PORTAGE PARK — At a little more than 1,500 followers, the adventurous dachshund mix Dolly the Doxie doesn't have quite the fan club of Instagram all-timers like Doug the Pug or Barkley Sir Charles.
But Portage Park's own canine celebrity is unmatched in her determination to tow her owner to every corner of her neighborhood. And like any good ambassador of Chicago, she gives architecture tours.
"The area is very modest with small homes but very neat and tidy," the pup wrote through her owner, Sandra Townsend, sizing up the blocks surrounding Prussing Elementary School, 4650 N. Menard Ave.
"The houses have absolutely no consistency in architecture," Townsend continued. "There are lots of frames, small brick bungalows, Dutch Colonials, every few houses is something different depending on the builder at the time."
The trip around Prussing was part of a series called #DiscoverPortagePark, a section of the Dolly the Doxie blog that runs companion to Dolly's prolific Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Last spring, Townsend set out to bring Dolly and her other dog, a fluffy cocker spaniel named Taffy, through every block of their neighborhood. So far, the trio has taken more than a dozen trips from their home near the Six Corners Shopping District to far-flung destinations like Chopin Park and Wright College, leaving detailed accounts of each adventure.
When Townsend first moved to the neighborhood in 1993, her 9-to-5 in the Loop job kept her isolated from her next-door neighbors, to say nothing of Portage Park at large.
But Dolly changed all that, she said.
"I never realized what was going on around me, until I'd take her down to the park, and there were dog owners from all over the community," Townsend said. "I found out about everything from local politics, to shopping and the best places to go out and eat."
Now, as the weather promises to start warming up, Townsend plans to let Dolly and Taffy scope out even more of Portage Park, she said. That way, no matter where Dolly's followers are reading from, they can get a dog's eye view of a unique and storied Chicago neighborhood.
"Chicago isn't as much a big city as it is a bunch of little towns right next to each other," she said. "Each neighborhood is its own little community. And I hope people can learn through this how livable and dog-friendly and community-oriented Portage Park is.
