Promoting a dog-friendly Richmond, Virginia
Jack tests the dog-friendliness of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, boutique retail. The ruling: five paws, way way up.
Don’t forget tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, and many dog-friendly mom and pop shops will offer special discounts and if you hit the right ones, like Mod Cottage in Rehoboth Beach, Fido can get a treat, too.
Jack makes his first Black Friday purchase — a bird cage holiday card holder — at Mod Cottage in Rehoboth Beach.
Mod Cottage — dogs welcome
Happy puppy; Happy Thanksgiving.
Richmond Times-Dispatch reports: At Veritas Vineyards and Winery, wine dogs play important role. Although it is near Crozet, just west of Charlottesville, we love this vineyard. We do need to work on bringing back their dog-friendly Starry Nights summertime events, however.
Hank, a brown and white hound, lounged in the shade of the grapevines at Veritas Vineyards and Winery in Afton recently.
He rose from his spot in the grass and padded off through the lines of grapes, patrolling the vineyard for unwanted critters.
Hank is one of five wine dogs Veritas keeps in the vineyard. Their jobs are to keep deer and small animals, like groundhogs, away from the fruit by chasing them away and barking. Their scent also deters bears from coming to the vineyard, said Ruth Terry, who takes care of the winery’s animals.
“They try to keep more grapes on the vine,” Terry said. Continue reading at RTD.
A peek at the châteaux’s dinner table.
My favorite souvenir from my recent trip to France is this collection of bronze dogs. At each dinner place setting in our not-so-modest Loire Valley chateaux stood these charming miniature statues. I instantly knew they were the treasure I was looking for, and it turns out they are made in the town nearby with a centuries-old preserved mold. Their tiny size makes them deceiving in weight and all the more intriguing when you pick them up.
And now on my dinner table.
It’s a set of six, all different.
I brought them on the plane home relishing as if I were carrying pure gold. It’s the flair my bare dinner table needed and that will always remind me of the French dog-harmony. No other souvenir will I cherish more—except don’t tell my dog because he is now enjoying a red “telebone” from Harrod’s.
And why not on a side table?
I wandered the picturesque streets of Paris, absorbed in everything and it all had luscious allure. 
The crisply dressed and slender men who looked like they walked straight off the pages of GQ—très alluring. The seductive corner markets with their spices and chocolate croissants—sinfully alluring. The casual, lunchtime glass of wine at the café—alluring. And the now familiar jingle of the train station announcement chime—somehow, alluring. I was hypnotized by all things and senses French. And then came the cherry on top. The yorkies, the poodles, the pomeranians, as you would expect a part of Parisian life. I must have snapped a dozen pictures of one pup romping on the grass outside of the Louvre. At our centuries-old French châteaux, a yorkie joined us for the four course dinner. Down the Champs-Élysées strutted fully-clad furry Frenchmen and ladies headed to the luxury restaurants and shops.
There was simply no concern of a faux pas when it came to canines, except for one particular quirk. Excusez-moi, I was rather shocked to find most French parks are off-limits to dogs; quite the opposite to our standards. Dogs are welcome almost anywhere in Paris, and if they are not, signage clearly front and center will discern.
RVA Muttropolis rates Paris 4.5 out of 5 paws. Perhaps the most telling takeaway: RVA has great potential to rival.
Invisible Paris
Don’t fret when you notice the absence of a post next week; rest assured your RVA Muttropolis is digging–in Paris.
The question: Is this enchanting city really as doggy-progressive as it is known to be? There is this sense that Parisians place their pups on a pedestal. We’ll give you the unbiased scoop.
In the meantime, why don’t you make a reservation for you and your four-legged date at an RVA restaurant.
Au revoir! Dans quelques semaines.
RVA muttropolis 