Dining with Dogs-Take 4 Bertucci's Resteraunt

Image from New Times Palm Beach link

As I said before, one of my favorite things about living in the city is the profusion of sidewalk cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating providing the opportunity, at least in the warmer months, to dine out with your canine companion.   Not only do you get to hang out with your dog  you have an excellent venue to work on basic manners such as: 

1. Rewarding your dog for lying down or sitting (you don't want a hungry hound leaping on the table), 
2. Being calm (no one wants to listen to non-stop barking as they eat)
3. Ignoring other dogs passing by (I once saw an unfortunate women at an outdoor cafe who had her chair pulled over onto the side walk when her bulldog lunged after a yorkie).
4. Sitting politely to be be petted by strangers. 

Its also an excellent opportunity to work on socialization, particularly with a puppy or young dog, but you do have to make sure your dog is comfortable and enjoying themselves.  A dog that is nervous around strangers is not a good candidate for dining out, no one will have a good time, this is one reason we rarely eat out with  Dr. Zira, unless the restaurant or cafe is totally empty. I admit my dogs are not always perfectly behaved (they are perfect of course!) but other then the shy Dr. Z who would rather stay home on they couch, they have all gotten pretty good at dining out and I make sure to reward their good behavior with some dog treats (or maybe even a nibble of restaurant food, if they sit politely for it) and a nice walk at the end of the meal.

So far this spring and summer Ive taken one or two of the dogs (more would be too difficult to manage and I get an opportunity to spend one on one time with them) to Shake Shack, Tommy Two Scoops, and Soul Flavors.  Last night we decided to take Bob to Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria in Pavonia Newport. 

Bob and his dad outside the restaurant.

A view of the restaurant Patio

Another view of the restaurant patio and the finished Mozzarella Frito (yummy)

One reason I like Bertucci's for dining with dogs is they have a outdoor section which is sort of fenced and semi surrounded with canvas advertisements for the restaurant.  The canvas advertisements act as blinders to sidewalk views and this is is perfect for Bob who can be a little reactive to strange dogs.  It makes it easier for me to distract him when a dog walks by and we can sit in the corner and have more space then at most restaurants (a plus with big guys like Bob or his brother Norbert.)   The food isn't spectacular, but it's certainly not bad and the Mozzarello Frito is very good (but then how can fried cheese be bad). I was very proud of Bob he was perfectly behaved (of course I was armed with beef burger treats from Zoomies NYC), and Bob certainly enjoyed the piece of bread I offered him.

More bread please!, I am being so good!

And of course since Bob is a bulldog and prone to overheating even though it was a cool night we didn't forget the water: (sorry its blurry it was dusk so the exposure took a long time)

Water for me, Wine for mom

After dinner we walked around the Pavonia Newport walkway which has amazing views of Manhattan across the Hudson River.  It was dark so my lousy camera definitely could not do the view justice, hears a google image similar to what we saw

 link

Hope everyone else had a good start to the weekend.