A BARKING mad brewery has enlisted two adorable dogs to help deliver beer while social distancing during the coronavirus.
Mark and Karen Heuwetter, the co-founders of the Long Island-based Six Harbors Brewing Company, have been taking their two golden retrievers Buddy, 3, and Barley, 1, out with them on while making deliveries and curb-side pick-ups across New York while lockdown continues.
But what started as a bit of fun designed to cheer up customers and keep their pet pooches entertained and by their side has quickly evolved into a key component of their service.
“People started seeing the dogs on the deliveries, and so we came up with the idea of having them [help] bring the beer to them,” Mark Heuwetter, explained to CNBC.
The couple decided to fit Buddy and Barley with “little accents” that hang around the dogs’ necks in the same way a collar would – except these collars carry four beer cans.
While the idea of a dog delivering heavy cans of beer strapped to its neck sounds a bit unsavoury on first glance, it’s worth noting that the Heuwetter’s fit the canine collars with empty cans.
“We’re dog-loving people and we wouldn’t want to have them get hurt in any way or shake up the beer,” Mark says.
Instead, the brewery’s two canine companions serve as "Brew Dogs", on hand to greet customers and pose for a few photos.
Buddy and Barley are kept pretty busy too, with the Heuwetter’s completing anywhere up to 12 deliveries a day with their two four-legged assistants.
More importantly it is entirely safe with cases of coronavirus involving dogs extremely rare.
Regular fixtures behind the scenes at the brewery, the two dogs have been lifting spirits during this tricky time with staff furloughed and customers locked down.
And they will be ready and waiting with wagging tales and big smiles for when everyone returns to the new normal.
