Brogan's Going Paco!!

Artist Josh and Brogan pose at the Paco Collars store in Berkeley.

To celebrate Brogan's upcoming seventh birthday (February 22) and his knee which will be officially recovered a week later (March 1), today we ordered our very own Paco collar. After Emma's last obedience class (Brogan stood in for her admirably), the big guy and I made the hour-long drive to Berkeley to visit the real live Paco Collars shop.

While I was disappointed that we didn't get to meet the owner's dog (an ancient hairless breed) who hails from my favorite Mexican city, Oaxaca, the rest of the experience was fun for all. I'd seen the Paco Collars crew at the Golden Gate Kennel club show a couple weeks ago and been mightily impressed with their quality and designs. It's a young, creative group of dog lovers and all the work is hand done at their shop in Berkeley. Plus they support Bad Rap pit bull rescue... what's not to love?

This was the design I really wanted, but it just didn't look as good on Brogan

as the more subtle (and perchance MANLY?) design that I ended up with.

I admit to a certain blinding passion for Celtic knot designs and they had two collars which use gorgeous knot patterns. I was hoping to buy 'off the shelf' at the store once I saw which one looked the best on my boy, but Paco Collars really are made to order one at a time and the store is more design studio and workshop than retail store. As it turned out, the one I would have ordered over the internet because I liked it the best wasn't what suited Brogan the best.

Luckily designer/artist/leatherworker Josh was a very patient man. With his guidance, 'we' (i.e. he) designed a whole new collar for Brogan using a silver Celtic feature with brass hardware and brass studs in a beautiful swirl pattern all on top of a massive 2 1/2" wide black double layer leather collar. Josh will be making Brogan's new collar himself and it will go into the Paco Collar lexicon as "The Brogan".

They also do a wonderful over-the-shoulder leash which Josh will also be studding out to match the collar. The great thing about the leash is that it fits over your shoulder like a messenger bag strap which means hands-free walking. They took measurements so that it fits with my and Brogan's height (like the collars, the leash is made to order). This will be so great when negotiating crowded areas or with me carrying shopping bags while walking with Brogan, both of which are everyday features of city life in Europe sans car.

Brogan and I had a WONDERFUL experience at Paco's and can't wait to pick up his new 'outfit' in a couple weeks. Of course, Brogan will be modeling "The Brogan" here at BabelHund!