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It’s a dog’s life in Vail

Vail Daily Editorial
Vail CO, Colorado

Our dogs belie our image as uptight, highfalutin.

You simply cannot be uptight and have a dog. That’s oxymoronic on its face.

Part of President Ford’s charm lay with his dog, Liberty. Liberty’s union with Packy Walker’s dog, Bart, symbolized the Ford family’s easy relationship with Vail’s locals. Today you can meet Little Bachelor, a lost Lab saved from the mean streets of Denver, who now serves as mascot for no less uptown of a hotel than Bachelor Gulch’s Ritz Carlton.



Ask and you’ll find more lodges than you might think in this valley that allow guests to bring their dogs. You can even buy a ski pass for your pooch ” symbolic, of course. But still, it’s the thought that counts, right?

There’s a store in Vail that caters specifically to man’s best friend. Mountain Dog Biscuit and Gifts offers “gourmet” treats from a glass case for Fido, in addition to designer collars and sweaters and such along canine lines.

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Oh, sure, a few businesses have cleaned up and set rules designed to keep the dogs off those clean carpets, including our own offices at the Daily, regrettably.

But you’ll still find places like Verbatim Booksellers, where fluffy Stella Blu holds court, when she’s not sleeping underfoot. Or the barkers at Moose’s Caboose on Bridge Street, Isis and Lilly, who attract customers and tips that go straight to the Humane Society.

For those worried about Vail in its Phoenix stage getting too high and mighty for its own good, the canary in the mine shaft for this town is the presence of the dogs.

The sign that Vail has gone too far is not in the billion dollar refreshing of an aging town. That’s fine. But if the dogs disappear, watch out.

” Don Rogers for the Editorial Board


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