Unleashed: Stone Soup Kitchen's Doggie Party

Quick, call off that dog sitter you booked for Saturday night. Instead, take your pooch or pooches to ’s fourth annual Doggie Party.

But only pups who play well with others, please. Stone Soup Kitchen loves dogs, but they don’t need a whole lot of ridiculous barking and snapping going on.

Cute mutt Gracie, who was rescued off Memorial Drive by Jason MacDonald of East Lake, a co-owner of SSK, has a whole new outfit for the tail-wagging event that starts at 6 p.m.

Standard Poodle Simone, who, like Gracie, has attended every SSK doggie bash to date, prefers to go naked, said her devoted Grant Park caregiver, Vincent Martinez.

Consider the fact that “when you pay $115 for her haircut every six weeks, you really do want to show it off,” said Martinez, who knows about such things. He is the fashion design teacher at Grady High School and proprietor of the popular fashion website and blog, fashionado.net.

And oh, how he adores his Simone, who “really is such a diva because she is built like a super model, with the longest legs and the chic-est haircut.”

Last year’s pooch party at SSK drew 32 dogs and a small-scale silent auction raised $600 for Lifeline Animal Rescue. This year’s event is to benefit Atlanta ResponsiBully Coalition, which promotes responsible pet ownership and works to dispel negative myths about bully breeds.

Some proceeds from Saturday’s event will also go to Grant Park Dogs, the organization that provides doggie cleanup bags for the neighborhood. SSK was an original sponsor of the installation of the bag dispensers.

Said MacDonald: “We are crazy about dogs at Stone Soup and are concerned about pet over-population, homeless animals and mistreated animals. We have many customers who are dog lovers and we thought this benefit would be a great way to celebrate our canine friends, our dog-loving customers — and do some good.”

Admission to the party is free to all pups and $10 for their anthropoids, who can enjoy an array of appetizers and get their first drink free. The four-legged ones will have a large fenced-in area (closed-off rear parking lot) in which to romp around, sniff one another, snap up treats, slurp up water and wonder what the heck is going on.

This just in: There will be a “doggie kissing booth.” Smooch-slobber-smooch and don’t forget your cameras.

All those planning to bring a beloved domesticated beast are asked to e-mail a reservation to stonesoupkitchen@gmail.com. Please include number of dogs attending, so the restaurant can brace itself. (No dog to bring? You are still encouraged to attend).

Just in time for this annual doggie play date, the walls of SSK have been re-dressed with bold paintings of dogs (and some cats, too), by East Atlanta artist Suzie Elfrid. They’ll make a nice backdrop for the silent auction with items donated by a variety of local artists and businesses such as Garden Hood, Seraphim Skin Care, Prestige Wine and Cabbagetown Clay and Glass Works.

Shane, a lab mix who also belongs to SSK’s MacDonald, has been banned from this event because “he was such a jerk last year,” MacDonald said. “He kept going around to all the other dogs saying  ‘Hey, buzz off! This is MY restaurant!’ ”

Shady, a 14-year-old miniature pincher who resides in Grant Park, also will not be among the lucky attendees, said Shady’s owner, Maura Buchman.

“She’s a party pooper,” Buchman said. “She does not play well with others. She doesn’t even play well with me, even though I love her and would go to the ends of the Earth for her.” Shady “ more than lives up to her name,” Buchman said.

However, for the third year Buchman will bring Greta, her Boston Terrier/ Pug mix (or “bugg”). A five-year-old rescue, Greta is known to have a blast at this bash.

“Whenever there’s food around, she acts like she doesn’t know who we are,” Buchman said. “She’s like a vacuum cleaner. If there is one crumb somewhere, she is going to get it. Just watch, she’ll be in heaven.”

Buchman, who spent some years working in the veterinarian medicine field, enjoys SSK’s annual tribute to dogs “because it’s a great opportunity to meet your neighbors and I always like being with dog people. I’m the sort who is going to remember your dog before I remember you. That’s nothing personal — it’s just kind of how it is.”

Martinez said he enjoys the doggie bash because “any time you are allowed to bring your pet into a public setting, that completely changes the event. It uplifts the ambiance and the energy. There’s an unpredictable factor when you have a group of dogs in one area. Everyone comes out of their shell and it’s just good, honest fun. Call it an instant icebreaker.”

Woof, woof, if you go: Stone Soup Kitchen’s Fourth Annual Doggie Party, 6-10pm Saturday, Sept. 10. $10 to benefit Atlanta ResponsiBully Coalition. Dogs are free but you must let restaurant know how many to expect: stonesoupkitchen@gmail.com. 584 Woodward Ave., in Cabbagetown/Grant Park area just south of Memorial Drive and off of Boulevard. 404-524-1222. stonesoupkitchen.net.