Drew Baklik might not be the type you’d expect to own a lap dog.
Baklik, 29, is an athletic bartender who used to play football for Derby High School and flag football for the University of Connecticut.
But most places you find Baklik, you’ll see his Maltese Yorkie mix, Pebbles.
“She’s portable,” Baklik said of the 5‑lb. dog, named after the Flintstones character.
Baklik, an Ansonia resident who grew up in Derby, is one of 30 finalists in a “Big Guy Small Dog“ contest run by dog food brand, Purina.
The contest aims to show that small dogs can be just as manly as big ones.
Baklik is vying for a chance to be featured in Purina’s upcoming calendar of big guys and small dogs, as well as a year’s supply of dog food and a trip to Los Angeles.
Baklik said he entered the contest as a joke, because friends often tease him about having such a small dog.
But when he looked at the competition, he decided he had a good chance of winning and started pushing for votes from his friends and customers where he works at Buffalo Wild Wings in Milford.
Now he’s a finalist, and looking for more votes to help get him to the grand prize.
The public can vote online, and their input counts for part of the decision, Baklik said. A celebrity panel, which hasn’t been announced yet, will help decide the winners as well, Baklik said.
Baklik got Pebbles for his former fiancee, but the two ended up breaking up. He kept the dog.
Baklik said Pebbles “has become more like a daughter to me than a pet,” in his entry essay.
He said he gets a hard time about it sometimes.
“People automatically assume certain things about that person or that dog, like it’s a little yappy thing,” he said.
He is posed in the entry photo shirtless on a boat with Pebbles, who is wearing a little life jacket.
“She goes swimming,” Baklik said. “When she comes out of the water, she shivers like crazy. She’s quite a good swimmer, with or without her life jacket.”
Baklik is listed as Andrew B. and Pebbles in the contest. Click on this link to vote for him.
Voting ends July 6.
