pet connection

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to travel. If a dog or three can come along, so much the better. So when my friend Arden invited me to come check out yappy hour and help her celebrate her birthday and Chipper’s at Hotel Indigo in downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, I was there. And so was Harper. On the way, since neither one is much of a social butterfly, we dropped off Bella and Twyla with Terry Albert so I could relax with only one dog to wrangle. The hotel is only about a block from PetCo Park–how apropos!–so Harper and I walked down there after checking in. It seems to be a popular place for downtowners to walk their dogs; we saw quite a few then and the next morning.

Hotel Indigo bills itself as being dog-friendly, and I can attest to the truthfulness of that statement–and not just because they gave us a room at a media rate and comp’d our parking. They have a mascot, Sandie, adopted from the San Diego Humane Society; they don’t charge a fee for canine (and I presume feline) guests; they don’t limit the size of canine guests, and the rooms have easy-clean laminate flooring. We know it’s easy-clean because one of the visiting dogs in Arden’s room last night splashed water out of the stainless steel dishes–provided by the hotel–onto the floor. The only thing I might suggest is that they provide extra “dog towels” for wiping that kind of thing up so you don’t have to use your bath towel. Dogs are allowed everywhere in the hotel, including the lobby and bar area. That’s unusual. Most hotels that allow dogs don’t permit them to actually congregate in the lobby. We had five or six hanging out there while we debated what to order for a late dinner.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. We were there for the hotel’s weekly canine cocktails event, held on its safely enclosed ninth-floor deck. Every Tuesday, from September through December, dogs and their people are invited to enjoy drinks and the view from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Live music, comfortable seating and fire pits add to the ambience. Oh, and the pool for the dogs to splash in. I’m not actually sure that’s why it’s there, but certainly on Tuesday night that’s how it was used.

You might think that only cocktail-size dogs would be at such an event, carried in the purses of their cocktail-swilling owners, but you would be wrong. Every size of dog was represented, from a Chihuahua to a Great Dane. There were several Labs, including one that was a service dog, a Golden, an Australian Shepherd, two Bernese Mountain Dogs, a couple of Pibbles (hi Ginger!), any number of miniature Poodles and various terrier-type dogs, including a cute little Cairn, as well as a Beagle, a Vizsla, a Pug, a Puggle, a Havanese, two Cavaliers and more. They all got along great, a testament to their owners’ socialization skills, although Harper, for whatever reason, seemed to take exception to one Bichon. Maybe she thought he was fresh. I asked one of the managers if they’d ever had any doggie dust-ups and he said no, this was pretty typical.

The dogs were definitely having a good time. Paper cones filled with treats were freely available, and all the dogs knew exactly what they were. They’d go up to anyone they saw holding a cone and produce a nice sit and a pleading look. I could see hotels preferring this crowd to, say, the Rolling Stones in their heyday. There were no cigarette burns on the tables or furniture thrown in the pool. People there for the first time said they would definitely come back.

Besides the birthday party factor, it was a fun way for me and Harper to have some one-on-one time. We practiced our elevator manners, not barking when room service knocked on the door, and staying for longer than two seconds. We’d go back, and we might even invite Jerry and the big girls to come with. Party on!

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