by Gernot Taschler 
1. Sunny Isles Beach/ North Miami Beach
Florida has beautiful wetlands, rivers and mangroves. Oleta River State Park is one example of where you can enjoy this. You and your dog can walk the trails, kayak, canoe and stand-up paddle board with you. If your dog likes the beach, you MUST explore Haulover Beach Park which offers 180 acres of off leash beach front real estate for dogs. There’s also fenced play areas for small and big dogs and a mix use area for both. Lastly, East Greynolds Dog Park right off of Biscayne Blvd offers acres of fenced dog park areas, separated into big and small.
2. Miami Beach
Miami Beach is most likely the most dog-friendly part of Miami and there are a myriad of places for dogs, but we wanted to highlight two of the best. South point which is filled with beautiful high rises and lush South Pointe Park which features off leash hours from Sunrise to 10AM and from 4:30pm – 8:00pm Monday through Sunday. Miami Beach also has a bark beach available on Friday, Saturday & Sunday • 1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m between 80th and 81st Street on the east of the North Beach Oceanside Park. Entrance is on Collins and 81 Street.
3. Edgewater
The Edgewater neighborhood located north of Downtown, but south of Midtown and Upper East side. This area has many historic and early 20th century homes, but lots of new construction too in fact, North Bayshore Drive features a row of high-rise residential towers. The best part of this area is the beautiful Margaret Pace Park, which overlooks Biscayne Bay. The park has fenced small/large dog areas, basketball, tennis beach volleyball courts and even an area with exercise equipment. The coolest thing is that if you live in this area and need a doggie day care or boarding facility for your pup, there is one located in the lobby of one of the buildings along Bayshore Drive.
4. Miami Shores
Miami Shores Village, often referred to as “America’s Mediterranean” is a quaint neighborhood with 1920s Italian inspired architecture within a landscape associated with water. There is a total of 101 upscale Mediterranean homes and 25 of them have been designated National Historic. The Village boasts its very own dog park featuring fenced- in large and small dog fenced dog areas.
5. Brickell
Brickell, an urban neighborhood in Downtown Miami is South Florida’s major financial district. It’s super cool and super hip and most buildings are dog friendly and some even had designated areas just for dogs. Most restaurants are also dog friendly and walking around town you’ll likely see water bowls for the dogs and dodo stations.
6. Coconut Grove
Coconut Grove is the oldest inhabited neighborhood in Miami-Dade County, in fact The Barnacle House built in 1891 is still standing in its original location. Another interesting feature of Coconut Grove is how green it is, there are lots of beautiful parks, one of them being Kennedy Park which sits along the Bay and has two separate fenced dog areas for big and small dogs. Throughout the area, there is a good number of established doggy daycare places.
7. Hollywood
Hollywood has always been the people’s original favorite place because it was one of the first beaches that had designated beach hours for dogs. Every Monday through Sunday, from 3pm to 7pm and 4pm to 8pm during daylight hours, the portion of the beach between Pershing and Custer Street is open to dogs. There is a daily admission fee and options for 6 month passes. It’s awesome and highly recommended.
The average 3/2 single family home in Hollywood goes for $750, 000.
8. Fort Lauderdale
This beach too, is another original having the portion of the beach from Sunrise Boulevard on A1A north through the second set of parking spaces open for dogs every Friday through Sunday from 3pm to 7pm and from 3pm to 9pm during daylight hours. They offer a weekend pass for $7 and annual passes for Ft. Lauderdale and Non-Fort Lauderdale residents. One thing to keep in mind about this location, said Leby Gonzalez, owner and Professional dog trainer at Rocco’s Pack Dog Training is that your dog should have a pretty reliable recall if you’re going to venture out to this beach. The beach is right along A1A and although the traffic can be slow moving at times, you still don’t want a loose dog out there not responding to a recall.
