Blackpool in photos...

Blackpool Pet-Tastic was, as you might imagine, FANTASTIC!
Lots of people came, lots of dogs came, lots of doggy songs were sung, lots of faces were painted, lots of tails were pinned on Onion, lots of biscuits were iced, the sun shone...
A couple of kind photographers have posted pictures of the day:

Gary Cook on his Blog

David Pennington on Facebook

Thank you both!

Onion does Blackpool...

The long-awaited, much-anticipated BLACKPOOL PET-TASTIC is nearly here!

Sunday 13th September 2009

2pm to 5pm

Blackpool Promenade, beside North Pier, in front of the Metropole Hotel, Blackpool FY1 1RQ

And Onion is the very proud (and decidedly camp) face of the event!

Make a costume, dress up your dog, and come along!

"Pet-Tastic has already travelled around the country and internationally – visiting Peckham, Norway, Bexhill-On-Sea and Lewisham. But organisers say they’ve saved the best till last and are now heading for Blackpool! It’s not your average Sunday afternoon out. The canine social event of the year offers dog owners the chance to embrace a little fun, dress up their dog and head for the prom this weekend (Sunday September 13) for a picnic and some cool sounds. Event organiser Rachael House said: “Sun, sea, fish and chips, the Tower, ballrooms, the Grundy Art Gallery, drag queens, rollercoasters and ghost trains. And now dogs dressed up. We can’t believe our luck!” “If you’ve never been to a Pet-Tastic before then you’re in for a treat – with the chance to dress a dog-shaped biscuit with icing, decorate a dog mask, or get your face painted to more closely resemble the dog you’ve always longed to be.” Following her triumphs in Peckham and Lewisham, Onion the miniature bull terrier will be the face of Blackpool Pet-Tastic. In her saucy tattooed sailor outfit Onion will be winking at the girls and flirting with the boys – keep an eye out for her and make sure to greet her with a ‘hello sailor!’ As well as admiring beautiful dogs, their owners, and Blackpool itself, their will music from Johnny and the Wags performing dog songs from Iggy Pop’s I wanna be your dog to Donny Osmond’s Puppy Love (participants can howl along if they like!) And if that’s not enough excitement, artists WebsterGotts are creating a brand new dog-related performance for the event. Dogs will enjoy a delicious picnic, adoration from the crowds and a grand day out. Clothed canines and their consorts may also take part in a parade, culminating in a presentation of certificates and souvenir. All are welcome to attend – you don’t need to have a dog! Just walk along and mingle, meet people, celebrate and form part of a vibrant community in the heart of Blackpool for three wonderful hours."

http://www.grundyartgallery.com

www.peckhampet-tastic.com

http://www.oniondog.com

Onion's unique approach to agility

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ioNSQ-3A6t4
Time to share our agility shame...
We hope you enjoy it!

Lucky Lady for Peckham Pet-tastic

An Onion Blog Exclusive: here, for the first time ever seen outside the photographic studio, is a sneak preview of Onion's latest Pet-Tastic outfit.


Handmade by lovely artist Rachael House, it is pink and feathered and FABULOUS! Please take up Rachael's invitation to make a costume, dress up your dog (or someone else's) and come and join all the fun of Peckham Pet-Tastic 3, a fancy dress picnic for dogs. It's on 23rd June from 2 to 5pm in Peckham Square, south London, outside Peckham Library. This is, quite simply, the canine social event of the year!

Canine cosmonaut?

Onion has the great good fortune to have been chosen by fab artist Rachael House to be the poster pooch for her next ‘canine art social event’, Lewisham Pet-Tastic to be held on Saturday 14 April 2007. Rachael has hand-made a beautiful spacesuit for Onion, complete with badges that honour Laika and other pioneering dogs in space.
As well as the chance to meet the famous Onion(!), you can dress up your dog and join the fancy-dress picnic from midday and the parade at 3pm. You can even have your face painted as a dog, decorate a dog-shaped biscuit or a dog mask.
So, start making your costumes (on any theme you like!) and please come and join Onion at Lewisham Market, Lewisham High Street, Lewisham SE13 7HB.

For more information contact Deborah Efemini, Lewisham Town Centre Manager, 020 8297 5635 or deborah.efemini@lewisham.gov.uk or artist Rachael House on rachaelhouse@btinternet.com.

Cyberdogs unite!

It's so great being a worldwide webdog! Not only do I meet other dogs in the park, I meet them online too. I have recently met two particularly handsome bull terriers. Allow me to introduce them:

Van in Canada, who, like me, has a taste for viewing life through a catflap...


and Wilson in Wales, whose owner bought him an Onion Light to keep him company. Now wasn't that thoughtful!

We came across the slide show of Wilson and the light by accident, and visited his owner Mountainear's blog, where she says nice things about the Onion Light. I hope one day I get to meet Wilson in the flesh-and-fur!

Keep blogging everyone, and thanks especially to Van and Wilson for getting in touch!
Onion
X

Dog Aid with Bob Geldog (aka Pappy)

For anyone who hasn't seen this yet (and frankly, as it's looking like being the canine Christmas number one, anyone who's missed it has definitely been dog-napping!), Pappy has got all his pooch pals together for a big slobbery singalong: Do They Know It's Christmas (Doggy Style). It includes me singin on the red carpet (my finest hour!) as well as the likes of TinTin, Buster, and loads more howlin their hearts out. Hurry and see it now. Go on, you know you want to!

Have you seen the light?

Earlier this week Onion finally got to meet the Onion Light up close and personal, in the comfort of her own home...



As you can see, she looks less than impressed!

Luckily, other reactions have been rather better. For example, one little girl is no longer afraid of the dark now that she has an Onion Light to protect her at night!

The Onion Light, modelled on Onion herself, is available at www.oniondog.com

Wonderful wikiFido...

Those nice people at wikiFido have published an exclusive interview with Onion. This has confirmed her view that she is a dog diva! She's now refusing to get out of bed for less than a gourmet dog biscuit...

Canine Canvassing: Vote Scuba!

Please vote Onion's lovely bullie friend Scuba's blog for 'Dogs With Blogs' awesome dog award! . Visit his blog and you'll see why we like it! How can anyone resist him?!

Tales of Wales Three

A warning to anyone who thinks they can lure their dog into the sea with their favourite toy... If you have a STUBBORN dog (no names mentioned) who has discovered that the sea is WET and COLD and a THIEF, you might end up having to go in after that toy yourself...


And then wrap up your 'poor wet dog' like a mummy when you get home...

Tales of Wales Two

Onion usually shows a healthy contempt for the sea. Too much like a large bath for her liking. But Wales saw an act of heroism on her part...

Tales of Wales: Sea Rescue
One of Onion's true loves is her small red kong. One day, she thought she'd take it to the seaside.


It seemed safe enough to play in the shallows...


...until the sea "stole" the kong.


In the face of crisis, Onion valiantly ploughed through the (ankle-deep) waves to rescue her faithful rubber friend.



Safer to play on dry sand!

Tales of Wales: part one

Hello all! Onion is back from her Welsh week!

A tale of Wales:
Day one of our holiday and we are exploring the town of Newport. Suddenly we notice a woman running after us down the street, apparently shouting at us. We stop, fearing that we have somehow caused offence. Reaching us, the unknown woman crouches down on the pavement, and immediately we understand: she has run all this way to meet Onion! It turns out that Pat owns Newport's only bull terrier, the gentle-natured mini, Taru (apologies if I have misspelled his Welsh name). Welcomed into Pat and Taru's home, Onion did her best to cause a one-dog riot by climbing into a basket of clean washing then running off with Taru's toy. A natural gentleman, though, Taru let his new ladyfriend play the prima donna, and even stood happily with her to be photographed!



The Globe: Pat (and Taru)'s B&B, ensures a very warm welcome to anyone tempted by a trip to the Pembrokeshire coast. Bull terriers welcome...

More about Onion's Welsh adventures later in the week.

Packing the pooch

Onion's debut movie, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, is out in UK cinemas today, but just as she is starting to enjoy the glare of publicity, we've decided to whisk her away to the coast of Wales for some fresh air. Of course, being a pampered pooch, she has her own bespoke luggage/portable bed. Unfortunately, her idea of helping out with the packing is to sit in it...

If you go and see the movie while Onion's away, please leave your comments here, so she can come back and read her notices!

Let there be Onion Light!

Every celeb worth their dog biscuits must have a product created in their name. Behold, the Onion Light, modelled on Onion's shapely curves, and now on view in SKK, Lexington Street, in London's Soho!



Onion had to check it out for herself!

The Onion Light was sculpted by Myra Heller and created by light guru Shiu-Kay Kan. It will be available on Onion's website, www.oniondog.com from mid-November!

Bliss on a budda bag

Does anyone else’s canine claim the most comfortable chair in the house? We got a budda bag because we thought it would be a great place for us owners to curl up, but guess who claimed it...

It's mine...

all mine!

A quick nap...

...still tired...

...sweet dreams!

Is Onion really a canine celebrity?

How do you know if you're living with a real-live celebrity? We had a good think about this, as Onion seems increasingly convinced that's what she is. We concluded that to be part of the celebrity culture you should
1. be in a movie (Onion is in Scenes of a Sexual Nature)
2. have a pop career (Onion appears in A-ha's 'Cosy Prisons' video, see above and YouTube)
3. behave like a diva!
In which case, Onion definitely qualifies. Time to bring out an Onion perfume?!

Be Not Afraid!

Onion has had one of her busy weeks – busy sleeping: on the sofa, on the bed, on the budda bag and occasionally even in her basket. And bull terriers have such a fearsome reputation! When we’re out and about, grown men have tried to climb walls to avoid Onion, mothers often whisk their offspring off the ground in her presence. Strangers are not readily convinced that Onion is straining at the leash in order to greet a friend rather than eat a foe… And they don’t know what we know – that bull terriers can be among the cuddliest dogs there are!

By chance, though, we early on discovered a way to dispel the fear -- through trickery! If those around you need convincing that your “savage hound” is safe, try a trick or two. Onion loves the attention (and treats) she earns from tricks and learns incredibly fast. So now when we meet wary parkgoers, we put Onion through her paces: on command she spins like a top, rolls over on a hand signal, whispers, walks backwards and waves a paw at her imaginary adoring fans! And we get instant converts to the Onion cause!

"I was dubbed!"

If anyone's wondering how Onion was persuaded to run around Tom Hardy barking for her role in Scenes of a Sexual Nature, the simple answer is that she wasn't! She did run towards him because 1. she had been clicker-trained to sniff dropped trousers (it's all true, see the presspack on Onion's website for an in-depth article!) and 2. there was tripe stick liberally scattered about his feet. But she didn't bark. She ran about wagging her tail, happy to be involved in a game with new friend Tom Hardy!
By the magic of cinema, the barking was added later, but the woof was not her own. Despite extensive investigations we have as yet been unable to discover the true identity behind 'the voice of Onion'. What is certain is that Onion has not lost her bark. Asked for her opinion on the red carpet at the premiere, she responded on cue with a loud bark!

Video footage of Onion on the red carpet

Moving pictures of Onion on the red carpet last Sunday! Oh, we're so proud! Thank you, Tinpan Films!