The objectives of this research were to develop a scale for constraints on bringing dogs along on tourism activities and to examine the influence of these constraints on owners' intentions to take dogs along on tourism activities. The responses of 518 Taiwanese dog owners were examined through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The findings revealed three dimensions of pet‐related tourism constraint (i.e. pets' specific constraints, pets' interpersonal constraints and pets' structural constraints). This measurement scale was found to be both valid and reliable. In addition, the constraints were found to negatively influence owners' intentions to take pets along on tourism activities. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.