About Fido Loves
The Fido Loves website was originally created to help a few friends find the dog friendly Boston we had discovered with our beloved Pointer “Moose”. Since I started seeking out the best of Boston for dog owners Fido Loves has grown from a hobby to full time project as we continue to develop a better resource for the Boston dog community. My goal is to focus on the best of dog friendly places to go, things to do and provide tips for urban dog owners around Boston and New England.
The articles, reviews and photography are a result of interviews, first hand experience and my love for photography. I refuse to simply scrape other websites in order to create articles.It is the process of writing these articles which has introduced me to some fantastic people in the dog community.
I am always welcome to suggestions about dog friendly people, places and businesses which are worth writing about. Alway feel free to contact me if you have a suggestion or question.
About: Jay Stebbins
I grew up in a dog-centric family spending my youth as an apprentice working for my father, a well known professional dog handler and other highly respected handlers and breeders. I like to joke that I learned to walk by balancing against a set of pooper-scoopers while cleaning up after our dogs. When I was a kid, I wanted to be like my father showing and working with dogs.
My father, Bob Stebbins was famously known for his gentle hands when it came to dogs. It was through him and the dog show world where I learned how rewarding the company of dogs can be. These days I am less involved with the dog show world, although still enjoy visiting my extended family. My families roots in the dog show world started with my grandfather, J. Monroe Stebbins, a renown breeder and handler of Dobermans (Really it was my grandmother with the eye for dogs but things were different back then).
Outside the dog world I am a very active person. I am involved in various sports such as kiteboarding, mountain biking, sailing, snowboarding and photography. I work as a professional photographer whose works does seem to revolve around dog in one way or another. Oddly enough, I ended up with a dog entire life I imagined as a child.
About: Margie Hinckley
Margie grew up in dogs as well. Her parents were involved with the dog show world and continue to work with therapy dogs in Western Massachusetts. Margie handled dogs in Junior Showmanship and even went on to show dogs at the Westminster Show in Madison Square Garden. At their family home you can find a great wall of photos with all the sisters showing dogs.
Margie and I met outside the dog show world at a charity event on Nantucket. We were both shocked as we learned later how our childhoods were incredibly similar. It is nice to have met someone else who gets the passionate care of dogs, the quirky dog show world and understands the importance of responsible dog ownership.
About “The Magnificent Moose”
Moose is a “Pointer” or “English Pointer” who just rounded his fourth year. Moose is a fantastic dog who fits perfectly into our family. Both Margie and I are very active and enjoy the outdoors. Pointers are extremely fast and have incredible endurance while having a laid back temperament in the house. They do require an active lifestyle to be happy.
Pointers have been bred for about 500 years as gentlemen’s bird hunting dogs. In the field, Pointers point out birds, not attack. This instinct is bred deeply into Moose as a 10 week old puppy he started pointing crickets by the foundation of the house. Inside the house pointers are unstoppable couch potatoes. The short white coat makes cleaning and spotting ticks easy as we spend plenty of time in the woods exploring. Of the color varieties Moose is a Orange, our favorite. Moose joined us from Seasyde Pointers and Helyne Medeiros an amazing contributer to the Pointer breed.
For our family Moose is a perfect fit. Outside, he is like a shark, always moving. Inside, he is the prince of couch potatoes or beneath my desk warming my feet as I toil away on Fido Loves. Generally he is a charismatic and brilliant dog who I lucky to share company with. Is a Pointer for everyone? I highly doubt it. When choosing a dog you really need to look at your lifestyle and do your research to find a dog that will compliment your family. Margie and I can not imagine life without “The Magnificent Moose”.
