Sir Meatball was the guest of honor at a birthday party. He was naked — except for a hat — during the party. And he spent a lot of time walking in and out of a plastic swimming pool with other guests, who also were in the nude.
Meatball is an English bulldog. The other guests were dogs of various breeds, who attended his birthday party on June 27th at Loflin Yard.
This isn’t just any old English bulldog. Meatball, who belongs to Mary Lauren and Michael Stewart, is a celebrity.
“He’s very popular on Instagram,” Mary Lauren says. “He has over 15,000 followers.”
Meatball doesn’t always just wear his birthday suit. “I got Meatball my last year of law school. And I just kind of, for fun, started dressing him up and taking pictures. I realized I could dress him up in whatever and put a wig on him and anything I could and he’d just sit there for the picture. And the Instagrams kind of took off from there.”
The Stewarts hold a party for Sir Meatball, who they bought from a breeder in Bolivar, Tennessee, every year.
About 30 dogs attended this year’s event. “We usually just invite our friends and their dogs. But this time we kind of talked with Loflin about having dogs off leash in the backyard. And we kind of opened it up to anyone who wanted to come.”
Dog birthday cakes graced the table. “We had three cakes from Hollywood Feed. They have the Hollywood Feed Fresh Bakery in Memphis. And I’ve really become friends with the bakery manager. I’ll send her what I’m thinking and she’s able to make my cake dream come true.”
One of the cakes was shaped like a beer mug. “It was his third birthday. He’s 21 in dog years.”
They also served dog beer, Mary Lauren says. “One of them was a Busch dog beer. The other brand was Good Boy dog beer. They’re made from bone broths. But it’s like a beer.”
Activities included “tennis balls and stuff for the dogs to play with. And we had the kiddie pools and bubbles going. A bubble machine.”
The Stewarts also own another English bull dog, Milkshake, who attended the party. “He is a year and a half younger than Meatball. He had his first birthday in December and we had it at Loflin Yard.”
Milkshake is a “wild child,” so they had a wild child-themed party. “He’s very spunky and has a lot of energy. They share the Instagram. I post pictures of both of them. They do a lot of shenanigans together. but they love to snuggle with each other and have fun.”
Any fights between unruly guests during the party? “There were a few agitators, but, for the most part, it was a fun, friendly event.”
As a special treat, Sir Meatball and Milkshake spent the night at The Peabody. They shared a room with the Stewarts.
