The Garden hosts second annual Howl-O-Ween Dog Costume Contest

Halloween is full of tricks, treats and costumes. The Garden, a pet-friendly patio bar, gave the public a treat by hosting their second annual Howl-O-Ween Dog Costume Contest on Thursday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m.

With over 20 dogs attending the event, Justin Sherman, general manager of the Garden, said it was a lower turnout than the previous year. As one of the few dog-friendly bars in Lubbock, Sherman said they will continue hosting the event to allow people to spend time with their dog.

“It’s something fun for the community,” Sherman said. “We kind of pride ourselves on being family friendly and dog friendly. That is kind of our reasoning on why we keep doing [this event].”

According to the Facebook event, owners could place their dogs within two categories: best dog costume or best couple costume, including the dog and owner. Prizes were given to first through third place in each category, winning gift cards to the Garden, PetsMart the Library Bar and Downtown Social LBK.

Matt Sanchez, an employee of the Garden, was one of the judges for the costume contest. He said the contestants were judged based on creativity and crowd reaction.

“If they made [the costume] or it was store bought played a factor,” Sanchez said. “We’re gonna give more points to the home-made costumes.”

Callie Hutchinson, a junior marketing major from Mansfield, entered in the couple costume.

“I’m a Dalmatian to his firefighter,” she said. “Dog costumes are kind of limited, so I picked his out first and thought this was the cutest.”

Although they did not win, Hutchinson and her dog placed second and received a $15 gift card to the Library Bar.

During the dog costume portion of the contest, Sanchez said they spontaneously decided to award participants for honorable mention. With those dogs being chosen based on crowd reaction, they decided on three contestants, which received a $10 gift card to the Garden.

“We tried to listen as they walked through,” he said. “There were three that people kind of got amped up for and yelled for.”

One of the honorable mention winners, Sydney Stewardson, is a senior biology major from Crosby. She said her dog received a lot of attention last Halloween time when he was dressed as an ice cream cone with a cherry on his head, so when Stewardson heard of the contest from one her friends she knew they needed to attend.

From browsing around PetsMart to decide on an outfit, Stewardson said her dog is too big to fit into a bunch of outfits, so she had to bring him to the store to try them on. Combining two costumes, her dog dressed in a poncho and sombrero, then had a massive taco wrapped around his body.

“I’m obsessed with my dog. I had to overdue it,” Stewardson said. “Honestly, I wish I didn’t spend as much, but he’s worth it, and he’ll get another use out of it during Cinco de Mayo.”

From bunny ears for Eater, to a Santa hat during the holidays and a birthday hat for his birthday, Stewardson said she loves dressing her dog up and plans on attending events where she can show that off.

“It’s a tradition now,” she said.

With Halloween as candy and scares, The Garden proved that it is also for fun and a bunch of barking.

http://www.dailytoreador.com/lavida/the-garden-hosts-second-annual-howl-o-ween-dog-costume/article_a7565dd0-d8ca-11e8-bd67-23f792a38274.html