Dog of My Birthday: Gus the Great Pyrenees

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Adam Lang

Happy birthday to me, huh? Or, at least, if not exactly happy, at least… eventful. Perhaps I’ll tell you all about it someday. At the very least, Autumn and I went out to a rather nice dinner at a very nice restaurant and I’m getting tickets to see a music group I’m rather fond of who happen to be in town this weekend, touring from the East Coast as a present, which is rather nice.

And speaking of rather nice, Gus (the 2-year-old Great Pyrenees) is. He is a giant goofy huggable floofball who is a good boy yes he is. Hobbies include drooling, smooching, shaking, fetching, and melting hearts.

Great Pyrenees Sitting

Their ears are so funky. How do you breed an all-white dog with black ear-tips?

Great Pyrenees Sitting And Grinning In Front Of A No Dogs Allowed Sign

Some rules are more honored in the breach than they are in the observance. In both senses of the phrase.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Dog of the Day: Diesel the Yorkshire Terrier

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Adam Lang

Meet Diesel, Yorkshire terrier of distinction and note, and his mama. Don’t they make a gorgeous pair?

Woman Holding Yorkshire Terrier In Her Jacket For Warmth

This was taken during a bit of a cold snap. It’s not often it gets close to freezing here during the day.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Kona the Basenji German Shepherd Mix

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Adam Lang

Another breed mix that was reported by the human, in this case mom. Basenjis are pretty unusual dogs around here, so I wouldn’t immediately guess ‘basenji German shepherd’, but Kona does have the build of a slim sighthound, and the tail and face look a bit basenji-y too. And I can definitely see some German shepherd (or Belgian, or a similar dog) in her too.

Regardless, she’s got a very noble look to her, don’t you think? I ran into her while walking in the rain, as you can see, but she didn’t mind at all. I was quite wet, and she was damp, but didn’t seem to mind at all. She looked picturesque as all get-out standing up there on the wall like some kind of canine goddess statue. And amazingly calm and quiet, especially for an 11-month-old puppy.

Basenji German Shepherd Mix Dog Standing On A Stone Wall In The Rain In San Francisco

She’s a natural. I wonder if we can find her a modeling contract?

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Sunday Switchup: Superb Owl 50

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Adam Lang

These Superbowl 50 (excuse me, Superb Owl 50!) logos that were placed around the city were amusingly defaced almost before they were finished being put up. I’m no sports fan, so it was no great loss to me. In fact, at the risk of being labelled hopelessly unAmerican, when I saw the phrase ‘NFL Superbowl 50 Week’, I mistook the ‘5’ for an ‘S’ and thought that a local graffiti artist had misspelled ‘weak’, and was rather taken by the effort. Mind you, there were some things about that week that I liked…

In any case, I do like owls, so I approved of these alterations even more than I otherwise would have. (With thanks to Autumn Rhodes for the picture.)

Big Defaced Superbowl 50 Sign That Says Superb Owl 50 Now

I feel like there’s a joke in here about not giving a hoot, but I don’t care enough to hunt for it.

Posted in Sunday Switchup | Tagged | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Charlie the Unknown Mixed Breed

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Adam Lang

So, I have a breed mix written down for Charlie, but I can’t quite bring myself to believe it. Nevertheless, I will reveal it to you, because I figure you should have the chance to judge on your own.

My note says: Charlie, female, 1 year old, Bernese mountain dog/poodle/Labrador retriever mix. Just got fixed.

Now, I’m not going to say it’s not possible. She definitely has a lot of coloration that could be blamed on the Berner, and her fur is pretty poodle-y, and so on. But she’s little! She’d almost have to be, like, Berner and Lab and at least miniature poodle, if not toy, and… the mind just boggles.

Only two things are certain: one, the little shaved bit on her right front leg is from the IV from when she was being spayed, and two, she wants to give you all the kisses.

Unknown Mixed Breed Dog Staring At The Camera

Okay, there is a third thing: she has magnificent eyebrows.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Thor the Siberian Husky Puppy

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Adam Lang

I have been holding onto Thor (4 months old when I took these) for almost two months because there were so many good pictures that I couldn’t narrow it down. Every husky puppy is photogenic, it just goes with the breed, but Thor has this gorgeous little fleur-de-lis on his head that just adds to the adorability. I got dozens of pictures, and it was just so hard picking just a few.

There was also the problem that in a lot of the ones with the most ridiculous expressions, he was blurry as heck. I only used one of those, but I couldn’t resist that one. Just too funny.

Thor, an Adorable 4 Month Old Siberian Husky Puppy Looking Over His Shoulder

Look at those giant radar dishes.

Thor, an Adorable 4 Month Old Siberian Husky Puppy

Thor’s dad was holding up a treat to get him to hold still for me. It worked… kind of.

Thor, an Adorable 4 Month Old Siberian Husky Puppy Trying To Shake

He knew a few tricks, actually. He did them without asking.

Thor, an Adorable 4 Month Old Siberian Husky Puppy, Jumping Up On Someone's Leg

That is a very husky expression. Also, ‘down’ does not quite seem to be in his repertoire yet.

Thor, an Adorable 4 Month Old Siberian Husky Puppy With Perfect Fleur-De-Lis Markings On His Forehead

There, those are the markings. See what I mean?

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Our Old Friend Wilhelmina the Italian Greyhound

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Adam Lang

Mina the Italian greyhound! I see her regularly about town, and she’s just as cute now as she was when she was 13 weeks old and all shy, or when she was six months old and disgruntled.

Italian greyhounds are always so delicate-looking that I expect them to fly apart at any moment. Then when you watch them running around they just smack into things — humans, other dogs, the ground — and then just get up and keep going like nothing happened. Except when they tumble a dozen times, bounce off of something else, and THEN get up and keep going like nothing happened.

Man Holding Italian Greyhound

I wonder how well that halter stays on. It looks a little loose for such a skinny and wiggly dog.

Man Holding Italian Greyhound

Not sure why Mina’s off the ground. Maybe she’s ‘mina’ to other dogs?

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Doug the Standard Dachshund

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Adam Lang

Doug the standard dachshund is 8, and therefore predates the golden retriever in Up, but he’s very used to being asked whether that was the inspiration for his name.

No matter how many other dachshunds I see, standard dachshunds (which are surprisingly big when you’re used to the miniature ones) that are this chocolate brown in color will always be the ones I think of as ‘real dachshunds.’ These (not-so-) little guys were bred to go down into badger holes, and come back with the badgers. And badgers are mean little suckers. That makes the dachshund, goofy-looking as it is, a mighty little warrior.

Chocolate Brown Standard Dachshund

The color reminds me of chocolate. Maybe that’s why I like them so much.

Chocolate Brown Standard Dachshund

Ever seen one of these guys dig? It’s pretty amazing.

Chocolate Brown Standard Dachshund Sniffing A Red Dog Jacket

I don’t know if that’s a dog jacket or what. It doesn’t seem nearly long enough for a dachshund.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sunday Switchup: Gorgeous Graffiti

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Adam Lang

We really do have some gorgeous graffiti in San Francisco. This one’s right near where I work, but I rarely walk by it so every time I do it’s a little pleasant surprise.

Black And White Gorgeous Graffiti Wall

The picture doesn’t do it justice. I’ve stood and stared at it for minutes at a time. In person, in scale, it’s amazing.

Posted in Sunday Switchup | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Double Dog Day: Two Belgian Shepherds, a Malinois and a Tervuren

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Adam Lang

I first saw these two in a hurry on the way by, and snapped a couple pictures without really thinking about them. Now, looking at them more closely, I realize that they’re a matched set, together constituting half of the four-member Belgian shepherd clan: in this case, a Malinois and a Tervuren. Someone is obviously a very big fan of Belgia!*

(* Yes that is a joke. I have been known to be that dense, but not about Belgium, or indeed any country with such amazingly awesome dogs.)

Edit: Dammit, for some reason only one of the two pictures posted! Oh well, it’s fixed now.

Belgian Malinois Grinning

They didn’t react terribly well to me getting close to them, so I didn’t pet them. Alas.

Two Belgian Shepherds, A Malinois And A Tervuren, Posting

Man, they make a picturesque couple.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , | Leave a comment