www.TheNewBarker.com THE NEW BARKER 39 “One of my partners, Dennis Johnson, has two French Bulldogs. I loved their spunky and stubborn attitudes.And they were hilarious to watch,” said Ed. Never one to do anything on a whim (except maybe the Hooter’s concept) Ed studied up on the breed and dogs in general, reading about a dozen books. “We didn’t want to be bad pet parents,” he said, smiling. “Raising dogs today is a lot different than it was when I grew up in the Midwest. It’s all about gentle training, positive reinforcement and, dogs living inside the home, not outside in a doghouse.” As Ed said the word doghouse, he recalled a funny story from his youth. Back in Iowa, one night he and a couple of buddies shared some beers. It was late, and he didn’t want his parents to find out, so Ed hid the bottles inside Brandy’s doghouse. “But, she had moved the bottles, one by one, outside her doghouse. As we were getting ready to go to church the next morning, my parents saw the bottles. I didn’t beat the rap,” Ed said, laughing. Ed has served in multiple leadership roles. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Outback Bowl and has served for a number of years on various boards of the Moffitt Cancer Center. Marsha is the founding Co-Chair of Moffitt Pinellas Partners and serves on the steering committee for Morton Plant Mease Health Care Foundation’s Women in Philanthropy. The couple agreed that their dogs have made them more responsible. “They’ve brought more love into our lives,” said Marsha. “I was actually terrified of being responsible for another living being,” said Marsha. “These two are my first pets ever, and never in a million years did I think I’d be capable of loving a dog this much. Now, every dog I see, I have to go up and meet them.” “Having them in our lives has made me a lot more gen- erous, I think,” said Ed.“We do a lot of charity work - not all of it dog-related, but that’s changing too.We have focused a lot on cancer, having donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Moffitt Cancer Center. We’re just trying to bring some Hooters ingenuity to having an impact on finding a cure and helping those who are struggling against the disease,” said Ed. Pete and Shorty have been crate-trained and are only occasionally allowed in the bed. “They have their own room downstairs, where they sleep. But once in awhile, they’ll look up at us and we’ll say, okay.Then - boom - they’re up the steps and in bed with us,” said Ed. The couple are having a pool built that will be Frenchie Friendly.Among other things, there will be a ledge all around to make it easy for the dogs to step out in case they fall in. “Frenchies don’t swim. They’ll just sink,” said Ed. When the builder told them the Jacuzzi would need a higher ledge, the couple opted to forego having one as part of the pool design. “If they’re not able to easily step out of it, we just don't want it,” said Ed. Pete is the jock and Shorty is the alpha male.“Sometimes Shorty will walk over to Pete’s bowl and eat some of his food. Pete will step back until Shorty is finished,” said Ed.“Pete can jump over fences. Shorty jumps up on peoples laps, doesn’t quite make it and falls off.” Marsha admits that she and Ed are high anxiety.“Imagine when something is wrong with one of the dogs. Oh my God, don’t go on Google!” she said. Like the time Shorty swallowed a long root at home, while Ed and Marsha were in Washington D.C. for Monday Night Football. Their pet sitter called to let them know that she had rushed Shorty to the pet emergency hospital and he would be going into sur- gery right away. “We were a couple of wrecks, sitting in this huge room at the stadium to watch the game.What could we do? The place was full of dog lovers who found out what had happened. Complete strangers kept coming up to check on us, offering support and encouragement,” said Ed.Apparently Jon Gruden, the color commentator for Monday Night Football, had direct access to the ER and was being kept up- to-date on Shorty. “Jon came in the room and announced to everyone that Shorty made it through surgery just fine and the crowd went nuts,” said Ed. Ed walks the dogs every morning. Often, they’ll take the dogs to the Sand Key Dog Park where they’ve gotten to know most of the reg- ular dogs out there. “Pete runs around with the other dogs. Shorty sits next to the ladies, asking them to scratch him behind his ears. If Pete sees a dog scuffle at the dog park, he wants to get right in the middle of it. Shorty gets mad at him and barks.” Shorty can’t hear very well, so when asked where his brother is in the house, Pete takes off looking for him. They both come running back together.“If they had five toes, they’d know how to use the middle toe salute,” said Ed. “Pete and Shorty can turn the worst day into the best day.” Hooters For Hounds. While not all Florida Hooters Restaurants are dog-friendly, several of the restaurants have hosted fundraising events for their local area shel- ters and rescue groups. Earlier this year, Hooters of Fort Myers hosted Lee County Domestic Animal Services, Gulf Coast Humane Society and Big Hearts for Big Dogs Rescue. Twenty- one dogs found their forever homes during the adoption event. Both Pete & Shorty’s Pinellas County locations are dog-friendly. PeteAndShortys.com Clearwater: 727.799.0580 Pinellas Bark: 727.549.8000 U Y