WOOF: Colorado’s Most Dog-Friendly City Is Fort Collins

Fort Collins has gone to the dogs, and that's not a bad thing at all.

One of the first things I notice when I'm roaming around Old Town or anywhere in Fort Collins really is the number of dogs accompanying people in various places.

Whether it be on a walk, a hike or on an outdoor patio or at some sort of place of business, there's a dog. There seem to be dogs everywhere and that's just not our imaginations, especially after this recent study published by Rockethomes.com revealed the most dog-friendly cities in the entire country. Fort Collins comes in as the third most dog-friendly city in the United States.

Now, my first question and perhaps yours, too, is "how did they come up with the rankings"? Well, there were actually a bunch of factors that keyed into these dog-friendly cities, where the only two other places that topped Fort Collins were Eugene, Oregon, and Portland, Maine.

Only one other city in our state made the list and that was Colorado Springs, which came in at No. 9.

The good folks at Bestplaces.net factored in these six things to figure out the most dog-friendly cities, these factors are:

• Number of local pet stores
• Number of local off-leash dog parks
• Number of local veterinarians
• Number of local walking/hiking trails
• If there are local restrictions on certain breeds
• If the state has legislation to restrict local breed bans

So yeah, we love our dogs here in Fort Collins and that is a beautiful thing. So whether you're on a trail, in a restaurant, store, hotel or anywhere really, chances are you're going to find it dog friendly or you'll find a place nearby.