Howl-O-Ween Dog of the Day: Verna the … Adorable

I ran into an old friend at Howl-O-Ween: Verna, who we last saw almost 18 months ago, as a puppy. And about whom I said, in a comment, that I was looking forward to seeing her again in a year or two, and seeing how she grew up.

And an astoundingly adorable puppy has grown up into a lovely dog, although she looks a little different than predicted. Maybe Autumn can weigh in on possible breed mixes: I was thinking when I saw her that she looked a lot like a Finnish spitz now, but looking at the pictures and some Finnish spitz pictures I don’t think so, so much. Her fur looks golden-retriever-ish, but those ears. And she’s pretty petite, too.

(I have more Howl-O-Ween pictures, and will continue to post them, but I thought Verna deserved her own Dog Day.)

I’m going to tack one of her puppy pictures on at the end, for comparison’s sake. And because they were so adorable. This one is one I haven’t posted before, and I’ve been playing adjustments to it in my new toy, Apple’s ‘Aperture’ software package. SO MANY KNOBS. I’ve gotten used to working in iPhoto, but it turns out that as you get over thirty thousand photos in your library, iPhoto starts getting a little iffy. And besides… knobs. Need more knobs!

Unknown Breed Mix, Red Foxy Dog

Verna has grown up to be a gorgeous dog, and seems just as happy as she was when I met her as a pup.

Red Dog of Unknown Breed

Good teeth! Someone has a quality dog-dentist.

Red Dog of Unknown Breed

I think if I had the patience, with all the new knobs Aperture has, I could fix the contrast in this picture. I don’t, quite, but this isn’t too too bad.

Reddish Puppy of Unknown Breed

The puppy picture. Man, she’s totally adorable, then and now.

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Multi-Dog Day: More Howl-O-Ween

I have plenty left… not sure if they’ll last the week, but at least a couple more days.

Fluffy Rottweiler German Shepherd Mix

I am not sure about the costume (penguin, maybe?), nor am I sure of what kind of dog this is (Rottweiler/German Shepherd?)

Fluffy German Shepherd/Rottweiler Mix in a Penguin Costume

I just know that he’s totally awesome.

Small Fuzzy Brown-and-White Dog

I ran into this pup on the way to the celebration, and also at the celebration, and I got about twenty pics. This is the only one that came out. I don’t know what he is but he’s pretty cute!

White German Shepherd in a Pumpkin/Jack-O-Lantern Costume

I must admit that, until I studied the picture carefully just now, I assumed he was dressed as a carrot.

White German Shepherd in Jack-O-Lantern/Pumpkin Costume

Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, fuzzball.

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Several Dog Day: More Howl-O-Ween

How did I miss the obvious pun from yesterday? The hot-dog corgi was clearly a Howl-O-Wiener!

Tricolor Pembroke Welsh Corgi Dressed as Superman

Yes, that is a derpy corgi dressed as Superman. Lesson 1: it is REALLY HARD to get low enough to the ground to get a good picture of a corgi dressed as Superman.

Tricolor Pembroke Welsh Corgi Dressed as Superman

Lesson 2: DERP! Also, my ‘post one picture per dog for this event’ goes right out the window where corgis are concerned.

TWO Tricolor Pembroke Welsh Corgis, Both Dressed as Superman

How embarrassing. Don’t you hate when that happens?

Silver Schnauzer in a Dinosaur Costume

I guess this would be Tyrannosaurus ‘Rex’.

Red Miniature Dachshund in a Skunk Costume

I’m not sure this pup was really enjoying the experience, especially with the hood up on a hot day.

Red Miniature Dachshund in a Skunk Costume

Fortunately, the hood was only on for a few seconds while I snapped some pictures.

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Several Dog Day: Howl-O-Ween Dogs

A few of the dogs I met at Howl-o-ween on Saturday.

Pomeranian/Dachshund/Chihuahua Mix With Costume

No idea what she’s wearing, but I do know that that’s Zoey, one year later. Got some more pictures of her a few weeks ago that I’ll be posting… someday…

Pembroke Welsh Corgi in a Hot Dog Costume

There were boatloads of corgis at the celebration. I don’t know where they all came from, but I felt like I was totally surrounded by cute.

Tricolor Pembroke Welsh Corgi With a Tail In a Zombie Costume

Pemmie-with-a-TAIL! With a totally inappropriate costume, too: zombies don’t grin like that.

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Triple Dog Day: The Adoptable Dogs of Howl-O-Ween

I dropped by the Mission Bay Howl-O-Ween celebration on Saturday. I’m going to be posting some pictures from it for most of the week, but I thought I’d start with the three dogs that the SPCA brought along. No one adopted them while I was there, so they may well still be available if you know anyone who is looking. They were all totally adorable.

I didn’t get any names, but I suspect if you tell them that you saw pictures taken at Howl-O-Ween, and point them to the pictures here, they’ll know who you mean.

Three-Legged Chihuahua Mix Puppy

Yes, that’s a three-legged Chihuahua mix. And that’s not someone feeding her… that’s someone taking away the food! She had it in her pen for ten minutes and didn’t eat any.

Three-Legged Chihuahua Puppy With One Floppy Ear

Of course, she got a little huffy when the food was taken away.

Chihuahua Mix

Not sure what this pup is, besides ‘adorable’ and ‘super-sweet’. Probably Chihuahua mix, but mixed with what? Shiba inu, maybe?

Brindle-and-White American Pit Bull Terrier Mix Puppy

It’s obvious what this 4-month-old pup is: a super-sweet, goofy pit mix. Named Coco.

Brindle-and-White Pit Bull Mix

Someone was having a good time at the party.

Brindle-and-White Pit Bull Mix

That’s not actually a sad look. That’s a ‘I just heard a SQEAKY TOY and I can’t figure out WHERE IT IS!’ look.

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Sat-Bird-Day Supplement: Seabirds of San Francisco

Just a few sea-and-estuary-birds for your Saturday enjoyment.

Great Egret Among Geese

Canada geese (not ‘Canadian’, apparently) and what I think is a ”great egert’ and the back half of another.

Sea Gull Flying

Wester Gull flying. Yes, they’re annoying, but they’re pretty too.

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Dog of the Day: Border Collie

I guess this guy belongs to someone who works on Polk Street, who had him tied up outside the workplace, and was coming out every ten or fifteen minutes to spend time with him. I can’t quite decide how I feel about that.

Low effort post today… work is being more than usually frustrating.

Tricolor Border Collie

Those ears.

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Dog of the Day: Yuko the Formosan Mountain Dog/Whippet Mix

I can’t think of too many breed mixes more random, but it seems like Yuko turned out okay. I think she’s a Taiwan rescue dog, too. These were taken during the one month of the year that whippets and whippet mixes don’t need sweaters in San Francisco: September.

Formosan Mountain Dog/Whippet Mix, Black with White Spot on Chest

If I had fur that short (which, alas, I do these days) and that little body fat (which I don’t, also alas!) I’d want a sweater too.

Formosan Mountain Dog/Whippet Mix, Black with White Spot on Chest

A very noble expression, on a very noble face.

Formosan Mountain Dog/Whippet Mix, Black with White Spot on Chest

And there are the ears!

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Dog of the Day: Clancy the Irish Terrier

I ran into Clancy being walked by his owner, a Chinese gentleman who happily informed me that he was named Clancy and was an Irish Terrier. Although he didn’t say so explicitly, I wonder whether he might have been named for the Clancy Brothers (an Irish music group that Autumn dislikes rather intensely).

Irish Terrier

“And from the light there came the Dog of Day/Who chased the squirrel that stole the moon away!” (No, that’s not Irish. I just made it up.)

Wheaten-Coat Irish Terrier

They’re very flat dogs, aren’t they?

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Dog of the Day: Mika the Husky

Mika needs lots of petting and chin rubs and such. (I’m just doing her a favor and passing along this little tidbit, so that if any of you happen to see her you can act accordingly.)

Black and White Siberian Husky

About 5 seconds before this picture was taken, Mika was being totally goofy. It takes me almost exactly 5 seconds to pull out my camera, turn it on, and get ready to shoot. Grr.

Black and White Siberian Husky

Fortunately, I needn’t have worried: there was still plenty of goofiness after I finally got the camera out.

Black and White Siberian Husky

Lucky guy with an utterly awesome zany-dog.

Black and White Siberian Husky

We haven’t had one of these in a while.

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