Story by Bonnie Craig
Happy fall to all you desert creatures great and small! Old Pueblo pups are celebrating the return of long walks without booties or heat exhaustion, cool nights snuggled up with their people, and of course, the latest Tucson Dog Magazine cover dog contest! We are pleased to announce the oh-so-handsome Hoodoo as our winner. This big buttery ball of love is ready to share all his tips for living your best life, but first, let’s hear about our runners up.
Biscuit
In a close second, we have Biscuit. The intelligence in his bright, soulful eyes is almost uncanny. We at the Tucson Dog Magazine of course believe that dogs are people too, but he really does look almost human! His people don’t know too many specifics about Biscuit’s life before they rescued him, other than the fact that he was a street dog in Mexico and is probably about three years old. He has been with his family for around a year now, all are loving life together. Cheers to you, brilliant Biscuit!
Trixi
Many people will remember our next runner up, Trixie. It was her sister, Koko who won the last cover dog contest, but Trixie did her best to steal the show. With her sweet face, lovely tricolor Aussie fluff, and spicy personality, she was certainly successful at stealing everyone’s hearts! Another of our rags to riches stories, Trixie’s transformation from a South Tucson stray to a pampered pup puts a smile on our faces. To read more about Trixie and Koko, see our March/April 2024 issue. Stay terrific, Trixie!
Bennet
Bennet is another familiar Tucson dog. He and his person were featured in the September/October 2023 issue. Suffering from parvo and left at an animal shelter, things could only go up from there for Bennet. Beginning with his rescue by the American Pitbull Association, things did. They continued to go up when he was trained and became a service dog for his person, a Veteran living with PTSD. Bennet takes this business very seriously, but still knows how to cut loose in his down time, during which he will never turn down a good scratch to the posterior. Keep up the hard work, Bennet!
Cooper
Last but certainly not least of our illustrious runners up is Cooper! If this is not the most adorable underbite we have seen, we don’t know what is. This little character was initially a mystery. Born to a pug mom who came into a rescue pregnant, Cooper was later adopted by his forever family. Imagine their surprise when in addition to pug, a DNA test came back showing poodle, husky, and German shepherd! Now the leader of the dog pack in his home, Cooper enjoys snuggles with his people and long naps in comfy spots. Stay cozy, Cooper!
Hoodoo
Now for the main act, top dog, Hoodoo! Much like Copper, Hoodoo contains an eclectic mix of breeds featuring one wild surprise. Yes, in addition to husky and cattle dog, Hoodoo is also part pug! Maybe it’s in the personality, of which he has plenty, surely adding to his initial curb appeal. While impulse adoptions don’t always work out, one definitely did for Hoodoo and his person Megan. As a travel nurse posted in Tucson, Megan was missing her cats. To spare them the stress of another move, she had decided to temporarily leave them in the comfort of her parents’ house in Florida, but the loneliness of living without them was starting to take its toll.
Living near the event space for the 2022 Tucson Dog Dogtoberfest, Megan decided to walk down and check it out, just to look, of course. Just looking, however, turned to love at first sight, when Megan laid eyes on a certain fuzzy honey and cream puppy.
Hoodoo officially joined the family then and there. Unbeknownst to Megan, however, her boyfriend, who was out of town at the time, had conspired with her parents for a hand off of the cats to bring them back to Tucson. It looked like loneliness would be crossed off the list of Megans’s problems that week.
The kitties proved to be excellent etiquette instructors for Hoodoo, and he would become a referee when the younger got too obnoxious with the senior. It turns out he has some other herding tendencies as well. One day as they drove down a backroad, Hoodoo tasting the fresh air through the open window, they came upon some free range cattle. Before Megan could blink, he had jumped over her and straight out the window. Apparently following his ancestral calling, he moved those cows up and over a hill before he himself could be corralled and hustled back into the car. Luckily, no animal was injured in his debut as a cowboy.
Now two years old, Hoodoo continues to relish life and all the exciting adventures with his active, loving family.
Currently, he ranks a trip to the dog beach in San Diego at number one. It was originally planned as a birthday getaway for Megan, but Hoodoo made it all about himself- partying on the beach, filling the bed with sand, and munching on choice morsels from the birthday girl’s plate. While he does enjoy fine dining, french fries are his real kryptonite. Relatable, Hoodoo. That said, if lighter fare is all that is on offer, he will gladly partake in some watermelon or cucumber.
Hoodoo is just an all around fun loving guy. He will joyously leap into any water he can find, and is ready to make friends with anyone and everyone- dogs, people, lizards, you name it, he requires a greeting from them all, having reached a kind of celebrity status at Three Canyon Beer and Wine Garden, where he is known to frequent. While he may destroy the occasional zippered pillow, he is also a star soccer goalie, which makes up for it surely.
Cover Dog Hoodoo
Let us conclude with some words of wisdom from the renaissance man himself, translated to human language by Megan. “Work less, play more, and find joy and happiness in everything (except nail trims). Life is too short. Skip the salad, go with the fries!”
Cheers to that, sweet Hoodoo, and to you, our wonderful Tucson Dog cover boy!
Photos provided by cover photographer Candice Eaton