Lucky Dog Upcycle

Repurposed, reinvented, reclaimed, reimagined. Rowdy, my rescue dog, found his second life when saved from a kill shelter by Cape Fear Rescue. He and three other puppies had been left in a box outside at a shelter that was closed for the holiday weekend. His siblings were all black and Rowdy was the only spotted one. Named after the famous triple-gold Olympic medalist swimmer, Rowdy Gaines, my boy does swim really well. His first collar was like all the rest – an inexpensive one made of nylon webbing. I knew he deserved something better, so I began looking at leather ones. I liked the idea of bending the rescue dog idea and saving the forgotten belt in the closet, too. I grew up watching my dad work with leather. He made my sisters and I all beautiful hand-tooled leather belts, so I had some idea of how to approach the transformation.