Portland is widely lauded as one of the most dog-friendly cities in America. It’s definitely kind of shocking coming from Philadelphia, where, say…I’ve never shopped at Old Navy with a pit bull. Within two weeks of moving to Portland, I’d done that. And within a month of moving here, I’d also shopped with a pomeranian in Home Depot. To Grace’s delight, the pomeranian was shaved to look like a lion and was being pushed around in the front seat of the cart. Now that we’ve been here for over a year and a half, we’ve seen first hand the many ways Portland loves dogs – dogs go anywhere their people go, restaurants and shops offer bowls of fresh water, free dog treats for shopping pets, etc.

Recently, I noticed that Washington Square Mall (our version of King of Prussia…only much, much smaller) has a doggie rest area outside the mall. It was so inviting, my kids took off into it before we knew what it was. Say it with me now: ewwwwwww. Nonetheless – this tickled me and I thought I would share. It’s pretty much nicer than my backyard was in Jenkintown. Hahaha.

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  All the fixings for a nice respite for shop-a-holic Fido...

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  ...complete with a fire hydrant!