Settergren Ace Hardware in South Minneapolis’ Fulton neighborhood might be the only hardware store in town where the phrase “Now there’s something you don’t see every day” applies. Or, more accurately, “Now there are two things you don’t see everyday.”
Those two things are the family-owned store’s most valued employees: Jäger and Odis, two exemplary representations of the rare Muensterlander dog breed. Muensterlanders are German-bred hunting dogs that point and retrieve, store owner Mark Settergren explains. A former sled dog racer, Mark came across the breed four years ago when he was hunting (sorry—we couldn’t resist!) for a dog breed with a temperament that would do well in his family’s store—so you could say that these dogs were born and bred to be shop dogs.
“Jäger will be turning 4 in October, and is a proud father of 14 pups. Odis, who is younger, just turned 2 and has a goofy personality,” Mark says. “Both Jäger and Odis are very friendly to customers, especially to people who own dogs. They are both great around children, and families and customers love seeing the dogs.”
Settergren’s Hardware has been in business since 1895, and in the Fulton neighborhood for the last 50 years or so—their dog-friendly store a fixture of the dog-friendly neighborhood. Dogs of all shapes and sizes are welcome in the store, and Café Maude’s dog-friendly patio beckons from next door.
“They’ve become part of the neighborhood; customers know them by their names,” Mark says of Jäger and Odis, adding that the pair draw a lot of traffic to the store. “It’s always fun to have dogs around— they always seem to brighten the atmosphere.”
So the next time you’re in the Fulton neighborhood and need to pick up a roll of duct tape or an extra leash (the store also has a sizable section of pet products), stop by Settergren’s to meet a pair of rare neighborhood gems.
Maximus takes a ride in a zippy red Subaru. We've been told he's really good at parallel parking.
Folks, we here at Sidewalk Dog don’t like to say “We told you so,” but when we founded this company based on the fact that our nation’s dogs are becoming a bigger and bigger part of our lives, from eating to playing to shopping, well … We told you so.
Case in point: You can even bring your dog with you while scoping out a new set of wheels at Burnsville’s LEED-certified Walser Subaru. “Walser Subaru is absolutely dog-friendly! Bring them along for a test-drive, as long as there’s a bathroom break before,” says Walser Autumotive Group’s Andrea Kopfmann. The dealer supported local rescue Homeward Bound by collecting supplies for them last November and December, and has hosted events for Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota (RAGOM).
Dog-friendly design is nothing new for Subaru—Andrea points out that the company’s hatchbacks make loading and unloading Fido a breeze, and that the cars’ high ceilings and roomy interiors mean he can stand up in back or snuggle into a crate during the ride.
Supplies collected for Homeward Bound Rescue by Walser Subaru.
And Subaru is really taking advantage of its canine-centric image with a handful of new “Dog Tested” commercials starring pups with some seriously advanced motor skills (see video below—and keep an eye out for the black lab’s snazzy collar from Minneapolis-based Stunt Puppy).
If you’re in the market for a new ride, take Spot down to Walser Subaru in the next couple of weeks—in conjunction with theTwin Cities Auto Show from March 6-14 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, the dealership will be rolling out some soon-to-be-announced promotions.
When we at Sidewalk Dog finally got around to launching the Sidewalk Dog Directory last summer, we threw ourselves a party to celebrate. And just where did we hold our fabulously dog-friendly celebration? At fabulously dog-friendly Corner Coffee in Downtown Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood.
This summer — this weekend, in fact — Corner Coffee is hosting their own dog-friendly event. They’re calling it “Dog’s Day Out,” and it’s this Saturday from 4-5PM.
Here’s what you’ll find:
Live music by folk singer-songwriter Trish Painter. Painter’s new Dog Tracks album features “original songs about and inspired by dogs — their adventures, their dreams and their lives of snooping around and loving life.”
Information on Guardian Angels For Soldier’s Pet (GASP), a nonprofit dedicated to reuniting military service members with their pets following deployment or emergency hardship
Information on The Pet Project, a new nonprofit helping the financially struggling keep their fur kids by providing pet food and basic supplies via local food shelves
Our advice: Go early — the first 150 to show up will get a free gift bag — and stay late.
Ask any dog what his version of heaven is—it’ll probably read like this:
“It’s nice people who pet me and tell me I’m a good dog and a big bowl of treats right on the ground so I can snarf them and—IS THAT A RABBIT!!??—Anyway, there are like a million smells all over and—SQUIRRREL!!!—there’s this lady who hand-feeds me little balls of ground beef just because I’m a good dog and she knows I am the best at catching the Frisbee!”
Kristen Tombers opened the Linden Hills store when one of the only surviving meat markets left in town went up for sale. She thought she’d try to revive the shop by selling only meats from locally raised animals—this was fortunately right as the local food movement really started to catch fire—and named the market after her grandpa’s yellow lab. Clancey the Dog is now going on thirteen years old.
Clancey, the meat market's namesake.
Not only is Clancey’s the absolute, hands-down best place to get bacon in the Twin Cities,* it’s a veritable doggie paradise.
The nice people and the petting? Tombers allows dogs in the store and always gives them lots of attention. The bowl of treats? A cast iron cauldron on the floor filled with Solid Gold Cinnabones—all natural, of course (according to Tombers, “lots of the dogs—even the short ones—go in for a treat on their own.” The smells? It’s a meat store—imagine the sensory overload on your dog’s olfactory system—but don’t worry, germaphobes: all the food is far from the dogs and safely behind glass.
Solid Gold Cinnabones
And the lady with the meat balls? Let’s just say that almost every time we’ve gone in (which is often—we really like bacon), Tombers has come from behind the counter with a very special treat for Sadie the Wonderdoodle—washing her hands very carefully afterward, of course. According to Tombers, this part is pretty popular: “The dogs that know the shop (especially the ones more motivated by food) go pretty crazy knowing that they’re potentially in for a raw meat treat. Most of them pull to the end of the counter to make things happen faster.”
The store also makes a cooked dog food that sounds like you could happily share it with your mutt—all beef shank meat cooked with carrots and celery. You can add just a little to your dog’s dry food to amp up the flavor.
“We are dog-friendly,” Tombers says. “We are also earth-, farm-, food- and people-friendly and are always striving to create a sense of community with our customers. It’s much easier to be in business when the customers can be considered as friends.”
Tombers' yellow lab Lilah--a.k.a. "The luckiest dog in the world."
In case you’re wondering, the luckiest animals in the world are Lilah, a seven-year-old yellow lab, and Schmitty (“a ten-month-old brown tabby kitten who thinks he’s a yellow lab.”) They live with the meat lady. “They are all rescue animals,” says Tombers, “which is kind of funny. I rescued them once. They save me every single day.”
* Official Sidewalk Dog Bacon Preparation: Cooling rack over sheet pan. Oven. 400 degrees. 15-20 minutes. Trust us on this.
Most dogs love fish. But who knew they loved sushi restaurants so much?
Recently at Sidewalk Dog’s “Sushi with Your Poochie,” more than 200 local dog lovers and their dog lovees hung out on Tiger Sushi 2’s lovely Minneapolis patio, tried their hands at Stunt Puppy’s hands-free leashes, got training tips from Bark Busters, noshed on Tiger Sushi 2’s happy hour menu and got a break from plastic-bag duty courtesy of ScoopyPoo.
And that was just the human-oriented fun! Dogs were treated to Tiger Sushi 2’s homemade biscuits and massages and pawdicures from Pampered Pooch Playground, and took home doggie bags loaded with goodies from UrbAnimal.
The always-lovely Sarah of Sarah Beth Photography was there to capture the rampant adorableness: Click here, then select “Access Gallery” and enter code “sidewalk” to see if she snapped your dog’s mug (and chances are, she did!)
The best part? As those of you who were buying charitable sake bombs know, the event raised money for MnPAW, a coalition of Minnesota animal welfare organizations. The ticket sales alone raised almost $1,000 for the organization, so instead of “Sushi with Your Poochie,” perhaps we should have called it “Sushi for Poochie … in Need.” We’ll work on the name. In the mean time, thanks to all who came and made the event such a hit!
Sidewalk Dog first ventured over to Trattoria Tosca, Linden Hills’ newest bistro, for the food—which can be summed up in one word that’s not fit to print on a family-friendly blog. Trust us, it’s good.
But more to the point for Sidewalk Dog readers, we enjoyed our obscenely good polenta on the lovely sidewalk patio next to a couple with a well-behaved golden retriever. When the server brought out a doggie bowl painted with colorful bones, we knew we really had a winner on our hands.
“Being a neighborhood restaurant, I think it is important to be dog-friendly because we have people that walk here with their dogs,” says Ben McLain, Tosca’s general manager. Not only does he oversee the day-to-day operations of one of the hottest new restaurants in town, but McLain is also doggie daddy to a four-year-old miniature pinscher named Llayla, who he says “is an awesome dog and super smart.”
Tosca's soon-to-be-snazzed-up patio
And that sidewalk patio we mentioned? It’s only going to get better—the restaurant is starting construction on an upgrade this month to bring the chair count up to 80-100. That means a spike in the number of dog-friendly tables for Sidewalk Dog parents with distinguished palates.
“I know there are tons of people who patronize only restaurants where they can bring their pooches,” McLain says, validating Sidewalk Dog’s raison d’être. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go sniff out some dinner with our doodle—and maybe pie at Turtle Bread next door for dessert?
For many dog owners conducting an apartment search, finding a dog-friendly building is a deal-breaker. But truly dog-friendly spots can be hard to come by.
Village Green's Lake Calhoun apartments
Village Green, which owns six apartment buildings in the area, takes the task of being dog-friendly very seriously, with units that any pup (or hip owner) would love to live in. Kim Burggraaf, who works in Village Green’s Minnesota offices, breaks down exactly what makes their apartments a great place for a dog to come home to:
Affordable pet rent at $20 per month
Social events for dogs and their owners
A “dog-sitting exchange program” in which the company keeps a list of dog owners who are interested in exchanging pet-sitting/pet-walking services with another resident. Kim and company are working on setting up play dates as well with this information.
Dog treats in every office for furry residents
Locations near dog parks, courtyards, and walking trails (like Lake Calhoun and Loring Park in Minneapolis)
Wood flooring at two of their locations, which makes cleaning up accidents a breeze
“Overall, we just know how important dogs are in the lives of our residents and are therefore implement everything we can to make them feel just as welcomed in our community as the owners,” says Burggraaf. “We love our doggie residents too!”
More than 300 dogs (and their people) turned out to see the Saints take down Winnipeg in a surprise rally. For the most part, everyone got along (though the question on every dog’s lips was ‘Mudonna the Mascot: friend or foe?’) and the prevalence of four-legged friends brought even more levity to the stadium’s always-fun atmosphere.
Giant water bowls scattered throughout made the ballpark dog-friendly, and some lucky pooches even made it out onto the field to show off their best tricks.
Memo to the Saints: More dog days, please! We’d love to see an autumn game with our dogs, but maybe next time the mascots can stay on the other end of the field.
Pumphouse Creamery’s Doggie Ice Cream Gets Paw Print of Approval
After learning about Pumphouse Creamery’s Doggie Ice Cream from Sidewalk Dog’s comprehensive Doggie Dining list, we had to give it a taste test. Or, more accurately, we had to find a dog who was willing to give it a taste test–not a hard task. Here are the results:
The Product:
Bruno’s Tracks doggie ice cream from Pumphouse Creamery. With half the fat and sugar of human-oriented ice cream, it won’t bite back with a tummy ache. We opted for peanut butter, but the ice cream is also available in plain. A small cup goes for $1.20, and a six-pack can be had for $6.
The Test:
Sadie the Wonderdoodle quickly volunteered as a test subject. From the time we took the product out of the freezer, she knew something wonderful was about to happen. It took her about 10 minutes to polish off her treat–it kept sliding around the hardwood floors, so she had to get creative and nudge it against the furniture for ultimate licking stability. Maybe in the future, we’ll park it on a rubber mat to make it easier for her.
The Result:
All in all, an awesome extended-treat experience, sans stomach problems: Perfect for a hot summer day!
Among the many obligatory holiday errands is that trip to the liquor store to pick up a little something to make the celebrations (or, rather, those doing the celebrating) a bit merrier. Not so merry is the idea of leaving the pooch behind as you prepare, but several Twin Cities liquor stores have made shopping for spirits a six-legged endeavor by embracing dogs in their shops.
At Sam's Wine Shop, Nan Haislet, wife of owner Sam, and her dog Toumie both enjoy spending passing the time and greeting other visiting dogs.
Sam’s Wine Shop [editor's note: Sam's Wine Shop has closed.] in Minneapolis welcomes customers of all breeds with water dishes and two kinds of treats “for the choosier puppies that visit us,” says owner Sam Haislet. And when Toumie, Haislet’s adopted terrier/beagle/aussie shepherd mix, isn’t spending time on the family farm, he graces the store as a mascot of sorts.
Just down Washington Avenue, Sorella Wine & Spirits also keeps a steady supply of dog cookies ready for four-legged guests. And, since many of the employees bring their own dogs to work, there’s usually plenty of good company to be had.
If you’re craving a big-dog fix with your pinot noir, South Lyndale Liquors is home to Abbey, a 7-year-old, 160-pound Saint Bernard, who was trained Colorado in avalanche rescue and is spending her retirement in Minnesota as a much-loved shop dog. The decades-old store has always been dog-friendly, says owner Dan Campo.
Abbey leads the way to great wine deals at South Lyndale Liquors.
Saint Paul pups with good noses might like to visit Solo Vino in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood, where they’ll probably be more interested in the treats than the wide variety of hand-crafted wines. Owners should note that the store specializes in bottles from the Iberian Peninsula.
Or, dogs from east of the river can hang out at The Wine Thief for a custom experience. Owners—and husband-and-wife team—Paul and Trina have actually admitted to custom-grinding treats with a mortar and pestle to make them more palatable for smaller dogs that visit.
So whether you’re planning on popping a cork or mixing a cocktail, there are plenty of places to stock up on holiday libations with your furry friend in tow. A nice full-bodied cabernet for you, a belly rub and a treat for him.
Sadie the Wonderdoodle takes in her first ballgame.
