Gus is a mystery dog. He’s around 5, and definitely has some Aussie in him. Dad has guessed that he also has some Labrador retriever and some white shepherd, and I can’t argue. But he’s definitely an amalgam. Of awesome.
Airplane ears!
This was his expression 95% of the time. “Default giant grin.”
I took a ferry out to Alameda a couple weekends ago, having forgotten just how dumb the public transit there is: they have a ferry terminal that’s 4 miles from the middle of town and there’s no public transit between the two. It is a long walk, and entirely nonsensical. Oh well, at least it’s a pretty boat ride.
The new span of the Bay Bridge is obscured from here, unfortunately, because it’s pretty.
Pepper is 11 years old, and getting along fine, thank you. He looks amazingly different in the sun than in the shade, doesn’t he? Part of that is apparently because not too long ago, his groomer made the mistake of cutting him much too short, and, as sometimes happens with double-coated dogs, it didn’t all grow back quite right. Never shave your double-coated dogs, people: it’ll all end in tears!
I ran into the two of them right outside the Cowgirl Creamery store up in Point Reyes. Mmm. Cheese.
The fur is as soft as it looks. I almost think there’s some keeshond in there.
Someone took a nice snooze while mom was in the creamery.
Looks totally different in the sunlight, doesn’t he?
Dakota! Dakota is a pit/probably boxer mix. He was adopted from Family Dog Rescue, where his mom happens to volunteer. My notes say that he likes turning around in circles and is fascinated by doors, but hey, who doesn’t, and who isn’t?
I ran into Dakota and his mom today on the way to work. Now, it just so happens that I had run into Dakota before — twice, even! — and his mom gently reminded me of that fact, and I reminded myself that I had not, in fact, posted any pictures of Dakota. (Inexcusable!) She also asked me if I had gotten any good pictures, because she’d recently lost her phone and all the photos she’d had of him. So I had to run home after class and see what I had.
It turns out I didn’t post the first set of pictures because they all had serious problems with shadows. The first picture down below is an example of that, although it does at least display his adorable spotted nose to good effect. And it turns out I didn’t post any of the (very small) second set because I am a rude slacker. Especially since Dakota has such a great smile in several of them.
This is Dakota on May 27th. At that point he was supposedly 3 to 4 months.
And this is from August. I didn’t notice quite such a ridiculous underbite when I saw him today.
Some of the spectators at the surfing championships were just as entertaining to watch as the contestants, if not quite as active.
There was nothing that was not entertaining about this dog.
Bassets always have that long-suffering expression down pat.
That is the most hilariously-shaped head I think I have ever seen.
This is another of the surfing contestants I ran across at the competition, and also a first for my blog: Barb (8 years old) is a New Zealand huntaway, and I wasn’t sure I wasn’t being gently wound up until I went and had a look at wikipedia. Sure enough, it’s a real dog breed. And the first recognized dog breed from New Zealand. Neat!
C’mon, this is the first time I’ve used that pun in the hovertext in the entire time I’ve been running this blog. I’m not proud, but I think it had to be done.
Can you believe that Harry is only four months old in these pictures? He was a big boy, and still getting bigger. He was traveling down the coast last month with his mom, and stopped for a break in Point Reyes Station while I was there, and I was lucky enough to be able to say hello.
A four-month-old puppy on a long car trip? That’s got to be a remarkable puppy.
Heart-shaped nose!
I am rarely outside at the right time of day to see this, since it’s on the wall of my workplace, early-to-mid-afternoon. But it’s quite a sight.
The building next door is a historic monument. The owners decided to build another building both behind and actually over it which is glass and steel, and which is what is casting these reflections.
The nice thing is, the enhancement also serves to make the brick building underneath much more earthquake-safe.
That’s the building — or, at least, the historic part — you can see reflected in the window.
Ran into this kitty outside of a house in Berkeley. Super-friendly!
Look at his neck. The circles! They look just like a fur collar.
I am late to so many things due to emergency animal photo sessions. I’d be more embarrassed, except I’m not embarrassed at all.
I thought it was really odd that I didn’t have any pictures of the awards ceremony of the dog surfing event, but I just sort of shrugged my shoulders and moved on. And then I discovered why: I took them with my iPhone, because I didn’t have a good wide-angle lens for the SLR. I have really got to get some better lenses somewhere along the line.
Anyway, this is the pup who won first place in the ‘large dogs’ category. She is amazing at sticking to that board. She disappears into a wave, and then the wave is past her and there she is, still standing on the board, looking nonchalant.
She actually looked a lot more comfortable on a surfboard than surrounded by adoring, extremely loud fans.
I’m not above taking advantage of staged photo ops. Especially when the dog doesn’t wholly endorse the concept.