Bow wow: region named top place for dogs to live

It’s a great time to be a dog living in the Sunshine State. And businesses that cater to furry friends are taking advantage of those opportunities.

One big example: a recent study from pet food company Honest Paws ranks Tampa as the No. 1 city in the U.S. to be a dog, thanks in large part to the city’s abundance of dog-friendly establishments. The win for Tampa comes a few months after it was named No. 1 in a similar national survey from data firm WalletHub.

“The waterfront city has 16 dog parks, 52 pet-friendly breweries, and six dog-friendly beaches nearby, with a few allowing dogs to frolic in the water and roam off-leash,” the Honest Paws study states about Tampa. “Not too shabby for a population size of just over 385,000.”

To rank the best cities in the United States for dogs, Honest Paws considered nine ranking factors relative to the city’s population, weighing the number of pet-friendly restaurants, breweries, hotels, beaches, rentals, dog parks, employed veterinarians, hiking trails and the stance on breed-specific legislation. The highest possible score was 50.

Tampa is one of three Florida cities on the list of the best places nationwide for dogs, joined by Orlando and Miami, which ranked No. 3 and No. 9, respectively. On the flip side, the Midwest and Northeast are prominent on the list of the 10 worst cities nationwide for dogs. Indianapolis, Louisville, Ky., Milwaukee, New York and Columbus, Ohio are the bottom five.