We are looking to escape a month of Canadian winter next year - if we ever survive the current one!! We would like to rent a dog-friendly property on or near a dog-friendly beach so we can bring along our beloved Golden Retriever. We would love to hear from all the dog-lovers out there who have had good experiences travelling with their pooches in Florida. What areas would you recommend, and why? Thx!

Jekyll Island in Georgia

Honeymoon Island has a fantastic dog beach! It's next to Dunedin.

The majority of Florida towns and cities ban dogs on beaches.

For an overview, see
http://www.hikewithyourdog.com/WhatBeachArticle.html

For more specific information, you should get in touch with the local chamber of commerce.

Hilton Head is very dog-friendly but may not be south enough for you.

Jupiter Florida, on the east coast and just north of West Palm Beach, is a dog friendly beach. It's not a highly populated beach either and you can have a good run with your pooch along the water.

You can rent in Jupiter or Juno Beach and either drive or walk on over to the beach. It really is a great beach!!

We have just returned to Ontario from our second winter staying two miles from Fort Myers Beach, SW Florida, with our old yellow lab. Fort Myers Beach is dog friendly for about 7 miles south of the pier. Public Beaches on Sanibel and Captive are also dog friendly and absolutely beautiful. There is a small off-leash doggie beach in Venice and another off-leash one at Lovers Key, Bonita Springs (but Bonita Springs does not allow dogs on its other beaches). This year we returned home via St. Augustine, which although not as warm as SW Florida is a beautiful city and has dog friendly beaches. Get a copy of "The Dog Lovers Companion to Florida" which has some good ideas. Three years ago when we started going to Florida with our two dogs we went to Naples which is absolutely beautiful, but utterly unfriendly for dogs. Our solution to the problem of finding affordable dog friendly accommodation was to buy a travel trailer!