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Dogs love beer including this good one we spotted at Chuck’s (Image: CHS)
The Central Seattle dog park experience is about to change with the addition of Boneyard, an indoor dog park and tavern set to join S Jackson.
Dagmar Rehse, dog lover and Boneyard owner, wanted to create a way for Seattleites and their furry friends to spend and enjoy time together away from their homes — even when it is raining cats and dogs in the city.
“Nine months out of the year you see these dog owners going to dog parks and suffering in the elements to let their dogs play,” Rehse said. “I wanted to create something more comfortable for the humans while their dogs are frolicking around.”
The new space at the corner of 26th and Jackson will be an indoor dog park and tavern, with boarding and doggy daycare for the dogs, and a bar for their owners to play “drink” at. While Rehse doesn’t live in the area, she did notice that the dog friendly neighborhood was missing this kind of hangout. It is also in an area beyond the higher rent neighborhood cores where the rent on a 3,267-square-foot space needed to give rover room to run pencils out.
And while there are many dog-friendly drinking venues around the Central District and Capitol Hill, the Boneyard is the only one centered on making a great, safe space for canine companions. It will also offer something no other beer hall around can offer — fur baby babysitting for dog owners who want a break while they crack a cold one.
Boneyard will be the first space that Rehse has opened, built by her love for dogs and a wish for a place where dog and owner can enjoy themselves together outside of their home.
Seattle is pretty welcoming of canine companions in its bars. This little fella was a patron at the late, great Chungee’s.
“There aren’t dog-friendly bars,” Rehse said. “There are bars where you can bring your dog, but there aren’t bars where you can bring your dog and let them play while you relax in the other room and drink a beer.”
The tavern will serve beer, wine, and espresso, situated with a cafe area with human snacks ready for purchase. While the tavern is 21+, a window where you can pick up goodies from inside the dog park is also part of the plan.
Rehse said over time she might try to expand the drinks menu, but for now, she is starting with the basics, and letting the dogs have all the fun. As Boneyard opens, the location will become a place full of entertainment for not just dogs, but their owners as well.
“We’ll have some form of live music at some point in the tavern and we are also planning on having some dance lessons possibly for the humans — not the dogs,” Rehse said.
Boneyard is moving into a kennel and grooming facility that shuttered in 2020 leaving behind a space perfect for dogs to play, and even a bar for their humans to socialize.
“In the Green Lake area there are several similar businesses as well as in Ballard and Northgate, but there isn’t one in this neighborhood for several miles,” Rehse said.
UPDATE: Apologies to all the House of Ruff lovers out there. Rehse was open about the building’s recent history as a home for the business and talked about its kennel and grooming setup but CHS was not aware of the similarities around the House of Ruff “canine social club” aspects. Sorry we didn’t shine light on House of Ruff previously.
Boneyard will aim to provide a safe environment tailored to each dog’s needs and might open in phases as the concept’s pieces come together.
Demand for space for dogs to play off-leash surged coming out of the pandemic and has put pressure on existing off-leash areas and area parks. CHS reported here on the emergence of “de facto” off-leash play areas in Cal Anderson and Volunteer Park along with a “pop-up” dog park created on E Cherry on land lined up for eventual redevelopment. Officials had also been considering the Central District’s Powell Barnett Park for a new off-leash area.
Rehse is a dog mom. She has five dogs of her own, four of which are goldendoodle puppies. She said that she had already brought them to the new space — they were her first customers.
“They’re there all the time,” Rehse said. “Right now it’s just a big open space and they love it, they just run around like crazy and have a good time.”
Rehse says her love for dogs has influenced her mindset in opening a new business.
She said that over the past couple of years, she has begun to recognize how much she admires the mindset of a dog. She described them as being able to live in the moment and finds that they always seem appreciative of the life around them — a mindset she has tried to take on with her in the opening of Boneyard.
“I believe that if more people imagined the world through the eyes of a dog, then people would often be happier,” Rehse said.
For Rehse, it’s a dog’s life, and she hopes her new space will provide some of that valuable connection — for the dogs and their humans.
Boneyard is located at 2603 S Jackson. Rehse hopes to open the new project in December. Learn more at boneyardseattle.com.
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I miss Chungee’s so much
The “kennel and grooming facility that shuttered in 2020”, aka House of Ruff, was also an indoor dog park that served beer and a few food items. Surprised that wasn’t called out in any way. This new spot sounds great and fills the gap, but House of Ruff deserves some credit. They were the first of its kind, I believe before Dogwood in Lake City and well before Dog Yard in Ballard and Growlerz in Columbia/Hillman City. Prior to them there was just a place on Nickerson that required booking and was strictly a play area, no food/drink.
Pretty sure Dog Yard was before House of Ruff.
It’s really sad that the person “creating” this new facility cannot bring herself to acknowledge that the previous owner of the business in that location actually created this before anyone else did, built out the space singlehandedly and provided these exact services to a community that numbered in the thousands before the pandemic hit. Then she fought to save it, because she cared so much about her clients, and only gave it up because, like so many other business owners in the city, she could not continue to hemorrhage money to cover the rent on a space that the pandemic prevented her from actually running her successful and beloved business. Y’all should have done your homework and looked up what was there before this new incarnation of the original House of Ruff decided to move in. But the “creator” of the boneyard should have acknowledged it herself. She can’t possibly not have noticed the state of the art facility, complete with built in bar, top of the line flooring and drainage and air systems, kennels, an outdoor covered shelter and even hooks for dog leashes just happened to magically already be in place when she thought this whole thing up by herself.
Thanks for letting us know. We’ve added an update trying to clear things up a bit:
UPDATE: Apologies to all the House of Ruff lovers out there. Rehse was open about the building’s recent history as a home for the business and talked about its kennel and grooming setup but CHS was not aware of the similarities around the House of Ruff “canine social club” aspects. Sorry we didn’t shine light on House of Ruff previously.
How dare you perform House of Ruff erasure Justin!!!!! /s
I was aware that the House of Ruff had a similar business, although I did not know the details of why they shuttered (and the previous managers have not returned my queries). I applaud the magnificent facility that was created and I felt fortunate to have found it. I had no intention of giving anyone the impression that I was the innovator–I recognized that there was a need for more Indoor Dog Spaces in the area and I wanted to move into this beautiful building!
This is so dumb. It’s like saying a new bar or restaurant or clothing store or jewelry store or whatever needs to pay homage to the previous business when launching their bar or restaurant or clothing store or jewelry store in that space. Huh? Since when? Hard nope.
I wasn’t outraged just confused. It would be like a jewelry store moving in and saying we are inventing a new concept called selling jewelry and thr precious spot was a jewelry store too.
Is there anything in this city, no matter how minor, that does not draw outrage? It is tiresome.
You can always break the chain by not getting outraged by the outrage.