Dog Yard Bar — Restaurant in Seattle

I’ve waited two months to post this because I was really, truly hoping it wouldn’t be necessary.

I didn’t want to leave a bad review. I genuinely loved Dog Yard. I was excited to find a place where my service dog could just enjoy himself like a regular dog. A place where I could make new friends, grab a drink, and relax in a space that felt built for both dogs and their people. We went religiously for months. But what happened one day — and especially what didn’t happen afterward — means I won’t be going back.

Here’s what happened:

Two months ago, my dog Bear — an Aussie and trained service dog — was playing with two other dogs: one medium-sized and a new small dog. Bear knows how to handle himself around small dogs and was playing accordingly. The medium dog got overexcited and the little one took cover under a bench. Totally normal. I had already pulled Bear back to give the small pup space, because I was watching closely and had full control.

To my right were two Dog Yard employees watching. To my left was the small dog’s owner. Four people total were observing — and everything looked fine.

Then, out of nowhere, a woman I’ll call “Tilly’s mom” — whose dog wasn’t part of this — stomped over from across the yard, yelling the small dog was “terrified.” She reached under the bench, grabbed the small dog, shoved it into the owner’s arms, stepped back and shouted, “YOUR DOG IS TERRIFIED. DO BETTER!” And then she shoved the woman.

This was not a tap. It was a hard, aggressive shove. Then she walked off like she’d done a public service.

I checked on the woman who was shoved and looked toward the bar — just to take a breath. When I looked back, Tilly’s mom was already back on her couch in the middle of the yard. She made eye contact with me and gave me the two-finger “I’m watching you” gesture. Of course, I did it back.

Petty? Yes. Warranted? Absolutely yes.

Instead of addressing the person who screamed, grabbed a dog, and shoved someone, the manager began yelling at me. Calling me an instigator and that I’m a troublemaker. Not the woman who inserted herself in a situation that wasn’t a situation. Not the woman who humiliated and shoved another person. Not the woman who made the stupid gesture in the first place… Me - a literal bystander in this whole thing.

Let me spell this out: • I have never shoved anyone. • I have never grabbed someone else’s dog without permission. • I have never escalated a situation like that.

But apparently, a sarcastic gesture is worse than physical assault.

A few minutes later, I saw her squatting in front of the woman she shoved, lecturing her on how to be a better small dog owner. HOW IS SHE ALLOWED NEAR THAT DOG OWNER?! SHE JUST SHOVED HER?!

An hour later, she was still there, mean-mugging me across the yard. I tried to speak to her calmly to de-escalate. That’s when she tried to blame Bear… now I understand the mean mugging… butttttttt…

If you know Bear, you know how absurd that is. Staff and guests regularly compliment his training. I’ve even been asked for tips (and I don’t offer unsolicited advice). Yes, he’s curious — he’s wandered behind the bar before — but he’s a working dog who deserves a place to unwind. That’s what I thought Dog Yard was for.

She then launched into a speech about her degrees in animal behavior. I nearly laughed. If that’s true, she should ask for a refund. No legitimate program teaches you to grab someone else’s dog, scare both dog and owner, and shove a stranger.

The bottom line: I wanted Dog Yard to be our place. And for a while, it was. I felt safe. Bear was happy. It worked. But when someone is allowed to scream, shove, and intimidate another guest — and management does nothing — that’s unacceptable.

There is an aggressive, volatile dog owner being allowed back week after week — even after putting her hands on someone else and grabbing their dog. Under Washington law, what she did qualifies as fourth-degree assault.

That’s not just a red flag. That’s...

Update: As you can see from the petty response from the owners they clearly didn’t 1) Actually read my review and 2) Clearly didn’t care about any of my concerns both then and now. Hopefully you read my review and use your best judgement for your dog. — I’ve given the dog yard many tries now and have officially stopped trying. Let’s be real, this place puts humans first and dogs second. The vibe is white bro frat party nearly every time I’ve visited, and it doesn’t help that the music is usually so loud and once people start drinking, no one is actually paying attention to their dogs. People also seem to think it’s ok to put their hands on your dog (grabbing them by their collar, using their foot to keep them away, etc), which again not surprising for the crowd, but says a lot about the staff. I once had to find a staff member after an altercation with a white man (who had been drinking), and said staff member wasn’t even in the actual dog yard and then proceeded to tell me about how he had years more experience than everyone that worked there when I told him what he was saying contradicted what other staff had previously told me. Also getting in contact with them is nearly impossible unless you actually speak with them in person. I had sent a few emails asking some questions and never received any response back. It’s clear to me the staff doesn’t care, are hypocritical of their rules, and help create an unpleasant environment for anyone who isn’t there to just drink with their friends and ignore their dog. The other huge problem is a majority of the regular members since it seems to me this is the only time they actually spend with their dog and it shows in the behavior I’ve seen. Has everyone I’ve met there been horrible, no, of course not. Regardless, the small good percentage has definitely not...

Great idea. Mostly very Nice staff. They have a lovely space with water tanks, misters, and a bar for people.

Not sure if they still have food as the place shrunk by 50%!! I miss the larger size so there were places for doggos to chill if they needed a moment. But the venue can’t control the lease.

They don’t have real bathrooms anymore which is not great. It’s a tiny bit pricey. And sometimes check in can take upwards of 15 minutes for no reason.

That same employee is often very weird about check in. Different rules at different times with different dogs. For instance we have two dogs. They have matching collars. Checked both in with no problem. Took one out to walk back to the car because we forgot a phone. When we came back, same guy at check in now said the collar was not ok and we needed to ADD another collar?

He then spent 13 minutes explaining where the bathrooms were to a new girl. Not sure if he thought she was cute and wanted to hit on her but 13 minutes for that was insane. People were waiting to exit and were unable to because he wouldn’t finish talking to her. It was really cringe.

Later he went on a whole thing about rule four to someone. Who when pointed to a sign and said but rule four on here is completely different and the heavier guy with glasses and white beard who’s been here forever said that was a different set of rules and guests needed to follow both sets of rules at all times. He was just being really creepy. Honestly my guess is he tends me more of a nervous person who likes control and doesn’t feel confident. That said, the man who is taller and looks mildly like a train conductor is phenomenal and should be promoted. Crazy hard worker. Chill but maintains calm and safety.

Well keep coming but we aren’t doing it as much...