The owner of Pups Pub is wagging his tail from relief after a judge agreed with the downtown Orlando dog bar that the state Department of Health had changed its intepretation of a rule to ban pooches in bars.

“This would have been catastrophic for all dog bars in the state,” said Alex Wright, who owns the Pups Pub bars in Orlando and Tampa with Sheila Suhar.

On Thursday, administrative law judge Lynne Quimby-Pennock concluded the Department of Health had “interpreted the rule for over four years to allow dogs in bars with certain restrictions in place.

“The evidence clearly established that in mid-2022, DOH changed its interpretation to prohibit dogs in bars,” Quimby-Pennock wrote.

Pups Pub opened in Tampa in 2020, and the Orlando location followed last July. No food is prepared or served at Pups Pub, and dogs aren’t allowed behind the bar.

Last year, a cease and desist from the Department of Health ordered Pups Pub in Orlando to stop allowing dogs in the building, the whole idea the business is built upon.

In February, Pups Pub filed a petition with the state’s Division of Administrative Hearings. It made the argument that the Department of Health changed its interpretation of rules to keep dogs out of bars.

Quimby-Pennock reserved jurisdiction to determine how much Pups Pub should be awarded in legal fees if the business and Department of Health can’t settle the matter.

Wright told the Orlando Sentinel the whole process has cost more than $100,000, but said he is hoping to get at least $50,000 for this court case’s costs.

He said the Department of Health should revisit creating a dog bar-specific code and added Pups Pub would be there to help set that standard.

Wright said his business has been and continues to be a safe place for people to bring their dogs.

Pups Pub, which offers memberships as well as $15 day passes, requires the pets’ proof of vaccinations as well as those older than a year to be spayed or neutered. There is also a cleaning system underneath the artificial turf inside.

Wright said Pups Pub will celebrate its one year anniversary in Orlando on July 1, and the judge’s ruling will make that event even more special.