Fido free to join you at dinner

The Wine Pub on Shelter Island/Point Loma is one of many San Diego restaurants that not only allows dogs but encourages owners to bring their pooches. The Wine Pub is so dog-friendly, in fact, it offers a "homemade K-9 menu." A new state law that went into effect Jan. 1 makes it legal for all restaurants to allow dogs on the patio.

Make no bones about it, San Diego is one of the pooch-friendliest places in the country.

And those lucky dogs are getting a treat in 2015 with a new state law in effect as of Jan. 1 that officially allows Fido on restaurant patios throughout California.

Not that San Diego canines have been stuck at home waiting for a doggie bag theyve been joining their best friends in outdoor seating areas around the region for years. And because the new law doesnt require eateries to accommodate dogs, dont expect a wave of doggy cafes to be unleashed.

It just validates a long-standing practice here, said Wendy Patrick, an attorney and business ethics lecturer at San Diego State University.

Its a recognition of the fact that dogs are part of our family. If businesses want customers, they have to consider that. But for all the naysayers, dont worry, it doesnt permit a candlelit dinner for three inside.

In fact, the law, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last summer, sets conditions for how and where dogs can be and still makes allowances for local ordinances that ban the practice.

Among the laws conditions are that pet owners must keeps their dogs on a leash or in a carrier and cant let them sit on chairs or tables. Restaurants will be required to have separate outdoor entrances to the patio so the critters wont be marched through indoor dining rooms.

Sponsors of the original bill, AB 1965, argued that while outdated state laws made it illegal to do so, many restaurants already chose to allow dogs on their patios. A number of county health departments around California had also approved rules allowing individual restaurants to decide whether or not to allow dogs on patios.

David Cohn, president of the Cohn Restaurant Group, said many of the chains eateries with patios already provide water bowls for dogs and he doesnt expect the new law to have much impact.

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Fido free to join you at dinner