by Jennie Lloyd | Photos by Kara Hamilton
“If you find yourself in Florence Park and you hear a sound somewhat like Ethel
Merman and Aretha Franklin,” Gabriel Horn warns, “that’s probably Beckham.”
The sound usually means Beckham, a sweet five-year-old Labrador Retriever mixed with a little Great Pyrenees, has heard a distant noise or perceived threat.
“He makes the neighborhood laugh most of the time because he is all bark but is scared of most things,” Horn says.
The mix of Great Pyrenees “makes him all of his 110 pounds,” Horn says. Their
“sweet neighbors to the south” feed special treats to the lovely Lab “through a small little opening in the fence,” Horn says,
“and he has figured out that the warning call also beckons them to give another treat.”
Beckham has one “little brother” (although older), a French Bulldog named Beau, who is 12.
Beckham came to live with Horn and Beau five years ago through a friend of a friend who had recently given birth to a child — and delivered a litter of Labrador/ Great Pyrenees puppies. “She couldn’t manage both,” Horn says, so Beckham came to start his life with him. Beckham has also “fortunately been able to spend lots of time with one of his blood brothers,” Horn says.
At the time of Beckham’s arrival, “I had two Frenchies, and the one still with us (Beau) was truly not interested in Beckham,” Horn says, “but now I can’t get him to eat if Beckham is at a sleepover. They’ve bonded.”
Finding Friends
Beau isn’t the only one that Beckham has bonded with closely. He has also met a whole family of friends at Pooches, a locally owned Midtown doggy day care at 5331 East 41st Street.
Beckham has a ritual of spending his
day at Pooches while his dad is at work. They don’t like early mornings, so before heading to work, “Beckham snuggles in bed until it’s time for adult, at-the-top-ofthe-list things to do,” Horn says.
Horn and his little family live in the Florence Park neighborhood, and “Pooches is the farthest we usually venture out of our bubble,” he says. Rides to Pooches in the morning are “pretty wonderful,” Horn adds. Beckham loves to hang his head out the back window as he eagerly awaits his friends’ warm reception.
Beckham arrives at Pooches at about 9:30 a.m. on weekdays, and Horn picks him up after he finishes work at about 6 p.m. “He loves his family at Pooches,”
Horn says. “Lindsay Henry, who manages Pooches, is a dear friend, as well as the owners, but Lindsay coparents Beckham with me.”
Henry takes her commitment to work seriously — and is always there to help out when needed. “I’m so thankful, especially as a single person,” Horn says. “On some days, my schedule gets off or plans come up, and Beckham seamlessly goes home with her and her family for the night. And I truly don’t know that he misses a beat. How perfect is that life, I ask you?”
Discovering Unconditional Love
While love and attention are lavished on Beckham at Pooches during the week, Horn works as a licensed medical aesthetician and certified medical micropigmentologist. He owns Uplifting Skincare, a clinic at 1924 South Utica Avenue, where he
offers services such as facials, waxing, and micropigmentation.
Horn studied at the University of Southern California and has decades of experience in skin care. He has been voted Best of the Best by Oklahoma Magazine 10 years in a row and is established as a leader in skin care by the Obagi leadership forum. “I have been in business for more than 30 years, and Midtown is our little world,” Horn says. “Patients at the office know how much a part of my life these fur babies are.”
Horn relates his love for his dogs to the work he is passionate about. “So much of the work I do, which I love, is about imperfection and the fix for that,” he says.
“Perception is not always truthful, and our own judgment gets in our way. There is no judgment from the furry four-legged creatures — we look perfect in their eyes.”
Horn is also passionate about his love for dogs. “They are our chosen family, which in many areas of life tends to be the most cherished of families,” he says. “It’s me and the two boys; we got through COVID together and through the loss of my first Frenchie.”
He says, “I don’t know how people go through life without these little souls
underfoot. It is truly the most genuine form of unconditional love that I’ve ever witnessed. I heard someone say once that while pets may just be a part of your life, you are their entire lives. So I don’t take that lightly. I am more than happy to bend my life around them as much as needed. They mean the world to me.”
Beckham loves his little Midtown life with his dad and brother. But what he might love even more is pizza crust. “He’s not a big drooler until the Italian spices waft through the air,” Horn says. “Like father, like son.”
Beckham’s favorite toys are a garden gnome and a two-foot-long blue stuffed Dachshund. Recently, Horn asked Beckham an impossible question as he held both toys in his mouth. “If they were in a burning building, which one would you grab first?” Horn asked. “The look in his eyes truly felt like he was saying, ‘You cannot ask me to pick!’ ”
In the end, he doesn’t need to pick. Beckham gets to keep all his toys, and he loves his family at home with Horn and at Pooches with Henry and the gang. How perfect is that life, indeed?
