A Day in the Life of a Shop Dog

being the "doggy in the window"...

sometimes i lay in strange positions... but they are very comfortable to me...

me and hula hoop expert, krystal, and her bike expert boyfriend, zach. they are awesome.

this is me and joanne, a reiki master. she has good vibes.

me and santos, a regular customer... and very handsome boy.

being the shop dog at moondance is pretty simple. i need to be well-behaved, cute, and attentive to customers when they seem like they want some boo love. right? right. between customers, i do a lot of napping. and sitting in the window watching the other dogs walk by. and sitting in the doorway, ready to greet the ups man. one time a lady left the door wide open right when a dog was walking by and i got so excited that i ran right out and ended up in the middle of the traffic on 6th avenue. uh oh. the nice man scooped me up and took me to safety, but not before my mom's heart stopped. oops. now we have a sign on the door asking people to be careful when opening AND closing the door. it's not that i'm a bad dog, i just get really excited!

anyway, the next time you're at 6th and corona, stop in to moondance and say hi!

15Minutes Rocks DOES Rock!

our friend, samuel is an amazing creative genius. period, end of story. he finds disgarded decorative objects (i.e. chotchkes) and gives them a new and better (more glamorous!) life by painting them vibrant colors- he even uses repurposed house paint! he layers and layers the paint until the little abandoned pieces look like brand spanking new pieces of art! check out his website! http://15minutesrocks.com.

over the fourth of july, samuel and some of his friends shared a tent at a festival on colfax, and i walked over to check it all out. such cool stuff! i got excited, so my mom had to keep me on a pretty tight leash (i'm a puppy, what can i say?!), but i still managed to have fun. my favorite thing of samuel's was the green kitty piggy bank. sooooo cute! it didn't even try to run away from me when i started barking! there was also a pink bull and a couple of birds i would have liked to chase... samuel also has his repurposed star trek jewelry over at fabric lab. he's totally geek chic! because i'm a rescue dog, i could be considered "repurposed", right? so i give samuel all four paws up! i love him!

when he's not working on his own projects, samuel is the manager of our friend, jennifer's, incredible dog-friendly design store - composition. when she lived here, her dog, abby, was the shop dog! my mom has a bunch of fun, unique jewelry and bags from there; she's been a big fan for years. it's in belmar now, so i haven't been there yet, but, of course, i give it two paws up!

next time you're looking for a unique and artistic gift, don't forget about samuel! between 15minutes and composition, you're gonna find something purrrrrfect!

Renaissance Aveda Spaaaaah and Salon in the Hotel Monaco

the life of a dog seems easy and sweet,

a nap here, a nap there, a trick and a treat.

but oh, don't you know there's work to be done!

it's not all just relaxing in the afternoon sun!  

there are squirrels and birds that need to be chased,

and big mean old dogs that must sometimes be faced.

a walk in the park is a workout for me,

my legs are quite tiny, so i make up with speed.

so sometimes my muscles get tired and sore,

and those times there's nothing that i adore more,

than strolling downtown to hotel monaco,

and the aveda salon where the beautiful go!

it's owned by our friend, the sweetest sweet, carrie,

and jessica works there, AND lisa, so merry!

the hotel monaco loves everyone's pets,

and the renaissance spa and salon always gets,

people just strolling around with their dogs,

and they're nice and they're cool and give water for jogs!

i can walk in the spa and say hi to my friends,

and if lisa's not busy, she'll massage my sore ends!

and my middle, of course, my round little tummy,

that gets hungry for treats, and they have 'em, so yummy!

so if you're coming to denver and can't leave your pet,

come to the hotel monaco and and at the spa you will get,

the best beauty treatments in all of downtown,

my friends are the BEST of the best, hands (paws) down!

renaissance aveda spa and salon gets two HUGE paws up!  go there and visit our friends!  the best facials, massages, and salon services in town!  

It's Greek for Me!

my mom and i live close to the strip of shops and restaurants on 12th avenue, just a couple blocks east of york, and my new favorite place is chef zorba's greek restaurant!   yummmmm!

they have a patio, of course, so we can sit outside and have breakfast or a glass of wine and appetizers in the afternoon.   i love the waitresses there, they are always so nice!  and they are always really, really busy and running around like crazy.   it's a great neighborhood place; it seems like "cheers" sometimes.  we haven't been there enough for them to know our names, although you'd think they'd remember ME!  ;)   when we're getting take out, my mom ties me up right by the door since i can't walk in.  she won't leave me just anywhere, she has to feel safe and be able to see me from wherever she is.  there are always people on the patio, so i have someone to talk to while she's paying.  sometimes people stop and pet me and tell me i look just like a lamb.   i really need to learn how to baaaaaah...!

for having some of my favorite food to beg for (lamb kabobs!  yum!) and for being so convenient, i give chef zorba's two paws up!  

I'm Not Vegan, But I LOVE Ahimsa Footwear!

ahimsa footwear is one of those cute places you see when you're speeding down park (bark?!) avenue, and think "i should really check that out".  it's in a sweet little house, and, because it has only vegan products, it's intriguing! even though i enjoy chomping on some beef every once in a while, i have to respect their philosophy to do no harm to animals! 

well, when my mom and i were walking downtown yesterday, we happened past and decided to check it out.   my mom peeked in the door and informed the man behind the counter that she had a dog and asked if it was okay, and he said "of course!".   we liked it already!  

my mom commented that she had never seen me so comfortable in a retail store, and i guess that was true!  the nice man's name is phil, and he gave me a treat (vegan, of course... and delicious!) right away, so, of course i loved him!  he was also just very sweet.  my mom was drooling over a rust-colored tote bag that was made of glazed fabric, so i will have to keep that in mind for her upcoming birthday.  they had lots of really cute bags and belts and shoes that i would love to chew on!  i have a feeling that we'll return when we're in a position to carry a bunch of things home.  it's actually close to where we live, so...  we'll be baaaaaaaaaaack!

we think phil's wife owns the store and we will be excited to meet her, too!  i give ahimsa footwear two paws up!! gotta love that they respect animals so much!  and our friend, phil, is awesome!!!

I'm Always Jonesin' for Jonesy's!

we've been hearing about jonesy's for quite a while- a friend of my mom's works there- and we kept seeing it while we were driving past to go to wahoo's fish tacos (because it's really hard to NOT go to wahoo's!).  well, we finally decided to make it a destination last monday, and we are SO glad we did!   

first of all, they have a really cute little patio where i can hang out.  it's on the logan side of the building, so it's good for people watching- and for me to sit and get attention from passersby! hellllllooooooo!  there's a community doggy water bowl- which i don't usually get to drink from because my mom thinks the water is always too dirty- but this one was filled with cold, fresh water. that was a good sign!  the waitress who came out to greet us was SO nice and verrrrrrry welcoming!  we were there with aunt tonja and clary, so she had a dog AND a kid to deal with, and she was just delightful!  she looked all of us directly in the eye when speaking to us (including me and clary) and always made sure that each of us had everything we needed.  tonja and mom were impressed with the compact wine list as well as the menu.  they ordered truffle fries right off the bat and... well... i don't think i've had (i.e. begged for) anything more delicious! my mom gave me one because i was so curious, but it was so good that i couldn't help myself from barking for more!  i got one or two more, but that was all i could scam.  so i just relaxed and hung out on the sidewalk while everyone ELSE ate truffle fries. and lamb sliders.  and thai beef salad. i didn't think that was so fair, but... what can i do?!   it's a dog's life!

welllllll, right after the food arrived, so did the rain! torrential, scary rain, complete with lightning and thunder!  we had to race inside for a little bit, because we weren't quite finished, and were able to walk right in. our wonderful waitress took care of moving everything and the manager made sure we could be accommodated in the booth right next to the door.  i was glad i didn't have to sit outside in the pouring rain while everyone else finished up, so i was careful to stay put.   i might have begged a little bit, but i'm not really admitting anything... !!

i give jonesy's two HUGE paws up!  my mom and i have never felt more welcomed anywhere in denver!  thanks to jonesy's and their amazing staff!  if they could make a doggy version of truffle fries... aaaaaaaaahhhhh!  that would be SO great!!!  i'll keep my paws crossed...!

Yahoo for Wahoo's Fish Tacos!

there's a great uptown place named wahoo's,

whose patio we just love to cruise!

the food is way rockin',

but the margs will be knockin'

the next morning!  oh no!  too much booze!

wahoo's fish tacos is my mom's favorite denver restaurant!  the food is sooooo delicious (i manage a bite myself whenever i can sneak in...!), the margaritas are killlllllller (in more ways than one), the staff is reeeeeeallllllly nice, and they have a fun patio where i can hang out!   we usually go with friends, but if we go by ourselves (since i can't go inside) my mom can call from the patio and they will bring our order to our table!  now that is the ultimate in dog-friendly service!   we go to the one on 20th because it's the closest to our house, but all of the wahoo's are awesome!!!  

i had SO much fun on cinco de mayo with my sister, clary, and my aunties, tonja and jenny!  i love my family!!!

two german shepherd-sized paws up for wahoo's fish tacos!!

Mmmmm... meat! Good Times Burgers & Frozen Custard

(to the tune of the theme song of the beloved 70's sitcom)

good times!

any time i need a burger.

good times! 

any time i need meat!

good times!

it's a place out on east colfax,

you walk up they feed ya', two bucks all ya' need, yeah!

the beef is all-natural and yummy,

it's coleman, it's from right 'round here.

doggy friendly, love it!

good times!

they give me biscuits, too, yo',

good times!

ain't we lucky we got 'em!

good tiiiiiiiimes!

Argonaut Loves Dogs!

i've been known to stick my furry face in a glass or two, so my mom needs to keep stocked on our favorite beverage- wine!   just a short one-mile walk from our apartment, argonaut liquors is a weekly (at least!) destination.  we usually walk down colfax to get there, which can be interesting... i'm always getting called strange names by strange people on the street- buddy, sparky, little guy (hellllllooooo, did the pink harness give you a clue?!), kujo... huh?!  i'm getting used to the smell of swisher sweets and body odor... it's just part of the adventure!   all the employees at argonaut stop and pet me as we walk through the store, and i always get a biscuit when we're paying; even the security guards are nice!  it's a big place with wide aisles so i have lots of room to run.  i like that it has tile floors, too...  just in case, i have to... uh... well, you know...!  i love argonaut and give it two BIG paws up!