Best Dog's Best Friends 2003 | Denver FIDOS (Friends Interested in Dogs and Open Space) | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Dog's Best Friends

Denver FIDOS (Friends Interested in Dogs and Open Space)

Here's something to howl about: An offshoot of the Boulder group, these doggie devotees are dedicated to the promotion of responsible off-leash recreation in Denver. And they're not just hollering for more dog parks: They also have an eye on the future, exploring ways to keep such spaces clean, safe and usable for all. This is one group that's not going to roll over and play dead.

Best Place to Dog-Watch on a Saturday Morning

Fillmore St. between 2nd and 3rd avenues

The outdoor patios along Fillmore Street are the place for Cherry Creek yuppies to see and be seen...with their dogs. The block between 2nd and 3rd avenues is a veritable dog show on Saturday mornings, when pooches of every pedigree accompany their human companions as they sip Starbucks lattes and satisfy their cream-cheese fix at Einstein Bros. Bejeweled ladies on their way to the mall strut by with their toy dogs; single men bring their puppies to woo the women; and families stop by for breakfast with their Labs and golden retrievers. It's the closest thing Denver has to Westminster -- the kennel club, not the suburb.

Best Place to Dog-Watch on a Saturday Morning

Fillmore St. between 2nd and 3rd avenues

The outdoor patios along Fillmore Street are the place for Cherry Creek yuppies to see and be seen...with their dogs. The block between 2nd and 3rd avenues is a veritable dog show on Saturday mornings, when pooches of every pedigree accompany their human companions as they sip Starbucks lattes and satisfy their cream-cheese fix at Einstein Bros. Bejeweled ladies on their way to the mall strut by with their toy dogs; single men bring their puppies to woo the women; and families stop by for breakfast with their Labs and golden retrievers. It's the closest thing Denver has to Westminster -- the kennel club, not the suburb.

Best Place for an Off-Leash Puppy Party

Chatfield Reservoir

With endless acres, three lakes and seemingly endless walking and jogging paths, your hund will think he's died and gone to puppy heaven. There are countless things to sniff, endless muck to roll in, toys to steal, trees to pee on. And every pup, from dachshund to Dane, will love running free, with nary a chance of getting a ticket. Although summer weekends do become a bit of a free-for-all -- there's always the risk of getting home and realizing you left with someone else's Lab -- spring, fall and most mid-week days are a bit more sane.

Best Place for an Off-Leash Puppy Party

Chatfield Reservoir

With endless acres, three lakes and seemingly endless walking and jogging paths, your hund will think he's died and gone to puppy heaven. There are countless things to sniff, endless muck to roll in, toys to steal, trees to pee on. And every pup, from dachshund to Dane, will love running free, with nary a chance of getting a ticket. Although summer weekends do become a bit of a free-for-all -- there's always the risk of getting home and realizing you left with someone else's Lab -- spring, fall and most mid-week days are a bit more sane.

Best Dog Toy

Kong

The year was 1976, and Joe Markham was working on his VW Bus. His German shepherd, Fritz, was chewing on rocks. The two had no idea that they were about to irrevocably alter the dog chew-toy world. But the moment Markham threw a chunk of the transmission to distract his dog from grinding his teeth to nubs, Fritz gave up rocks forever to chew on the dense rubber cone, which was soon dubbed Kong. More than a quarter-century later, the Golden-based Kong Company has cranked out millions of the toys, which are essentially the same VW part Fritz enjoyed in 1976. And while canines are still attracted to old-fashioned novelties such as rope bones, rawhide chews and tennis balls, Kong has found a home in the grip of Fidos and Fifis across the county.

Best Dog Toy

Kong

The year was 1976, and Joe Markham was working on his VW Bus. His German shepherd, Fritz, was chewing on rocks. The two had no idea that they were about to irrevocably alter the dog chew-toy world. But the moment Markham threw a chunk of the transmission to distract his dog from grinding his teeth to nubs, Fritz gave up rocks forever to chew on the dense rubber cone, which was soon dubbed Kong. More than a quarter-century later, the Golden-based Kong Company has cranked out millions of the toys, which are essentially the same VW part Fritz enjoyed in 1976. And while canines are still attracted to old-fashioned novelties such as rope bones, rawhide chews and tennis balls, Kong has found a home in the grip of Fidos and Fifis across the county.

Best Boomerangs

Colorado Boomerangs

The 14,000-year history of the boomerang begins Down Under and continues today in Aurora with these space-age, Day-Glo toys. Handcrafted from airplane-grade birch plywood from Finland, they're the Ferraris of the boomerang industry, with style and performance that keep coming back. Boomerang fanatic/bank examiner Richard Pollock-Nelson collected 'rangs and competed in U.S. Boomerang Association-sanctioned events prior to buying Colorado Boomerangs from its Gunnison owners in 1998. Now the company, which takes the science behind the homing crescents (i.e., Newton's Third Law of Motion and Bernoulli's Law) very seriously, is the largest domestic manufacturer of high-end boomerangs in the world.

Best Boomerangs

Colorado Boomerangs

The 14,000-year history of the boomerang begins Down Under and continues today in Aurora with these space-age, Day-Glo toys. Handcrafted from airplane-grade birch plywood from Finland, they're the Ferraris of the boomerang industry, with style and performance that keep coming back. Boomerang fanatic/bank examiner Richard Pollock-Nelson collected 'rangs and competed in U.S. Boomerang Association-sanctioned events prior to buying Colorado Boomerangs from its Gunnison owners in 1998. Now the company, which takes the science behind the homing crescents (i.e., Newton's Third Law of Motion and Bernoulli's Law) very seriously, is the largest domestic manufacturer of high-end boomerangs in the world.

Best Place to Play Air Hockey

Margarita Mama's Mexican Grill & Cantina

The superbly outfitted arcade inside Margarita Mama's is so massive - and the place so dead on most weeknights -- that we never have to wait in line to play Hot Flash and Fast Track, the venue's two air hockey tables. Hot Flash is a fun little black-light model, with the usual purple lamps, glow-in-the-dark orange plastic puck and plastic playing surface. Fast Track's playing surface, though, is polished steel. The puck is metal, too, and the goals are cut extremely tight. Be warned: Fast Track pucks have a tendency to fly off the table like tiny metal discs of destruction. At forty tokens for ten bucks, these games are a bargain -- right up there with the $2 Coronas available during Mama's happy hour.

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