Holland the Pup on traveling and hockey fandom
Holland on road tripping and delicious snacks.
Dog O’Day: Do you have any tips for other dogs on how to make road trips easier?
Holland the Pup: Sometimes getting into certain places can be difficult for me because I’m not an official service dog (although I do think I would make a good one, my dad says he’s fortunate to not need one and doesn’t want to take advantage of the system).
As far as lodging goes, it’s been real easy finding cool places to stay using the “dog friendly” filters on Hotels.com and AirBnB. I haven’t stayed at a Stay Pineapple hotel yet, but they look really cool and are very pet friendly, so I’m hoping to stay there when we visit NYC when the Lightning play against the Rangers, Devils, and Islanders. They also have hotels in other NHL cities and I first found out about them when I looked to see where the new Seattle hockey team arena will be and noticed there is one right next to it!
Dog O’Day: What are some of your favorite snacks? Since Dad enjoys food so much, did he kind of pass that along?
Holland the Pup: Oh man, I like pretty much everything. My dad doesn’t always give me leftovers, but I think I do pretty good. My dad loves local products so I’ve been fortunate to get some local dog treats and dog food in certain areas we’ve visited.
I’m in Colorado right now and my dad got me some Colorado trout dog treats for our ride through Rocky Mountain National Park and they were delicious! I also had some dog treats made from crushed oyster shells when we visited Apalachicola, Florida…oyster country USA.
I just heard Flock and Stock, a chicken and burger joint located in Sparkman Wharf that’s right next to Amalie Arena just started selling dog treats so I can’t wait to check that out when I make it back down to Tampa for a game.
Dog O’Day: Without thumbs, how do you type?
Holland the Pup: It’s all eye contact! My dad is really good at interpreting my thoughts just by looking at me and then he does the typing thing. I can’t even hold onto a phone let alone type so I’m glad he’s with me to help me with all the technology. He even got me a GoPro harness so sometimes he gets to see what things are like from my point of view!
Dog O’Day: If you could be another breed for a week, what would you pick and why?
Holland the Pup: Hmmm…I really think I like myself just the way I am…not too big and not too small.
Dog O’Day: Are there any dogs (alive or historical) that you look up to, and if so, how come?
Holland the Pup: I fell in love with Bark-Andre Furry during the 2017-2018 playoff season. I thought my Lightning were going to play Vegas for the Stanley Cup and when I caught wind of Bark it was kind of love at first sight. He inspired me to ask my dad for my new hockey sweater that my dad had custom made on the Shop NHL website. It’s a cool youth official Fanatics jersey that has my name and favorite number on it.