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There was a boxer who wasn\u2019t a Boxer, a Pugsley who wasn\u2019t a pug, and a vampire who doesn\u2019t bite, because a good dog would never do that. No she wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
It was Dog-O-Ween at Tom Brown Park on Oct. 26, a day honoring costumed canines competing for cash and prizes.<\/p>\n
And of my 37 years in journalism, it was a dream assignment \u2014 and one that doubled as a romantic Sunday afternoon as my wife and I smiled about the role Dog-O-Ween played in our early courtship.<\/p>\n
But this isn\u2019t about us. I\u2019ll explain later why this assignment was more important to me than covering presidents, governors, professional athletes, actors and rock stars since I took my first full-time journalism job in 1988.<\/p>\n
Halloween fun: <\/strong>A guide to spooky Halloween events, fall festivals and pumpkin patches around Tallahassee<\/span><\/p>\n\n\nDoc takes a break after rocking out to \u201cHound Dog\u201d in his Elvis Presley costume for Dog-O-Ween at Tom Brown Park on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Puttin’ on the dog<\/h2>\n Let\u2019s instead get to the dogs who entertained families and vendors at Tom Brown Park as Star 98.9 radio hosted its 36th annual costume contest. As we arrived, a blues band serenaded Elvis Presley\u2019s \u201cHound Dog\u201d to Doc, a 4-year-old Boston terrier dressed in a jumpsuit worthy of the King himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was looking at different costume choices online and I saw that one and I thought it very much reflects his personality \u2013 his very much outsized personality,\u201d said Scott Bleiweis, as Doc basked in the attention of strangers and offered belly rubs. \u201cI\u2019ve been playing Elvis at home to get him in the mood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alice, a 3-year-old mix of several breeds \u2014 owners Steve Burgess and Reba Franklin describe her as a \u201cknockoff basenji\u201d \u2014 was a knockout in her golden boxing robe and red gloves. She truly had the spirit of a champ.<\/p>\n\n\nDuke takes the stage as an old West sheriff at Dog-O-Ween as owner Melissa Bourciek waves a cowboy hat and rides a hobby horse on Oct. 26, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Then there was Ava, a 4-year-old black Lab dressed as Pugsley Addams, accompanied by Chris St. Louis as Morticia, Melissa Cinotto as Gomez and Sharon King as Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Ava, with a mini, plush meat cleaver bouncing around as she strutted on stage, was picked as the costume contest winner.<\/p>\n
\u201cAva loves this event and we love dressing up,\u201d said St. Louis. \u201cWe decided on \u2018The Addams Family\u2019 this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nCooper, a 10-month-old Chihuahua-mix, wears his Scooby Doo costume during Dog-O-Ween at Tom Brown Park on Oct. 26, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A treat for puppy lovers<\/h2>\n It\u2019s an easy event to love. Food booths, locally made organic dog treats, live music and vendors ranging from veterinary care to a build-your-own dog treat bag giveaway.<\/p>\n
And, of course dozens of costumed dogs running around as a cowboy, vampires, a banana, pumpkins, royalty and even a large poodle whose puffy curls were dyed pink to look like cotton candy.<\/p>\n
Blizzard, the enormous pink poodle, ended up taking second prize. Owner Victoria Grammer, who works at Lakeside Grooming of Tallahassee said the 5-year-old enjoys the colorful look.<\/p>\n\n\nBlizzard, with owner Victoria Grammer, waits to take the stage at Dog-O-Ween. The pink poodle took second prize in the canine costume party.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a really good boy on the table. He behaves really well. Most of the time he just sits and hangs out and lets everything process,\u201d Grammer said. \u201cWith him being colorful and fun I decided to enter him in the contest and see how he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sea creatures: <\/strong>Jack Rudloe keeps dreams alive with turtle rehab, new seaweed crop at Gulf Specimen Lab<\/span><\/p>\nDream assignment<\/h2>\n I retired from The Associated Press in January after 27 years covering Florida politics and government. When I left the company, I was asked by friends what I wanted to do next.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to cover Dog-O-Ween,\u201d was often my reply, only half joking.<\/p>\n
I began my career covering community news in Massachusetts, and by the time I retired, I wanted to return to those roots, even just to write an occasional story. I, like many, was weary of the divisiveness and ugliness of politics. And then there were the mass shootings, executions and deadly tornados and hurricanes I covered when I wasn\u2019t at the Capitol listening to lawmakers argue.<\/p>\n
I thought writing about the positive things happening in Tallahassee would be more fun now that I had some free time.<\/p>\n
And Dog-O-Ween has been an inside joke between my wife, Amy, and me since the first month we dated. Amy knew I was a reporter, but never asked much about my job. In a town where people try to gain power through personal relationships, it was refreshing to meet someone who wanted to talk about books, music, food and fun stuff rather than elections and the Legislature.<\/p>\n
We were dating for three weeks when I went to a wedding in St. Petersburg. At the reception, I ran into then-First Lady Carole Crist. As we were chatting, she looked at me, grabbed my arm and asked, \u201cDid you meet someone? You look like you\u2019re in love.\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled and replied, \u201cI did meet someone. And I think I am falling in love.\u201d I was like a teenager babbling on to Mrs. Crist about the budding romance.<\/p>\n\n\nAlice, the boxer who\u2019s not a Boxer, with Steve Burgess at Dog-O-Ween on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
That evening, I told Amy that Mrs. Crist wanted to meet her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know Mrs. Crist?\u201d Amy asked, clearly puzzled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cover her husband Charlie, the governor,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor The Democrat?\u201d she asked. I said no, for AP. She said, \u201cI told my mother and my friends that you probably cover Dog-O-Ween!\u201d<\/p>\n
And now, almost four decades after earning my journalism degree, I finally have.<\/p>\n
And it was a lot more fun than covering politics.<\/p>\n\n\nBrendan Farrington<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
(This story was updated to correct a misspelling\/typo.)<\/em><\/p>\nBrendan Farrington is a longtime journalist who most recently was a Tallahassee-based reporter for the Associated Press. He now writes occasionally for the Democrat.<\/em><\/p>\nThis article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Puppy love and a love story come together at Tallahassee’s Dog-O-Ween<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
There was a boxer who wasn\u2019t a Boxer, a Pugsley who wasn\u2019t a pug, and a vampire who doesn\u2019t bite, because a good dog would never do that. No she wouldn\u2019t. It was Dog-O-Ween at Tom Brown Park on Oct. 26, a day honoring costumed canines competing for cash and prizes. And of my 37 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}