The local dining scene is bound for change after applications opened this week for restaurants to welcome dog owners with their pets from July. The pet-friendly scheme, foreshadowed in the chief executive’s policy address last year, is limited to 1,000 or 5 per cent of the city’s restaurants – but the quota was largely filled by about 700 applications on the first day.

How it turns out, especially during busy times like weekends, will have a big impact on how widely the change will be ultimately adopted. That makes the initial licensing rules important. Food hygiene officials have laid down clear requirements. Dog and restaurant owners alike must comply with them if the pet-friendly concept is to be accepted in the wider community.

For example, dogs must be kept on leads no longer than 1.5 metres (4.9 feet), remain under the control of an adult, and be kept at least 1.5 metres away from food preparation areas, including bar counters and salad bars. Dog-licensed restaurants will not be permitted to cook or heat food on dining tables or permit patrons to allow pets to touch utensils intended for customers. A food hygiene official said dogs must maintain the 1.5-metre buffer from all food preparation areas.

Restaurants might need to rethink their menu or layout. Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene Donald Ng Man-kit cited the example of the single-serve hotpot. “The restaurant will have to change its menu to ensure safety,” he said. “They need to think about arrangements like insurance, staff training, whether to separate the restaurants into pet-friendly zones, or service periods,” he said.

The authorities are training 90 officers to assist and inspect applicant restaurants. A government spokesman said the scheme would be introduced “step by step”.

Attitudes towards pets are changing with the times. Despite Hong Kong’s small flats, crowded streets and many pet restrictions, the number of pets has soared to more than 400,000 cats and dogs in 240,000 households, according to official statistics. That said, the new guidelines also reflect the reality that having dogs around the table is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some restaurants may find it good for business, some not. It remains the latter’s right to exclude them.