$8.00 [Beer For You, Not For Your Dog]

Last weekend, Kyler and I participated in the fourth annual Brew N' Chew at The Diamond.  (For those of you who don't know, Kyler is a trained chef, an avid and award-winning homebrewer, and my life partner/partner-in-crime.)    Our homebrew and food pairing was Weizenbock (K's own recipe) and "Peanut-Butter Banana Cuties" (K's dog-approved recipe of homemade salted peanut butter and raspberry honey ice cream on a banana cookie sandwich).

We didn't win anything (but got good reviews!), but the event raised a couple thousand dollars for The Mark Project, so a good way to spend a Sunday.  Plus, I love The Diamond.  Because in addition to hosting events like the Brew 'N Chew, The Diamond is in my humble opinion the best dog-friendly bar in New York.* 

I didn't bring Betelgeuse or Lulu to the event on Sunday -- it would have been tough to keep track of them and serve food and drink (and run up and down the stairs to the basement freezer to procure fresh batches of ice cream sandwiches).

Actually, it probably wouldn't have been tough to keep track of the pups.  Betelgeuse would be following me back and forth to the basement, and Lulu would have been jumping and praying for this fine chef, in the hopes of receiving one of her sweet potato waffles.

Instead they were at home, doing something like this.  I'm going to get a nanny cam soon, so we'll know exactly what they're doing when I'm away.

But do you know who was in attendance?  Cheska.  Remember her?  The wild Peruvian Hairless puppy?  She was happy to see me and instantly curled up in my lap.  When Cheska wasn't trying to bite off other people's faces, she was drinking my oatmeal stout.  I know because someone said, "That dog is drinking your oatmeal stout."  And then I stopped her.  Because dogs in bars is great, but dogs drinking beer is not great.

Alcohol is toxic to dogs -- well, it's toxic to humans, too, but dogs are much smaller, so alcohol poisoning can occur a lot faster in pups.  How can you tell if your dog has been drinking?  The standard for man's best friend is the same for your regular best friend:  "Some of the signs that your dog has been drinking alcohol include its odor on his breath, slow respiratory rate, increased urination, staggering or a wobbly gait, excitement, depression, disorientation, behavioral changes, hypothermia, seizures and cardiac arrest." 

I've heard about people getting their dogs drunk for fun, but I don't think that's a good joke.  A good joke is:

(a) PRETENDING to get your dog drunk (just Google "drunk dog" -- people apparently really love doing this) OR

(b) Buying your dog a Straight Edge Shirt.**
 
But seriously, bring your dog to the bar, and have yourself a beer ($8.00) or two ($16.00) -- New York prices, folks, that's why we homebrew -- but just order the dog a bowl of water.  Because her cardiac arrest is going to be a real buzz kill.

And for you homebrewers out there, remember that hops are toxic to dogs, too.  So if you're growing hops, keep an eye on your pups, and remember to store, handle, and dispose of hops responsibly!

Pictured above is part of Kyler's pre-Hurricane Irene hop harvest.  The dogs didn't eat any hops.  I kept them away from the kitchen.  In the meantime, they were eating rat poison in the living room.  True Story.

Notes to Post:
*  But let's be real, I never go out in Manhattan, so I really only care about dog-friendly bars in Brooklyn.  We've been to Barcade, Brooklyn Ale House, d.b.a., Luckydog, and Diamond Bar.  We've also imbibed at Black Rabbit, the Levee and Daddy's, but the pups were not in attendance.
**  For Betel?  She hates even the smell of alcohol or beer.  Lulu will occasionally try to get a taste, but we can't fault her -- she comes from a broken home.