Want to talk about your pet subject?*If you would like to feature (with your pet) in a forthcoming edition of this regular column, please contact Colleen Morgan at Colleen@MoodieDavittReport.com |
The Moodie Davitt Report is delighted to bring you the latest edition in our Pet-sonality Profile column, in association with Tito’s Handmade Vodka.
In this regular fun feature, we discover more about travel retail pet-sonalities, their back stories, traits and habits, as well as offering some insights into their owners. Each pet-sonality will also be painted digitally by pets and equine artist Sami Moodie.
In this edition, we meet Dubai Duty Free Senior Vice President Marketing Sinéad El Sibai and Guinness, a little character who given his Irish owner and name feels understandably at home at The Irish Village in Garhoud, Dubai.
Name + nickname: He is called Guinness as he was black with white trimmings when we got him, although now he is older he is more greyish of course. Gin Gin for short, but I am the only one who calls him that, along with our niece’s two-year-old.
Breed: Guinness is a mixed bag really; a touch of Bichon Frisé, Poodle and a few other breeds.
How old is he? He’s 14, and while he is definitely slowing down a bit, we recently heard that his mother is 17 and still going strong so hopefully he will be around for a long time to come. Guinness is almost completely deaf though, but he doesn’t let it bother him.
How did you meet? A friend’s dog had a litter and my sister Siobhan and I wanted to add to our dog family. She had two small dogs and we had one mad dog called Snowy at the time who ran around in circles and hated males, which was tricky with a husband and three sons in the house.
We got Snowy from someone in Lebanon. We think he had witnessed some trauma and we thought another dog would calm him down. So, when our friend said there was a litter on the way we bagged one pup each.
The day we went around to pick them up I was immediately taken with Guinness.
Love at first sight? Yes, I had wanted a girl dog because of the aforementioned male-dominated household. However, on seeing Guinness I knew he would be a good fit.
When I brought him home, my eldest son Conor, who was a teenager at the time, took him from me and they have been best buddies ever since. Guinness quite likes the rest of the family but he adores Conor. His arrival also had the desired effect of calming Snowy down.
Quirky habits? He doesn’t like too many people in the house or too much noise. In order to escape us all, Guinness managed to find a small rip in the lining underneath one of the sofas and he made it big enough for him to get inside and make a kind of hammock bed for himself. Far from the madding crowd.
Although he doesn’t like crowds at home, he loves going to The Irish Village in Garhoud, which is dog friendly, and we have taken him there a few times now. Guinness loves seeing the other dogs and behaves himself, and when we are there the chef very kindly sends him out his own bowl of Irish stew. What’s not to love?
Funniest and/or nicest moment? We decided to get both him and our rescue dog Lola (after Snowy) a proper grooming session so we called on Shampooch, a local grooming service, who brought their mobile grooming van to the house.
While Lola, a very overweight pug, absolutely loved being pampered, Guinness was mortified at having a stranger ‘man-handle’ him while he was given the Shampooch makeover. That included a shampoo, of course, with lots of bubbles, a trim all over and a blow dry. At the end he was given his own neck scarf.
Guinness just looked at us as if to say, ‘How could you ever do this to me?’. We have never used them since.
Favourite trick? And treat? He doesn’t do any tricks but his biggest treat or enjoyment is his walks, which he has around three times a day. When Conor is in Dubai, he takes him out for hours sometimes; no wonder Guinness loves him.
Guinness sniffs every blade of grass so it is a bit annoying, but he just loves being out and about. He is very friendly with other dogs; at first that is. He has a habit of going from nice friendly sniffing to snarling, especially if they are big dogs, which most are in comparison to him.
He loves his food and treats like all dogs of course, but he has definitely gotten more curious as he ages. He now loves prawns, salmon and adores chicken and can smell these foods cooking from any part of the house.
Social media account? No, Guinness is a very private dog.
If Guinness could talk what would his first words be?
“Why do you have to leave me and go to work/go on holiday/go out for dinner?”
He absolutely hates seeing suitcases coming out as he knows one or all of us are going away. Luckily, we have Rose who looks after us and him and he loves her too.
Favourite airport/airline: Guinness has never travelled and I think it would be traumatic for him if he was in the hold. I believe that Etihad have a service whereby you can travel with your dog in the cabin; that would be brilliant.
Anything else we should know? I am glad we have always had dogs in the family and the boys all love animals as a result. Sadly, Lola passed away 18 months ago so Guinness is on his own. He definitely pined for her but he seems happy enough now and I am not sure if he wants a companion at this stage, but let’s see. 
*Click here for our introductory story on the Duty Free Unleashed partnership with Tito’s Handmade Vodka. The independent vodka brand from Austin, Texas has had a close connection with the welfare of dogs since its founding by Bert ‘Tito’ Beveridge in 1997.
The company has always been committed to rescuing and protecting the animals that have come into the lives of its people, and has even created a programme, Vodka for Dog People, to help that come to life.
Note: Through this new column, Tito’s Handmade Vodka and The Moodie Davitt Report are partnering to promote the work of brokenbiscuits.org, a disabled animal charity. As the world’s first disabled animal centre, its work includes:
- Providing equipment to families
- Offering homes to paraplegic, deaf, blind and disabled animals
- An education programme of visiting schools and universities
- Working alongside rescue centre, rehabbers and veterinary professionals
- Caring for stray and surrendered disabled animals
To support the work of Broken Biscuits, you can donate via this link or find out more via the youtube channel.
Previously on Pet-sonality Profile
Meet Duke and Lindsay Hitzeroth
Meet Barry Geoghegan, Milly and Jess
Meet Julio Cesar Magaña Ortiz and Hope
Meet Pauline Prescott’s Daisy and Digger
Meet Jeff Bond and his four-legged friends
Meet Bronwyn Clementson and Harvey
