodle will be the best accessorized at your local bark park!
Time to Dine
Nearly every vacation tale you tell will usually involve a meal you had at a local restaurant, and there will be no reason to leave your four-legged babies behind when you visit these local pet-friendly restaurants in the Gulf Shores area.
Woodside Restaurant, 20249 State Park Road in Gulf Shores
Southern food is different from other foods, simply because every dish is created with love, and Woodside Restaurant is a perfect example. This is where you will have the best brisket and gravy while sharing an outdoor table with your traveling dog and will probably be the source of one of your favorite vacation tales!
Tacky Jack’s 2, 1577 AL-180 in Gulf Shores
Combining food, fun, and family is what Tacky Jack’s 2 does best—oh, and spoiling your dog too, of course. Pets are welcomed and fawned over on the deck overlooking the Gulf. Also offering karaoke at Jack’s Bar downstairs (although we aren’t sure dogs are welcome there), this exciting eatery offers an iconic Gulf Shores experience for the whole family. And although everything on the menu is delicious and mouthwatering, we suggest that you have to try their Mexican Garbage, their version of nachos!
The Beach House Kitchen & Cocktails, 1154 W Beach Boulevard in Gulf Shores
A good cocktail isn’t always the easiest to find in most places, but in Gulf Shores, all you have to do is head over to the Beach House Kitchen & Cocktails and prepare to have your beverage dreams come true! Offering an all-American menu filled with burgers, seafood, and sandwiches, their cocktails truly will have you sipping the night fantastic. Their covered porch is where you will dine with your sweet pooch, who will also be spoiled by the staff that works there!
At Home with Poole & Associates
As you may or may not expect, your favorite adventures may happen at home as you and your family play, relax, and savor sea views that will burrow their way into your hearts. Our pet-friendly rentals in Gulf Shores, AL are comfortable spaces, differing from our other rentals only by the fact that your pet is welcome here.
The majority of our rentals are Gulf Shore condos, so you will have to leash your pup when it is time to go for a walk, but we do offer some homes with fenced backyards that will be convenient for you and safe for your bulldog. And when you come home every evening after a full day of adventures with fur and human children, we can promise that it really will feel like you are coming home.
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Picture Your Family Here
Within seconds of walking inside our pet-friendly spaces, you will immediately be able to picture how you and your family will be able to live in each room. Living rooms with plush sofas and state-of-the-art televisions may be where you spend lazy evenings at home, watching movies as you feel your body relaxing into the sofas as you laugh and cry over what is happening on the screen. Dining areas are the perfect spots for playing board games and if you check that cabinet next to the TV, chances are you will find a few of your favorites, as well as some giant jigsaw puzzles that you can put together with the family at odd moments between adventures.
And whatever you do here, whichever room you are resting in, your pet will be right there with you, bringing joy and extra happiness to a vacation experience already filled with both! These moments are the ones you will remember, long after you have returned to real life, bringing a smile to your face as you remember how happy you all were. Reserve your favorite Poole & Associates pet-friendly Gulf Shores vacation rental today and discover all the ways your Gulf Shores vacation will be one you will wish never had to end!