Sneaker Nightmares: A laborador puppy, a New York City dog park determines the fate of Procell Muslin AF1s
Learning the hard way that toe boxes and paws don't go well together.
Sneaker Nightmares bringing to life footwear’s biggest fears
When “Beware of The Dog” becomes a sign you can’t ignore, and being slapped right in the toe box brings your darkest fears to life in the shape of your best friend. This is a tale of betrayal and heartbreak, the one you didn't see coming. So grab a bottle of your favorite shoe cleaner and a box of tissues you are in for a bumpy ride.
Writer and creative Jodi Taylor (@jodtaylor) shared her jaw-dropping, seat-clenching horror story about her nightmare of a battle with her NYC Edition Procell Nike Air Force 1 Lows. This is the type of nightmare that makes you go to bed with all the lights on, hoping that an episode of Friends will erase all the trauma.
So let's set the scene. It's Fall 2019 in Brooklyn, New York, and Jodi, like the fantastic dog mom she is, steps out to go to dinner with friends, with plans to visit a dog park on the way. But, of course, you can't just pull up to dinner in throw-whatever-is-on-the-back-of-the-door dog park apparel; Jodi had to get her fit off. So, outfitted in a calm crewneck, some denim, and the Procell Air Force 1s, she set out into the night.
Within 20 minutes, Jodi arrives at the park and begins to make her way over to the dog area (this is the moment in any scary movie when you start yelling at them to go back). She opens the gate and lets her then four-month-old pup Venice off his leash, and away he ran, frantically trying to find a pup friend to hang with while also running from them all the same time since he was still getting the hang of things. Jodi sets up in the driest and safest area in the park, but it wasn't long before she realized this had been a bad idea. If you have ever been to a dog park in New York, you'll know the terrain is pretty much either gravel, mulch, or dirt—this park seemed to have all three, and it had poured rain just that morning, so it wasn't long before Jodi was guarding her Air Force 1s with her life. When she got to this part of the story, my stomach dropped like I was 10 years old at Six Flags riding a rollercoaster for the first time.
Jodi quickly calculated the likelihood of a disaster happening to her, basically brand new (she had only worn them once before) as she watched dogs zoom by her feet and decided maybe this wasn't the right dog park after all. Before she could act on this impulse and get the hell out of there, Venice came pummeling towards her with two Golden Doodles right on his tail. Planning to hide behind his mom, Venice went right for the sneakers, and Jodi watched in slow motion as his front right mud-filled, wet paw landed perfectly on the toe box of her buttery off-white muslin sneakers.
Still in shock, Jodi clipped Venice to his leash and swiftly proceeded to exit the park, eyes wide, and she tried not to look at the fresh crime scene that had just taken place on her favorite sneakers. Canceling dinner, she rushed home and broke out her cleaning kit as fast as CSI Miami at a new crime scene. After hours (and then days) of trying every cleaning product known to man and googling "how to clean muslin" 1,000 times, Jodi realized that not even Reddit could help her.
The shadow of Venice's paw still lingered as if it was a bat signal for the city, and just like that, her nightmare became a reality, and her Procell Air Force 1s were placed back in their box, never to hit the streets again.
