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Have you ever heard of a Howllowe’en Party? I must confess I hadn’t until my humans told me we were travelling to Dublin to attend one.
It was organised by the Pawtrait Pack, a facebook group of dog lovers and we were all to meet up in a park near St Patrick’s Cathedral for a get to know you session – in other words sniffing bums!
We arrived with plenty of time to spare so we went for a quick coffee at a lovely place called Queen of Tarts. I thought that was very appropriate as I’m a real queen.
Even after our coffee, we were first to arrive at the park but in short order we were joined by a lovely group of new friends. There was Ozzie, an Australian Kelpie cross who came with Audrey, who organised the party. Monty, a black and white Collie, like Ozzie, has eyes in two different colours – perfect for a Howllowe’en Party! Ruby, a little bundle of fluff completed the group.
All the dogs and most of the humans dressed for the occasion. I was in full Hairy Potter mode with a witches’ hat and black robe to add to my hallowe’en bandana. We looked like quite a spooky bunch.
While I chatted with Ruby, Ozzie was only interested in catching his ball, a Hallowe’en pumpkin in keeping with the season. We didn’t stay long in the park as it was soon time to move on to the main party, at a little pub called Drop Dead Twice, a lovely old-fashioned place in the heart of the Liberties.
There I met more dogs, including Lola, a sweet Cairn cross and Bailey, as lively as any Jack Russell I’ve ever met.
Having met most of the dogs in the park, we all settled down fairly quickly although there was the odd friendly growl as we got used to each other.
The humans were planning on brunch but apparently the chef was sick. I think he was a cat lover and the thought of all us dogs in his pub upset him. Anyway, there was a nice pizzeria down the road, so take away Italian was the order of the day although a few had sushi from Deliveroo. That’s a great idea – order food and it comes to you on a bike. They should have that for dogs – not so much Deliveroo as Deliveroooooowl. I think it would really catch on.
How cool is it to be able to meet up with your doggie pals in a pub with the humans able to enjoy a drink along with their brunch.
The Pawtrait Pack meet up for Christmas and a summer barbeque as well, so there’ll be lots of opportunities to gather again. I must woof nicely at my humans so that they take me along next time.
Howllowe’en Howls from Daisy.
John Galvin
Motoring editor - The Clare Champion
Former Chairman and voting member of Irish Motoring Writers' Association
