Those eyes.
On the very day of the Italian festival, Autumn and I ran into our very first Spinone Italiano: Gavina (3), named after a Catalan word meaning ‘white dog’. I do not know why this breed isn’t more popular: Gavina was an absolute delight.
Edit: Grr. I am not having much luck with the whole ‘posting on time’ thing. So annoying! I wonder if I should just give up and find another hosting provider.

Gavina was tied up outside what is possibly the best truffle-maker in the city, XOX Truffles.
Another pup from the North Beach Festival. So fluffy. This is the kind of dog that would, in addition to providing you moral support and pulling your sled for you, would provide enough fur to make about three sweaters every year.
Getting awfully low on non-dog material. Going to have to break into a few homes and take pictures of the cats!
Ollie is a rarity, a Saint Bernard that was adopted from an SPCA group. He’s also a ‘rescue dog’ in that he obviously goes around bringing people brandy and slobbery smooches. He’s 5 years old, and is tiny for a male Saint… just 150 lbs. We ran into him outside at the North Beach Fair, and saw him again at the Blessing of the Animals.
I’m really tired, and I need bed. So here is a post from the North Beach Festival, a few weeks ago, when The National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi held a ‘Blessing of the Animals‘. There were literally dozens of dogs in the church. This one had on her Sunday best. (Anyone have a guess as to what she is?)
Edit: Grrr. WordPress is having trouble posting to schedule again. Grr grr grr.
I was walking by Harputs, a store in the Union Square area, when I noticed a svelte French bulldog peering out the window at me. So of course I had to go in and say hello. It turns out that Lulu is indeed the Harputs store dog (and they have an awesome picture of her there), and as well as her lovely collar selection, also has her own line of human clothing, for when you want to wear your dog on your chest. I have to say, some of it is nearly as cute as my own designs. Nearly. Almost. (Envy? No, no, whatever makes you say that?)
Oh, I almost forgot: Lulu has a facebook page, too.

Lulu is a 4-year-old mother of 13. That must be awfully stressful, but I can see she doesn’t let it get to her.
Is ‘pre-dux’ even a word? And if so, does it mean ‘before the duke?’
I dunno. Anyway, I found this and I just had to use it to wrap up corgi week. Because this is Plato and Sula, but these are pictures I took of them about six months before the other pictures. While someone different was walking them, completely in a different part of town. And I didn’t realize I even had the pictures until yesterday, when I was searching my notes for ‘Plato’ and found TWO dogs named Plato. Both corgis. Both with a friend named ‘Sula’… okay. Probably not.
I have not yet decided whether to extend corgi week out a little longer, since I have a few more corgis left in my backlog. But in case I don’t, I wanted to make absolutely certain to post these two wet-but-adorable friends. Sula (the tricolor, a 4-year-old girl) and Plato (in red, a 5-year-old boy) are best friends, and they don’t mind getting a little damp when it’s foggy outside.