The Dog Lover's Companion to California: The Inside Scoop on Where to Take Your Dog

I am a dog that is very much in love with Joe Dog and his human helper Maria Goodavage for the work they did putting this huge sensational book together. If I could talk I'd reccommend this book to all my friends. Its a good thing I can type because at least I can reccommend it to their humans.This book has had my "masters" take me on great journeys all over California. They laugh when they read it and then they make some phone calls and suddenly I'm in the car and we're going off to some very cool vacation. I always get treated well by the innkeepers and I always get to go to restaurants, well at least the outside eating areas and I always get to do nice things like go to a winery or take a cable car or ride a gondola up a mountain to go hiking down. My neighbor friend Maggie always got left behind and put in a kennel when her "owners" went on vacation, so I had my people get this book for her people and now Maggie gets to go on vacation to! My "owners" say the book is hilariously written and super accurate and they sometimes read me about the places their going to take me and this is nice. They love the paw ratings (one to four paws) and the helpful information in the front and back. The Golden Bone Awards are a big hit with them. They look at them and say ooh, let's see why this one got an award and then they read it and then we're staying at a great new place or something.My favorite time so far has been when we went on vacation in gold country. I even got to dig for gold thanks to this book. I found a little to! It was kind of a set up, but it was fun. The only other books I've shown interest in have been books I could chew, so you gotta know this is a real good one.Five paws up. This book has made my life really great.

I can't say enough good things about this book. Not only is it a very valuable resource, it's fun to read. The author's descriptions of hotels, restaurants and attractions are amusing and accurate. On my first trip with my dog we stayed at dumps and ate at fast food drive thrus. Armed with this book the second trip was a very different story. I found nice but inexpensive hotels and Farli was treated like the queen she thinks she is when we stopped to eat. Even if you don't travel much you will probably find lots of interesting places in your own backyard. I didn't know there was a steam train that allowed dogs just 20 minutes away from me until I read it in the book. Fun stuff!

Excellent writing and near-perfect information make this the only book you need when you explore California with your pooch. Full of maps, restaurant reviews, a wide variety of overnight options, unusual recreational activities, and even historical tidbits, it's more than just a listing of parks for dogs. It's given us great ideas for road trips to new places, and made us excited to revisit old favorites to do things we missed. Very thorough and fun to read--buy it!

I would recommend "The California Dog Lover's Companion" to anyone who has a dog and lives in California or plans on visiting the Golden State. This book is very well researched and put together. Locations to take your dog are easy to find because the book is split into sections for each county in California. The book lists places you can stay and restaurants that are dog friendly; I even discovered a few places I didn't even know about that were close to my home. One very valuable thing this books does is to tell you the parks and open areas that allow dogs to run without a leash or if you'll need to keep your pet on the leash. This is a great book for all dog lovers in California!

We have only had our dog 5 months, now, and I can't say that I have tried alot of the places reviewed in this book. I can say that I am overwhelmingly grateful that someone took the time to compile this information. I used to poke fun at my friends who couldn't bare to leave their dog at home, and now I find myself feeling the same way! The prospects of what this book has to offer is delightful.The book is broken down into counties. You will find listings for parks, recreation, places to stay, restaurants, and diversions. Depending on what the county has to offer, those that are profiled are rated. The book is fun to use and humorous. It is reassuring to see so many places that are dog friendly, and I anticipate patronizing quite a few of the listings.