For The Ulitmate Dog Lover.....

[Merika]

Dog-shaped bed-and-breakfast has leg up on lodging

Tuesday, March 8, 2005 Posted: 12:13 PM EST (1713 GMT)

Frances and Dennis Sullivan stand below a large beagle with a puppy, which is actually a three-story bed and breakfast in Cottonwood, Idaho.

COTTONWOOD, Idaho (AP) -- Some of the best views in the tiny farming community of Cottonwood can be seen through the eyes of a dog.

Well, technically, through the temples of a giant, dog-shaped bed-and-breakfast.

The big dog, known as Sweet Willy Colton to his owners, opened for business last summer southeast of Lewiston.

"He was originally going to be a billboard, but over dinner one night in 1998 one of us said, 'What if it was a bed-and- breakfast?"' said Dennis Sullivan, Sweet Willy's creator and owner of Dog Bark Park. "We scribbled some plans out on a napkin that night."

Dennis and his wife, Frances Conklin, built the 35-foot beagle over the next several years, while maintaining their primary business, an unusual gift shop where they sell wooden dogs carved with a chain saw.

Sweet Willy's accommodations are bigger than they appear from the outside. Weary travelers can freshen up in the bathroom, appropriately housed in Willy's hindquarters. A bed, bookshelf, table and breakfast bar take up Willy's stomach.

Rest of Article: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/03/08....ap/index.html