By Meredeth Barzen

A pup gobbles up a sweet treat at 2008's Paws on Grand event.

As if this summer weren’t full enough with events celebrating great neighborhoods and their four-legged friends, we’ve got another one to tell you about: This Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., St. Paul’s Grand Avenue will be packed with pups for the Paws on Grand event.

For the fifth year, the Grand Avenue Business Association is turning the popular shopping and dining district into a Fido fest, with free pet clinics behind the Grand Avenue Veterinary Center (1 p.m. First Aid presented by Own Your Pets Life, 2 p.m. Animal Communication presented by Pure Spirit and 3 p.m. Clicker Training presented by On Cue Training & Behavior), pet food collection for The Pet Project and a “Pet Picks” contest (submit your pet’s photo and he could be featured in Minneapolis Picks, named Poster Pet for 2011 Paws on Grand and receive a gift bag of goodies).

Many of Grand Ave.’s businesses are holding specials, deals and activities for the event: At Dog Days, trainer Linda Schindler will be answering questions and you can get your dog’s nails trimmed for $5. At Frattallone’s Ace Hardware, visit some adoptable pups from Homeward Bound Rescue—and if one catches your eye and goes home with you, you’ll get a $50 gift card to the store. The Bibelot Shop is offering 20 percent off all pet-related items, and the list goes on!

It’s a be-there-or-be-square kind of event, and as Sidewalk Dog is anything but square, you can be sure we’re choosing the first option and showing up with bells on. So stop by and say hi!

We recently blogged about how much we love to blab about the Twin Cities dog scene.

Sage and Java

So you can imagine how thrilled we were when AM950 radio host Sage Lewis (aka The Creature Teacher™) of Dancing Porcupine asked us to come on The Pet Playground to talk about the dog-friendly Twin Cities. (After all, we hadn’t blabbed on the radio in quite some time!)

Missed it? You can always listen online or download the podcast (May 31st show). Bonus: You’ll also get to hear Trisha Moreland of UrbAnimal talk about her pet supply stores (Did you know about their St. Paul location inside Dog Days on Grand Avenue?) and answer a question or two about pet food.