One Great Dog

We got Maxi when I was 10. It took about that many years to convince my mom to get a dog, but finally, we had one! Maxi was a great pal to my brother, Samuel, and me and often a source of entertainment:

She was always good for a snuggle:

And, damn, that girl could eat:

Even my mom grew to love her:

When Maxi was about 10, we got Clover – a feisty labradoodle with a lot of energy. Sometimes too much energy:

But Maxi and Clover were pals, and deep down they loved each other:

Plus, they always enjoyed a good car ride together:

The average life span of a lab is 12 years, and time definitely started taking its toll on Maxi. She got diabetes and went blind:

And the amount of time she spent laying around without moving seemed to increase (at least she had a buddy to lay around with her!):

Sometimes she would lumber around:

But then she would get tired quickly:

Maxi was 15 years old this year which, as the vet said, “for a lab is ancient!” We found out that Maxi had a large tumor and it would be increasingly difficult for her to eat and move around. We didn’t want her to be uncomfortable, and we thought the kindest thing would be to put her to sleep. As of yesterday at 2pm, Maxi won’t be around anymore.

Maxi said goodbye when I went to college:

And she said goodbye when I moved to Minneapolis:

And I’m so sad that I wasn’t there to say goodbye to her yesterday. So, hopefully this can serve as a goodbye of sorts.

Bye, Maxi, I will really miss you.

 

 

 

Haute Dog

In addition to being a nice shopping/eating venue, Calhoun Square in Uptown often has weekend events open to anyone interested. The events are usually themed (coffee, fashion, motorcycles, etc.) and feature related vendors and activities. This past weekend, Calhoun Square hosted, quite-possibly, its best event yet.

Haute Dog: Urban. Fashion. Lifestyle.

 

The photo above was taken of a poster advertising the event on Monday – so there were six agonizing days of anticipation. As described on the poster, the event would feature:

– Free Animal Communication (Pet Psychic)
– PETicures
– Doggie Fashion Show
– Free Doggie Treat Buffet
– PAWparazzi – Free Dog Photos with Celebs

Vendors were advertised to include: JimmyCHEW, BONE Appetite, and So FETCHing.

I know, right?!

Naturally, priority #1 was finding a dog to bring with me. That proved not be too difficult since I found someone through work who would come with their dog.

When Sunday finally came and it was time for Haute Dog, I was beyond excited. We could tell as soon as we walked in that we were in the right place:

 

 

The dogs pictured above were huge! And slobbery. And their hair was super matted. Possibly a result of the aforementioned slobbering.

Dog watching continued as we met these two poodles:

 

The owner said she uses only natural dyes and bleaches so she doesn’t damage the dogs hair or skin at all. I wonder if they know how crazy they look?!

The flier was accurate in saying there would be a free doggie treat buffet. There were tons of different treats to sample, and some vendors were even giving away small bags of treats for people to take home! Some of the fancier treats were available for purchase:

 

These look good enough for me to eat (and the woman behind the counter assured me that they would be completely edible and safe for humans!). The treats above are made by Posh Pooch, and they are decorated dog cookies in a variety of bright colors and fun shapes (the squirrel shaped cookie was my favorite). We bought a peanut butter cup and a bone shaped cookie:

 

Although the poster’s teasers for free treats was accurate, I was a bit disappointed by the ‘photos with celebs’:

 

A little misleading, no?

Nonetheless, it was fun watching people try to get their dog’s heads aligned with the hole.

Several pet service businesses had small advertising booths. I thought this one was funny since it advertised a Pet Taxi:

 

Whose pet needs a taxi?!

After all the excitement:

 

Our doggie was pooped:

 

So pooped in fact, we couldn’t get her to move. Good thing Haute Dog thought of everything:

 

harhar 🙂