Meet Midtown’s New Doggie Homecoming King and Queen
Published: 12/01/22
We had nearly 50 dogs apply for the Midtown Homecoming Court, and it was RUFF picking the winners!
Midtown’s dog park at 10th Street Park is officially open! On Nov. 12, we hosted a TAILgate Party to celebrate, and during the event we crowned a Doggie Homecoming King and Queen.
We received nearly 50 applications from across the district, and our staff helped narrow the selection down to a Homecoming Court of five prospective Kings and Queens. At the event, attendees voted on who they thought should represent Midtown for the next year. Meet your winners below — their photos will be displayed at the park for the next year.
Queen Nora
Midtown resident Nate Hoelzel adopted Nora from Atlanta Humane Society when she was just a few months old. Most of Atlanta was stuck inside during a rare snowstorm, and Nate thought a canine companion would help warm up the house.
“We picked her up at AHS, and she was this little cotton ball who immediately ran over and started licking my face,” he said. “She still does that.”
Nora enjoys eating peanut butter Kongs and watching popcorn pop in the microwave, but her favorite thing to do is chase a tennis ball. She excelled in obedience school, especially agility courses, and one summer she took dock diving lessons. This isn’t the first contest she’s won: as a puppy, she won an ice-cream eating contest at the Dogwood Festival and won a whole crate of dog ice cream from King of Pops.
Nora now has two sisters, Lumi (10 months) and Roux (2), who were also adopted from AHS.
“I’ve always told Nate the appropriate number of dogs is N+1, so there’s always room for more,” said Tobey Davis, Nate’s wife. “Nora is definitely the matriarch of the herd,."
King Cosmo
Cosmo, a long-haired Chihuahua, moved to a condo in Midtown earlier this year. Dr. Dimpal Bhakta and her wife adopted him when they lived in Houston from friends whose Chihuahuas gave birth to a litter. They already owned another Chihuahua, Arya, who is 10.
Although the breed isn’t always known to be the friendliest, Bhakta says Cosmo is very lovable towards humans and never growls or snarls.
“But he’ll bark at every single dog he meets like he thinks he’s bigger than they are,” she said.
Cosmo’s other fear? Garbage bags.
“He hates the rustling noise,” she said. “He runs away from us when we take out the trash, and he even scurries away from plastic bags he sees on the sidewalk.”
Watch our latest edition of the "Midtown Minute" to see highlights from our TAILgate event!