Do you remember when the big deal in Chicago (at least I think it was Chicago) was the life size statues of hand painted cows? Yeah, it was a big deal and more than a little ironic to see a city with such a history of stockyards where bovine travelers began their final journey to the grill lionize them  as they did. Not so here in the Burg, thank heavens! We did dogs and as you can see a fine looking lot they were. This Lab-like specimen was posted outside Hyperion and was so well behaved it didn't even have to be tied to the dog hitch.

Dogs are almost as much a part of the scenery as motorcycles on Princess Anne street. They are a lot quieter when they amble by, attached to their humans, sniffing every vertical object they can reach, more often than not leaving messages for their pals that will follow and they don't have chains on their wallets.

You will see a wide variety of breeds and a pretty good selection of individuals with, as we politely say here in the South, ambiguous ancestry. One of my personal faves is Chucky or as I insist on calling him Chucky Z, the world's only 4 legged rapper. OK, it's strange but the name just sounds like a rapper to me. The fellow that carry's Chucky Z's  zip lock bag of Beggin Strips and Snausages is Carl Zirkle and  the initial 'z' just made that name to neat to resist.

Just about every day Carl & Chucky Z amble by Hyperion. C Z, being the mature middle aged gentleman that he is, doesn't get all hyper when he comes by and seems to tolerate the presence of other human walkers fairly well. After the obligatory exchange of sniffs in an area of the anatomy we just won't talk about here, he will find a promising looking humanoid to lean against and wait for one of his two legged posse to offer him the snack he knows he deserves.

The barrel behind Chucky Z is where he checks his p-mail on his daily pass by Hyperion.

Stay tuned for more Downtown Dogs in days to come...next up, Barnacle, the four legged Loofah.