Find dog-friendly places – the DOGSY guide
Where to go with a dog? The guide is a map and directory of dog-friendly places near you: excursion spots and trails, dog-friendly restaurants and cafés, vets, dog schools and grooming salons – plus an emergency vet section with clinics reachable around the clock.
What is the DOGSY guide?
The guide gathers dog-friendly places on a map and in a searchable list. You filter by radius and category, sort by distance, rating or newest, and open each place with its address, opening hours, phone, website and route via Google Maps. Every place carries a paw rating from dog people. Know a great spot that's missing? Add it yourself – the guide grows with the community.
What it looks like in the app
A look at the guide before you sign in.
What you'll find in the guide
From a Sunday outing to a vet appointment – the places fall into five main areas:
Excursions
Places for long walks and free noses – perfect for a weekend with your dog.
- Hikes & walking trails
- Dog beaches & swimming spots
- Zoo & wildlife park
- Amusement park
- Dog parks & off-leash areas
- Outdoor experiences
- Indoor experiences
- Boat trips
- Shopping centre
Overnight stays
Places to sleep where your dog is expressly welcome – from tent to hotel bed.
- Campsite
- Holiday home/flat
- Hotel
Food & drink
Venues that expressly welcome your dog – indoors and out.
- Cafés
- Restaurants with dogs
Dog services
Specialist businesses for your dog's health, training and grooming.
- Vets
- Dog schools
- Grooming salons
- Canine physiotherapy
- Doggy day care
Emergency vet
When it has to be fast: addresses that help in an emergency.
- 24-hour animal hospitals
- Emergency practices
- Emergency hotlines
Emergency vet around the clock
In an emergency every second counts. The emergency vet section shows you animal hospitals and emergency practices with a 24-hour service near you – reachable around the clock, including at night, on weekends and public holidays. Addresses with a 24-hour service appear at the top; one tap and you call directly. DOGSY gathers the addresses; the service itself is provided by the clinics.
- 24-hour addresses first – no searching in an emergency
- Call directly or navigate to the nearest clinic
- Official warnings (e.g. blue-green algae) in the same section
- Poison bait warnings from dog people for your area
Suspected poisoning?
Don't wait – contact a vet or animal emergency service immediately. Tox Info Suisse advises around the clock on 145. Warning signs: heavy drooling, trembling, vomiting, cramps, apathy.
How the guide works
In just a few steps from a dog-friendly place to the right address near you:
Open the guide
In DOGSY, open the «Discover» area and the «Guide» inside it. A line above the results tells you straight away where you stand – for example «4 places · radius 10 km».
Set the radius
Above the search field you pick the radius: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 or 100 km. The line below says what the distances are measured from – for example «Distances from 9000 St. Gallen». If nothing is listed inside that radius, DOGSY offers you the next step up, or shows all places on request.
Pick a category and sort
Filter by category – excursions, places to stay, food, services or emergency vet – and sort by standard, distance, rating or newest. The «List | Map» switch takes you from the result list to the map, where the same places sit as pins inside your radius.
Open a place & head off
Open a place for its address, opening hours, phone and website – and start the route straight through Google Maps. Afterwards you say how it was with your paw rating, one to five paws; what everyone sees is the average of all ratings.
Add a place that is missing
Know a dog-friendly spot that isn't in the guide yet? «+ Ausflugsziel» (add an excursion spot) lets you enter it: name, town, description, phone, website, opening hours – and you drag the pin on the map to the exact spot. Photos and videos are welcome. The DOGSY team checks the entry, after which it appears in the guide; you can follow its status any time under «Meine Einträge» (my entries).
Map, radius filter, route, opening hours and paw rating are live today. The guide is free – all you need is a free DOGSY account.
What is it good for?
Three everyday situations in which the guide helps:
The Sunday outing
You want to get out, but where to? Set the radius to 20 km, pick «excursions» and look at the map: hiking trails, dog beaches, dog meadows and off-leash areas are laid out in front of you as pins. One tap on a pin opens the place, another starts the route through Google Maps.
Away from home and your dog needs a vet
Not at home? Let DOGSY use your location – then distances are measured from where you are right now instead of from your saved address. In the «emergency vet» section, addresses with a 24-hour service come first, and one tap calls them.
Your favourite spot is still missing
The meadow behind the woods, the café that always puts out a water bowl: add the place with «+ Ausflugsziel» (add an excursion spot) and drag the pin to where it really is – a dog beach is rarely on the village square. Once the DOGSY team has checked it, everybody else finds it too.
All of this comes with the free DOGSY account.
Frequently asked questions about the guide
What does the guide cost?
Nothing. Like all of DOGSY, the guide is free – all you need is a free account to use the map, filters and ratings.
Can I find dog-friendly restaurants and cafés?
Yes. Under «Food & drink» you'll find cafés and restaurants that expressly welcome dogs; hotels, holiday homes and campsites have their own «Overnight stays» area – all filtered by radius and shown on the map.
Is there an emergency vet service?
The emergency vet section shows animal hospitals and emergency practices with a 24-hour service near you, 24-hour addresses first. DOGSY doesn't run its own service – it gathers the addresses so you quickly find the right one in an emergency.
Can I add a place myself?
Yes. Know a dog-friendly excursion spot, café or practice that's missing? Add the place in a few fields – after a quick review it appears in the guide and on the map.
How does the paw rating work?
Every place can be rated with one to five paws. The average of all ratings is shown – so you can see at a glance which places dog people rate highly.
Does the guide work outside Switzerland?
DOGSY starts in Switzerland but is built for many countries. You choose your country and radius – you'll see what's already been added near you.
Discover dog-friendly places near you
Register on DOGSY for free, open the guide and find excursion spots, dog-friendly venues, vets and the nearest emergency vet – on a map and list.