Dog of the Day: Monkey the Australian Cattle Dog Mix

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Adam Lang

Got some pictures of this pup on the day that I was doing that photo scavenger hunt. Her name is Monkey, and she’s a thirteen-year-old Australian cattle dog mix who is just full of smarts and awesome tricks. I couldn’t believe she was thirteen, although I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised: the second-oldest dog in recorded history was an Australian cattle dog, Bluey, who lived 29 years and a bit. Healthy breed!

Woman Gesturing To Sitting Australian Cattle Dog Mix

This is Monkey’s ‘I’m concentrating really hard to figure out what you want me to do’ pose.

Australian Cattle Dog Mix Removing Woman's Sandal

Trick number one. She’ll take mom’s sandals or slippers off for her.

Australian Cattle Dog Mix Holding Flipflop

I can picture buying a comfy chair and wearing sandals to work, just so that when I get home I can sit down in the comfy chair and have Monkey take them off for me.

Happy Australian Cattle Dog Mix Waving

Trick number two. Mom waved. Monkey waved back. Too cute.

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

Sunday Switchup: Golden Gate Sunset

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Adam Lang

A couple of sunsets behind the Golden Gate for you. The first from years ago… the second from hours ago.

Sunset Behind Golden Gate Bridge From Nob Hill

The sunsets out here aren’t often as dramatic as smoggier cities… but they have their moments.

Sunset Behind Golden Gate Bridge, Taken From Above Fort Mason

Taken from the hill overlooking Fort Mason.

Posted in Sunday Switchup | Tagged | Leave a comment

Caturday Supplement: Marm the Marmalade Tabby Cat

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Adam Lang

I saw this gorgeous kitty as I was walking by… I probably wouldn’t have noticed except there were three people gathered around below the window (which is around six feet up!) looking at him. I had to hold my camera above my head in order to get any shots of his face that weren’t entirely obscured by reflections… and even still, as you can see, there were still rather impressive ones in the pictures.

The reflections and the angle, though, made me not notice the name tags until I looked at my pictures later. So awesome… I love that the two cats each have their own corners of the window. Clearly ‘Marm’ is the right name for this one, since he’s a marmalade tabby. I’ll have to keep my eyes out for PK (named for the film? the economist? or perhaps ‘Pretty Kitty’?) when I walk by this spot in the future.

Marmalade Tabby Cat Sitting In A Window With Reflections On It

Can you spot my head? There is a tiny bit of it reflected in the window. Hint: look for the arms, holding the camera above it.

Marmalade Tabby Cat In Window With Weird Reflections

The funky building in the reflection is a former movie theater, now fitness place. It has some pretty strange thingies up on top of it.

Marmalade Tabby In A Window Looking At The Camera Through Reflections

He mostly ignored me, but when I moved around a bit he watched me, and he deigned to bat a bit at my finger when I teased him with it through the window.

Posted in Caturday Supplement | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: ‘Obey Posted Signs’

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Adam Lang

I might have mentioned the scavenger hunt I was a part of recently. Well, this one was for a category entitled ‘obey posted signs’. And yes, that’s me, being silly.

Picture of Man Pointing At Dog Next To Sign With Picture Of Man Pointing At Dog

Dog people are awesome. ‘Excuse me, can I borrow your dog for a photo scavenger hunt’ doesn’t faze them a bit.

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

Dog of the Day: SUV Dachshund

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Adam Lang

I was walking by this SUV while it was pulled off on the side of the Embark-bark-barkadero last weekend, and the dog inside started barking rather loudly at me. I was walking pretty close to it anyway, so I said hi to the guy inside, and asked him if his pup was particularly territorial when he was in the car, which is a common enough thing. “No,” he said, “Actually he is just yelling ‘come here and pet me right now!’ over and over.”

So I did. And yup, he was.

Dachshund Barking In The Window Of A Red Grand Cherokee

Hell of a big car for such a dinky little dog.

Dachshund Looking Demure In The Window Of A Red Grand Cherokee

If I had a dog and a car like this, I’d be terrified of him just hopping out the window. (Same with a child!)

Posted in Dog Story | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Hurley the Golden Retriever Puppy In A Hat

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Adam Lang

So I was playing photo scavenger hunt last weekend friend-of-the-blog and frequent bird-clarifier Tommaso’s birthday last weekend, and got several useful dog pictures out of the bargain. For this one, I walked up to a woman with an adorable golden retriever puppy and asked, “Excuse me, do you mind if I take some pictures of your dog wearing my hat?”

It transpired that she did not. Nor, after a very brief investigative nibble, did Hurley.

Young English Cream Golden Retriever Having A Flat Cap Put On His Head

He did nab it out of mom’s hand once, but fortunately goldens have soft mouths, and he didn’t choose to try to play tug-of-war.

Woman Putting Leather Flat Cap On Young English Cream Golden Retriever

That face. Let’s have a close-up…

Young English Cream Golden Retriever Wearing A Leather Flat Cap

Man. He looks better in it than I do.

Woman And Young English Cream Golden Retriever Wearing A Brown Leather Flat Cap

By the way, I did no photo manipulation, aside from cropping. Her top seems to have somehow defeated my iPhone camera’s sensor all by itself.

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

Dog of the Day: Greyson the Border Collie Australian Shepherd

Posted on September 1, 2015 by Adam Lang

The building where I work, ‘Hipmunk HQ’, is also home to another travel-related business: Olivia, which is a company that organizes cruises, package tours, and similar things for lesbians. Hipmunk has the bottom two floors, and a no-dogs-at-work policy. Olivia has the top floor — as well as owning the building — and has a all-the-dogs-at-work policy. And every once in a while one of their dogs (most often this pug but occasionally a lab that I have not yet managed to get a good picture of) wanders down the stairs and into our work area.

The pug (whose name may be Henry, though I may be misremembering) is generally less than thrilled about being petted by all and sundry. But Greyson, this first time that he wandered down to say hello, was absolutely thrilled with all the attention, and thus attracted a small circle of admirers. We petted him for a while, and then I jumped around and made goofy noises and got him to chase me, and then ran upstairs and he ran after me and was immediately overjoyed to see mom, who he had been parted from for almost ten whole minutes! Much enthusiastic licking ensued.

Grey Border Collie Australian Shepherd Mix With White Markings And Grey Eyes

Greyson has gorgeous eyes, and some of the softest fur ever.

Grey Border Collie Australian Shepherd Mix With White Markings And Grey Eyes Looking Goofy

I can definitely see the border collie, and not just physically. He seems very… intense. Even if that is mostly ‘intensely goofy’.

Woman Hugging Grey Border Collie Australian Shepherd Mix With White Markings And Grey Eyes Who Is Looking Goofy

This is a first for me: the human was moving too fast for the picture, but the dog was standing still.

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

Dog of the Day: Friday the Aussie Puppy

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Adam Lang

This is Friday, the 4-month-old Aussie puppy. And guess which day I met Friday? That’s right, it was last… Wednesday!

Oh well. Anyway, he was totally adorable, and is a complete blur in over 60 pictures I took. I’m keeping them instead of deleting the blurry ones as I usually do, because if I drop myself into full-screen mode and click the first one, and then hold down the right arrow, I get to watch a flicker-animation of him zooming around the floor of the San Francisco Center mall, which actually looks quite good even if the individual frames are blurry. Maybe someday I’ll figure out how to make a gif or something. In the mean time, you’ll have to settle for a few paltry pictures of him at rest.

(With special guest, about 1/3 of a shih tzu.)

Tricolor Australian Shepherd Puppy With A Tail

Oh god the nose freckles. Reminds me of Max, who I just ran into again this morning. (Yay!)

Tricolor Australian Shepherd Puppy With A Tail Licking His Nose

He spotted another dog just about his size, and just went nuts.

Tricolor Australian Shepherd Puppy With A Tail Lying On The Floor And Looking At A Shih Tzu

This is the ‘after’ pic, for him running around in circles. I bet he lay like that, exhausted, for nearly a full twenty seconds before he was ready to go again.

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

Sunday Switchup: The Growler

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Adam Lang

Sorry for the break in posting. I had a very busy day on Friday, followed by a sleep study Friday night, followed by a ‘photo scavenger hunt’ (wherein I walked almost 12 miles) on Saturday, followed by a party Saturday night. I left home Friday morning at 7:45 AM and didn’t get back until Sunday night at 11:30, and I promptly collapsed and slept for eleven hours.

Anyway! This fine fellow is The Growler. How do I know? Because I ran into him in The Growler’s Arms in Oakland, a few weeks ago. If you’re in the area, you should try them out… I came for the cute dog mascot but I stayed for the food. Mmm, the food was amazing.

Black And White French Bulldog Carved From Wood

There has to be a story behind this sculpture, but I have no idea what it was.

Black And White French Bulldog Carved From Wood With Huge Fluffy Rope Collar Thing

Not sure what the deal with the collar is, either. It’s almost Hawaiian-esque.

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

Dog of the Day: ‘Puppy’ the American Pit Bull Terrier/Vizsla Puppy

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Adam Lang

This is the puppy (or, rather, ‘Puppy’ — that’s his name!) that I was considering posting for National Dog Day. Alas, this adorable 4-month-old pit bull terrier/vizsla puppy will have to settle for having just a regular Thursday to call his own. (He almost had to share it with his friend Theo the ridgeback/rottweiler, but unfortunately none of the Theo pictures came out. Too bad, too, Theo has a great smile.)

Woman Holding Large Brindled Pit Bull Vizsla Mix Puppy In Her Arms

Puppy had just come from rather a long frolic at a local dog park (Lafayette, I think?).

Woman Holding Large Brindled Pit Bull Vizsla Mix Puppy In Her Arms

Poor pup can barely keep his eyes open.

Woman Holding Large Brindled Pit Bull Vizsla Mix Puppy In Her Arms

I don’t think he’s going to fit in mom’s arms for much longer…

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