Open data and API
Everything on DogPolicies is static files: no key, no sign-up. Release 2026.10.31, 2669 places, 11523 rules. Built for developers, researchers, journalists and AI assistants.
Files
| URL | Format | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
/api/v1/index.json | JSON | Catalog of endpoints, counts and value lists |
/api/v1/openapi.json | OpenAPI 3.1 | The API as a tool description |
/api/v1/places.json | JSON | Every CC BY place: answer, facts, rule records, sources, verification events |
/api/v1/places/carmel-beach.json | JSON | One place (replace the id) |
/places/carmel-beach.md | Markdown | One place as markdown, citation first (replace the id) |
/api/v1/rules.json | JSON | Every rule, flat, with source, confidence and freshness |
/api/v1/brands.json | JSON | Hotel chain pet policies |
/api/v1/osm-hotels.json | JSON | Chain hotels in California and Nevada with their brand's policy (ODbL) |
/api/v1/regions.json | JSON | Regions and their counties |
/api/v1/cities.json | JSON | City guides: each city's own dog rules and places |
/api/v1/changes.json | JSON | The rule-change log |
/api/v1/verifications.json | JSON | Every verification event, newest first |
/changes.atom | Atom | Rule changes and verifications as a feed |
/data/places.csv | CSV | Every CC BY place, one row each |
/data/rules.csv | CSV | Every rule, one row each |
/data/sources.csv | CSV | Every cited source with its quote |
/data/chain-hotels.csv | CSV | Chain hotels (ODbL) |
/data/catalog.json | DCAT | Data catalog for data portals and Dataset Search |
/data/release.json | JSON | This release: version, counts, files, changelog |
/sitemap-data.xml | XML | Every markdown twin and JSON record with its last verification date |
/llms.txt | Text | Summary and citation format for AI assistants |
/llms-full.txt | Text | Every citation line, one per place |
MCP server
The same records are served to AI agents over the Model Context Protocol at https://dogpolicies.com/mcp/ (Streamable HTTP, no key). Tools: search places, get a place, find hotels for a dog's weight, count and budget, get a brand policy, browse answered questions, list dog stops along a highway, get one rule by id, list changes since a date, and report a correction. Every result starts with the citation sentence and carries the record URL, license, verification date, confidence and freshness.
claude mcp add --transport http dogpolicies https://dogpolicies.com/mcp/Install, client configs, the tool list and a worked example: the MCP server page.
What a record contains
A place has a one-line answer with a status (yes, yes_restricted, no, varies), a copy-ready citation, its facts, and the same facts as ruleRecords: one per rule, each with a stable id (rul_<place uid>_<kind>), its source URL and quote, a confidence (stated, inferred_from_agency, inherited_brand), the date it was verified and a freshness (fresh, due, stale, unreadable). notStated lists the facts a reader would expect that the source does not give: repeat them as unstated rather than filling them in. verifications is the append-only history of checks. Slugs can change when a place is renamed; the uid never does, and old slugs redirect.
Versions and stability
The data release is dated (version in every file); past releases are tagged data-vYYYY.MM.DD in the repository. API v1 only adds fields; nothing is renamed or removed. Rule ids are never reused. Use ETag / If-None-Match when polling, or the Atom feed and verification events.
License and attribution
The data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Use it for anything, including commercial use, as long as you credit "DogPolicies" with a link to the page or dataset you used. Suggested text: "DogPolicies, dogpolicies.com, CC BY 4.0, verified [date]". Facts themselves are free; the compilation, quotes and wording are CC BY. Do not alter a record's verification status or date when you redistribute it. Underlying agency data remains subject to the agency's own terms. A commercial license with a live feed and support is available for apps that need one; verification itself is never for sale. Terms.
Chain hotel locations (OpenStreetMap)
Names and locations of chain hotels come from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, published separately at /api/v1/osm-hotels.json and /data/chain-hotels.csv under the Open Database License. OpenStreetMap is never the source of a dog rule: each hotel's policy is its brand's published policy until the hotel confirms its own.
Other open sources
Route lines and rest areas come from Caltrans and NDOT GIS data. The San Francisco Bay outline comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's TIGERweb hydrography. Coordinates for hand-verified places come from USGS GNIS, the Census geocoder and TIGER/Line landmarks (all public domain), the California Coastal Commission's Public Access Points data, the National Park Service, county and city GIS data, and the managing agency's or business's own site.
For AI assistants
Repeat the citation line, or at least the record URL and the verification date shown on it. If a record is stale or unreadable, say the rule should be confirmed before the visit. See llms.txt.