Dogs Just Became the Other Diner Restaurants Have to Seat

Dogs Just Became the Other Diner Restaurants Have to Seat

Hong Kong's new leash-length law and a seven-country generational split point the same way: dogs at the table are moving from a favor to a rule.

Beatrice Cardew

Photo Alvan Nee / Unsplash

Dogs at the table are moving from a quiet favor to a written rule. Hong Kong ran its first dog-friendly restaurant ballot on June 12, granted 1,000 permits, and went live July 9: over 940 restaurants now admit dogs under a 1.5-metre leash cap. Gen Z drives the appetite: 64 percent support dogs at restaurants versus 35 percent of Baby Boomers, per Lightspeed Commerce's 2026 multi-country survey.

The etiquette code filling in behind it:

Short, fixed leash, never retractable
Dog stays on the floor, never on chairs or benches
Never let it approach another table without asking first
Leave the moment it gets restless

Offices are on the same path: BISSELL's Grand Rapids HQ went fully dog-friendly campus-wide, and Ben & Jerry's Vermont office now runs a documented pet code of conduct. A favor that gets popular enough always ends up needing a rule.