Since this is the Year of the Dog, we decided to try out some Eastern Medicine and try some canine acupuncture. That’s right – acupuncture for dogs and cats, just without the new age music. The American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture lists 83 vets in California alone, and that didn’t even include a couple working at the San Francisco Veterinary Specialists.

We settled on a veterinary acupuncturist in Pacifica. Dr. Rice was highly recommended to us by the new age lady that works in our office and we figured it was worth a shot if it meant kicking our Deramax addiction. Anywho, this Dr. Rice women was fantastic and had a very attractive bag of dried fish treats she kept flowing throughout the examination. Sure, there were some needles and pricks and what felt like a prolonged timeout, but we felt better when it was over.

With the sun warming up the city, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch outdoors at our next stop on our tour of dog friendly bars – Pier 23. They don’t allow dogs inside but you can come around to the back deck via the side gate near the kitchen. On a sunny day we love Pier 23 but at night it is just too bleeping cold out. And lunch time is great but happy hours get too crowded and we have been stepped on by more than one weekend warrior trying to be all cool doing shots before he has to catch BART back to Walnut Creek.

The wait staff is hit and miss – some bring water without even being asked while others complain about something they call a ‘leash’. The chow is good and provides plenty of begging opportunities but there are no dog treats and the seagulls usually get all the good floor bits first. We want to like Pier 23 more, but it is too inconsistent and rates 2.0 St. Bernards.

SFists Stan and Bailey, contributing