The Dogs of San Francisco

Dog of the Day: Wadi the Saluki

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Adam Lang

All right, it’s Wadi’s day. (‘Wadi’ is an Arabic word that has been adopted into English (somewhat), meaning a smallish canyon in a desert, often with a river or stream or at least wet spot at the bottom. I think Wadi’s mom was somewhat surprised that I knew this. Truth to tell, so was I… it’s been an awfully long time since seventh grade Social Studies class.)

In this case, Wadi is an absolutely gorgeous saluki, an Arabic (or at least middle-Eastern) dog breed. So pretty. I’m not sure I’d ever even met one before this.

Play-posturing. Wadi just wanted to PLAY! (Also, note how you can see the spine. Mom said it was basically impossible to put any meat on this pup’s bones: he just immediately ran it all off again.)

What is it about that face that makes it so hauntingly plaintive? Seriously, I have no idea and I really want to know.

Did I mention that Wadi really wanted to play with me? Because he did.

That’s a very intent expression. Now what do you suppose…

Ah, yes, a treat. That’d do it. Also, get a load of that curl in the tail. Never seen anything like it before.

Hope I run across this pup again, sometime when I can watch him run. I bet it’s an amazing sight.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged Embarcadero, Saluki, SOMA, South Beach | 3 Comments

Dog of the Day: Wadi the 9-Month-Old Saluki Preview

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Adam Lang

Just had a, shall we say, poor MUNI experience. The bus I was waiting for was apparently what people were using to get back from getting totally wasted after Outside Lands, so they were so full that they weren’t even stopping. I walked four miles home, and I need to get to bed. So consider this a preview of tomorrow’s awesome dog: Wadi, the 9-month-old saluki puppy.

Wow, what a gorgeous breed. This is the first saluki ever to grace our pages, but he’s definitely worth the wait.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged Embarcadero, Saluki, SOMA, South Beach | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Frodo the Adorable Adoptable Dachshund Mix

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Adam Lang

First off: for those of you wondering how Autumn’s family dog Ceili is doing, I have good news: she seems to be feeling better, and is now desperate to play. (It’ll be another week before she’s allowed to. Poor pup!)

Anyway, since I am entirely out of cats, and most of the non-dog non-cat animals I have are being reserved for a special occasion, I thought I’d post a couple pictures from last night’s soiree! It was a fun party, although it was too crowded for most of my pictures to be particularly good. Too many legs and not enough dogs!

But Frodo would be adorable anywhere. He was rescued by Loup Garou Animal Rescue, which rescues black dogs and cats and finds them homes. He is an adorable little bundle of energy, and loves giving smooches. He’s still a puppy but won’t get very big, since he’s a miniature dachshund mix. And the one-ear-up thing is amazingly adorable.

If you think he’s adorable, and have a place in your home for a pup like him, why not give Loup Garou a holler?

The dogs did mostly get along pretty well. There were a few incidents, but none of them involved Frodo.

I bet he wiggles in his sleep. He looks like the type of dog that wiggles in his sleep.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged Dachshund, Mixed Breed, Puppy, SOMA, Wags and Wine | 1 Comment

Dog of the Day: Swedish Vallhund

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Adam Lang

Don’t see nearly enough of these pups around. This is the first one on the blog, in fact, although there’s a pretty good chance that Baloo is part vallhund.

Happy smile? Check? Stubtacular tail? Check. Ridiculous ears? Check. Short legs? Check. They sure do look like they’re related to corgis.

This was a game where they hide a hot dog in a box (among many boxes) and the dog has to find it. This pup didn’t do so well until they opened the box for him, but upon reflection, I kind of feel like it’s hardly his fault: he’s probably well-trained NOT to go around trying to steal food from boxes. And now suddenly you’re asking him to? Hmm.

Such beautiful fur. Tail reminds me of some species of deer or another… can’t quite remember which.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged Albany, Bay to Barkers, East Bay, Swedish Vallhund | 3 Comments

Dog of the Day: American Eskimo Dog

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Adam Lang

I’ve run into a surprising number of Eskies over the last few weeks. I hear if you brush them daily, you can get enough fur to make a gorgeous sweater in around… fourteen minutes.

I initially figured the pup was hiding back there because he was shy.

Nope. He came out and looked at me with just this expression until I petted him. That expression looks an awful lot like Watson, doesn’t it?

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged Albany, American Eskimo Dog, Bay to Barkers, East Bay | 1 Comment

Dog of the Day: Caucasian Shepherd (Ovcharka)

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Adam Lang

Reminder from yesterday: there will be a Wags-and-Wine event, run by ‘wineluv.com’, at the Wags pet hotel near 14th and Folsom (Rainbow Foods, Best Buy, ASPCA, etc), this Friday from 5 PM to 7 PM. Early registration is $20 at the above link, but since we’re so close to the date, if you mention my blog, you pay $20 at the door, instead of the normal $40. I’ll be there, although possibly a bit after 5.

This guy is a new one on me: a Caucasian shepherd, known as the “Kavkazskaïa Ovtcharka” in (transliterated) Russian, a dog that was apparently bred to hunt bears. Apparently normally they aren’t normally the friendliest of dogs, but this pup, despite his background (rescued from a meth lab in Chicago!) is just a giant teddy bear.

He totally looks like a big softie, even if the husky in the background looks a little dubious.

You can guard my meth lab any time you want, pup.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged Albany, Bay to Barkers, Caucasian Shepherd, East Bay | 5 Comments

Site News: And The Winner Is…

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Adam Lang

(Link to the contest is here.)

This was an interesting contest… it looks like Chico the Pit mix and Penny the Beagle/Corgi may have come equipped with their own fan clubs. (And rightly so… they’re both adorable.) Chico took a commanding lead in the 20s within the first two days of the contest, followed by Penny at 16, almost as fast. Everybody else (after a last-minute surge by Devo) came in at between 5 and 7 votes. Honestly, I think this is more to do with the competitors just giving people too many awesome choices; I could have voted for any of the pictures in this contest with no hesitation, and the votes just got spread out amongst all the options.

Thank you everybody for your submissions. I will be contacting the winners of each group over the next two weeks to get your t-shirt information. And as for the bandanas… well, that might take a little longer (we haven’t had them printed up yet!) but once I do have them, I’m going to send one to everyone who participated. (Well, unless you don’t want one, of course!) Thanks, this has been a lot of fun for me.

ALSO! (And I will repeat this tomorrow, this time at the top of the post.) I have another doggie-event to report: there will be a Wags-and-Wine event, run by ‘wineluv.com’, at the Wags pet hotel near 14th and Folsom (Rainbow Foods, Best Buy, ASPCA, etc), this Friday from 5 PM to 7 PM. Early registration is $20 at the above link, but since we’re so close to the date, if you mention my blog at the door, you pay $20 at the door, instead of the normal $40.

Your dog is invited too. There’ll be snacks for both of you, but the wine (several different wineries, over 20 boutique wines) is just for the humans. Not to worry, though: there’ll be doggie bags, and a dog photographer to take pictures of you and your pooch together.

I’ll be there. Hope to see some of you there too!

Posted in Site News | Tagged Photo Contest | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Holly-Go-Lightly the Golden Retriever/Corgi Mix

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Adam Lang

Some of the more attentive among you might remember Miss Holly from last year’s Bay to Barkers. Well, I ran into her again, and she was just as charming, if a trifle… damp.