Pups and Handlers across the United States had a busy season, when the 25th Folsom Street Fair and 2008 International Puppy and Trainer Conference (a.k.a. IPTC or iPup) were staged coast to coast during the last weekend of September. San Francisco K9 Unit organized a puppy dinner on 26th September to welcome some 40 local and out of town pups and Handlers who attended the San Francisco Leather Week and the Folsom Street Fair. Be it dinner on the table or bowl on the floor, the participating pups and Handlers were definitely warmed up for the Folsom weekend in San Francisco.

The SF K9 Unit tried their first attempt to organize a puppy dinner two years ago on the Saturday night before Folsom Street Fair. The first puppy dinner was attended by around 20 K9ers from the San Francisco bay area, offering a unique chance for K9ers to mingle with each other at the Don Ramon’s Restaurant. Despite the successful attempt, the Unit’s core team had a busy year of 2007 and decided to suspend the dinner for one year. Luckily, they finally brought the long overdue puppy dinner back on stage in 2008, making it the most attended puppy event ever organized by the SF K9 Unit in its base area.

Around 40 pups and Handlers met at the Don Ramon’s Restaurant again this year. The Mexican restaurant has a history in supporting GLBT groups in San Francisco, and the owner generously allowed the SF K9 Unit to occupy the entire upper floor to organize the puppy dinner during their Saturday prime hours. Pups and Handlers were seated at around 7:30pm, either on the hard wooden chair or on the soft carpeted floor. Food was ordered from the a la carte menu, whereas due to various restaurant licensing regulations, servers could only deliver their in-house food on their plates. However, bring-your-own-bowl pups and their Handlers could put food into their own bowl by themselves… just simply a messy Mexican dinner with beans and meat sauce all over those pups’ faces.

Spunky of SF K9 Unit explained “the puppy dinner enables us to bring our pack closer together and develop those much needed feelings of brotherhood in the pup world”, and, “such feeling of community or pack feeling is something that so many pups and Handlers crave for”. It is particular true when pups and Handlers could relax and really enjoy themselves in a semi-private restaurant environment where pups could be allowed to eat out of their own bowls.

The SF K9 Unit is now planning to turn the puppy dinner into an annual reception for pups and Handlers attending Folsom Street Fair, hopefully it will eventually grow into a signature dinner during the San Francisco Leather Week. Bon appétit~

 Photo Credits - Courtesy of xxx

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