Pipa took some time out of her busy day to come say hello to me.
Pipa looks a surprising amount like Tidus. Including the amazing haunches.
Gentle leaders really do look like muzzles sometimes. Weird.
Another thing that looks like Tidus: the hilariously expressive ears.
Distinctive coloration. I think this one is going to schnauze most excellently.
Not quite five months old in these pictures.
I really think he’d make a great spokesman for Bay Area Bike Share. He totally seems into it.
Madison! Madison was four months old in these pictures, and she was an amazing bundle of energy and inquisitiveness. Alas, almost all my pictures ended up completely blown out (her white fur just looks like a blank hole in the picture), which is what happens when you take pictures of white dogs in the sun in July. But I don’t care, because the TWO nose shots came out great.
Edit: Madison is actually a girl, because of course she is. Because it says ‘female’ right next to her name in my notes. And I am a silly person who does not read his notes!
Madison was totally into the photography. But really, I think she’s up for just about anything.
She was certainly fascinated by the camera.
I’ve been tempted to put peanut oil on my camera to get more nose shots.
The last we heard of Tidus, he was recovering from ruptured disc surgery. Well, he’s made an almost full recovery… he’s still a little shaky on one of his back legs, especially when he’s running around on a slippery wooden floor, but he’s able to get around just fine and seems like a very happy dog again. And he’s eleven… seventy-seven in dog years! If I have a ruptured disc when I’m seventy-seven I sure hope I make as good a recovery as he has.
Anyway, he was happy to see Autumn and me, and it was great seeing him again. We fed him carrots (which he adores) and petted him and just generally spoiled him rotten.
EDIT: OH MY GOD I TOTALLY FORGOT TIDUS HAS A TUMBLR PAGE THIS IS IMPORTANT YOU MUST VISIT IT RIGHT NOW THIS POST WILL STAY AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE FOR ONE MORE DAY SO EVERYONE WILL GET A CHANCE TO SEE TIDUS IN ALL HIS GLORY.
Tidus has always had a really good ‘please pet me now’ face. It has only improved with recent practice.
See? That’s a master at work.
Then once you’re petting him he totally sasses up.
Look at those flews. I bet Tidus could make glorious elephant noises, if his house had carpets for him to blow through.
Autumn is responsible for this and the previous picture. And they are AWESOME.
I dunno, it’s, like, some kind of bug, right?
Actually, I think it’s a mint condition Volkswagen Transporter T1 Samba (sometimes called a Microbus, although I guess that more properly refers to the T2 version). This one would be the ‘deluxe 23-window’ variety. Why do I think this? Well, I could lie and say I’m an expert on such matters, but the fact is that I went googling and found this article. Looks pretty similar, huh? (Also, it appears to have 23 windows, so that’s sort of a hint.)
Yes. That is a van that is only a tiny bit taller than a parking meter.
Parked conveniently right across the street from the garage! (I keed, I keed!) So… I wonder if it’s the same exact one from the NYT article?
No, the cat was not dancing or listening to music. I just happened to run across her while I was out walking the Awesome Dog Jazz, who is one of Autumn’s dog-sitting clients. As you can see, Jazz gets along with everybody. Everybody.
Dog expressions are so much easier to read than cat expressions. That’s actually a friendly cat face.
Jazz was utterly awesome. As usual. She saw the cat, and walked over to a spot about fifteen feet from her, but right near the cement wall she was on, and sat down. Eventually the cat walked over to see what was up.
I kept a very tight hold on the leash, but she just stared and sniffed. Never got closer than this. And wagged madly. And the cat seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing too.
Eventually I pulled Jazz back, basically because I am an untrusting sod. And as soon as the dog left, the cat was like, ‘oh, this is boring, I’m outta here.’
Someone else came by at this point and checked the cat for a collar (absent) and said she might take her in and get her checked for a microchip. She was just as friendly with people as she was with Jazz, so I think she must be someone’s pet.
Today was not a good day to be a human named Adam. (Nothing serious, just a very, very long day.) Today was a very good day to be a flat-coat retriever named Jazz, who I will be posting pictures of very soon, because she got an hour’s worth of petting while I decompressed. Autumn and I are taking care of her for the weekend and she is so much fun, and so sweet.
Hopefully today is also a good day for Po, who is a ridiculously gorgeous German shepherd of a coloration that I’ve never seen before.
I can’t believe I sat on these pictures for two and a half months! I’m sorry, Po!
Smiles, all smiles.
This may be the best nose shot we’ve had for some time.
Aww, coy look!
One of those dogs that I have to force myself to stop taking pictures of so I can pet them, and then I have to drag myself away before their owners get too annoyed with me.
Stussy was 9 months old when I ran into her, so she’s getting close to her first birthday now! I ran into her in a store, and grabbed a couple shots, and then hung around until her mom took her outside so I could get a better shot of her. I couldn’t resist… she smiles all the time! How could I resist such a happy face?
If that isn’t a grin, then I’ve never seen one.
I think she’s a ‘piebald carrier blue merle Australian shepherd (possible mixed breed) with a tail’ but don’t quote me on that.
Just look at that picture for a while. If it doesn’t make you just a little happier, then you may be experiencing a crisis: go find a dog to hug immediately.
A lot of her smiles were reserved for mom. Which is fair enough, I guess.
I am feeling kind of wretched and don’t feel like sitting up, so I’m posting from my phone. So have a doggie bag.
I see so few of these guys around that I almost forgot they existed: Waldo is a full-sized dachshund, which means that he is roughly twice as long and eight times as heavy as the typical miniature dachshund. Full-sized dachshunds are dogs to be reckoned with: there’s a lot of muscle in that frame, and those short legs have a lot of leverage working for them.
Waldo radiated self-confidence.
Nobody was going to take that ball away from him. Except dad.