Marfa, Texas – Dog Town USA
This past week I had the joy of visiting Marfa, a small town in the West Texas desert, full of artists of all kinds. The town is notable for Donald Judd, an eccentric artist who moved there in the mid-late 1900s, installed countless art installations, and renovated many buildings to fit his artistic vision. Since then, the town has attracted a horde of artists seeking inspiration in the dust and quiet of Marfa. The art was incredible, but what stood out to me most were the dogs. There were dogs everywhere. In every store, in almost every restaurant, out on the street, there were dogs. And most of these dogs were off leash, enjoying the freedom of small-town life. There was one gift shop that had a little puppy with piercing blue eyes at the door which immediately drew me in. What a great marketing technique! And this was true at most stores, where dogs roamed around even the most high end of shops. Some of my other favorites were the bar dogs. There was one gentleman who had trained his dog to sit on the adjacent bar stool as he casually took in the evening in a slow, country manner. Other dogs played outside on the dusty street with the kids of a few other tourists. The scene was a complete departure from the social norms of Boston. While I understand that not everyone loves dogs as much as we here at Pronova do, I think we could all take a lesson from Marfa. The more we include our dogs in our lives, the more enriching their lives can be. After all, that’s our most important job as pet owners: to make sure our dogs live happy, healthy lives.
