Caturday Supplement: The First of This Year’s Macy’s Kitties

Danger! If you live in a no-pets apartment, you should stay far away from Macy’s SF until after New Year’s! Otherwise your brain will melt and next thing you know you’ll be adopting half a dozen kittens!

This has been a public service announcement from the Committee for Not Getting San Franciscans Thrown Out Of Their Apartments On Christmas.

Three Cuddling Kittens

These were taken after dark. During the day has too many reflections. To do: get a polarizing filter for the SLR.

Three Cuddling Sleeping Kittens

By the time it gets dark, they’re all sleepy and cuddly. Which is adorable, but I’d like to get some action shots too.

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Dog of the Day: Dancing Miniature Poodle

Watch out, merengue dog! You’ve got some serious competition here!

Grey Miniature Poodle

He just looks like your average miniature poodle…

Grey Miniature Poodle Dancing

…until he busted out these dance moves!

Grey Miniature Poodle Dancing

Okay, he’s dancing at the end of his leash. But he really has some great movements, and it looks just as goofy in person as it does in pictures.

Grey Miniature Poodle Dancing

I have quite a few of these pictures that are too blurry to use, because I was giggling too hard to hold the camera steady.

Grey Miniature Poodle Dancing

This one in particular is a little blurry, but I though the expression was worth it.

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Site News: Revamped DogBlogStore!

Yes, it’s official: I have stopped using the ridiculously-overpriced (though fairly good quality) skreened.com for my dogblogstore, and am instead running my own, using software hosted by ecwid.com, which is surprisingly painless and quite high in quality. Please let me know about any problems you have with the store or with ordering, or any suggestions you have either. A good way is either emailing my new store account (at ‘store’ at this site, which is to say @dogsofsf.com) or simply adding a comment to this thread. (I do read all the comments on the site, even if I’m too busy to respond some days.)

(Note: this announcement will stay at the top of the page for about a week. New posts will be below it.)

This means two things: more variety, higher quality (for the tote bags, anyway) and cheaper prices. In particular, all my tee shirts and tote bags are now $14.99, and shipping in the US is a flat fee of $5 per order (not per item). Given that some of the tees were $30 including shipping at my old store, and the shipping was per item… well, anyone buying three tee shirts would end up paying nearly twice as much before as they will now.

As for greater variety: I’ve added some new tee shirts (including women’s fitted tees) and tote bags (large, rugged), and an awesome embroidered hoodie. More designs are coming soon, but I thought I’d open up with just one major new design, by my friend, wildlife illustrator Lisa Sindorf, based on one of my pictures. I think you’ll agree that it’s just about the cutest thing EVER.

The one on the left is the artwork that graces the tee shirts and tote bags, and the one on the right is the embroidered version. If I had known how great that would come out I probably would have asked her to make me a few more. I may still.

There are some details on the dogblogstore page, but in brief: $5 flat-rate US shipping, $10 flat-rate Canada shipping, shipping is by weight to the EU. (And if someone wants something shipped elsewhere, they can email me.) Returns for full refund within 14 days for undamaged merchandise (or defective/damaged-in-transit). And please don’t expect miracles of speed, because I can’t afford to keep a large inventory, and I am doing all the order fulfillment myself (and I have a day job!)

All of which means, if you want something by Christmas, you probably only have a couple of weeks, so order soon!

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Dog of the Day: Dorothy the Golden Retriever

I first ran into Dorothy a couple days ago, but I just had to post her. These were taken on her first day in San Francisco, and you can tell she’s going to fit in here just fine. (I think she’d probably fit in anywhere just fine.) Dorothy’s almost three… in fact, she’ll be three on Christmas day.

I ran into her again yesterday, and she looked just as happy then as she does in these pictures. Here’s hoping for a lot more chance meetings and incidental belly-rubs.

Happy Golden Retriever

I get the feeling that Dorothy wears this expression a lot.

Golden Retriever Begging for a Belly Rub

I also get the feeling this position is quite familiar for Dorothy, who appears to have a thing for belly rubs.

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Dog of the Day: Unknown Bear/Pony Cross

Someone help me out here. I don’t have a lot of guesses. Maybe a Newfie mix? (But no sag!) An akita, or maybe malamute? (But those ears!)

Edit: Hmm… could this be a trimmed Caucasian shepherd?

Large Grey-and-White Dog of Unknown Breed

Whatever she is, I’m captivated.

Large Grey and White Dog of Unknown Breed

Hmm. Saint Bernard or Bernese Mountain Dog mixed with Akita, Malamute, or Husky? I think that might be my final offer.

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Dog of the Day: Byron the Beagle Puppy

This is a picture from last spring, when Byron was less than three months old. I bet he’s grown into a real charmer. I wonder if he can howl? (If not, I’m sure he can come up with other ways to make trouble…)

Tricolor Beagle Puppy

I bet he’s a handful in more ways than just one.

Sleepy Tricolor Beagle Puppy

But, of course, who could fail to forgive a face like that? (And those ears!)

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Dog of the Day: Sparrow the Dachshund Mix?

Okay, not sure about this guy’s name… I took pictures of about thirty dogs that day, and he may or may not be among the ones I even got names for. He does look like a dachshund mix, almost like a dachshund/corgi. And Cardigan corgis can be brindled…

Frustrating: I spent several hours with Autumn at the dog park on Saturday, where she was taking care of two different dogs. I took roughly 150 pictures, but they were on my iPhone, and it was too dark so they’re all blurry. So I said ‘heck with it’ and ordered myself a replacement camera, a Canon SX260 HS. Should be here sometime this week.

Brindle-Striped Dachshund/Cardigan Welsh Corgi Mix With White Spot on Chest

With a body like that, you know the word ‘galumph’ springs to mind every time he (she?) starts running.

Brindle-Striped Dachshund/Cardigan Welsh Corgi Mix With White Spot on Chest

Why so serious, pup?

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Multi-Dog Day: The Police Dogs of San Francisco

Autumn did a little busking in a BART station on Friday, and I went down to meet her. On the way, I met several of San Francisco’s finest… dogs, that is. They’re bomb-sniffing dogs, so they deserve all the treats and belly-rubs they get! (Although I have to wonder if any of them have ever, you know, had to deal with a bomb? I’d think I’d hear about things like that if they happened.)

Long-Haired German Shepherd Police Dog

Autumn thought this pup was a Belgian malinois, but it turns out to be a long-haired German shepherd. 8 years old, and gorgeous.

Long-Haired German Shepherd Police Dog

The police and their pups were out in force. I’m sure part of it was being extra careful because of the crowds, but it’s also great PR.

German Shepherd Police Dog

I like this guy’s attitude.

German Shepherd Police Dog

Autumn kept hoping that one of them would notice the treats in her backpack and come on over. That’s one way to alleviate the boredom, I guess!

German Shepherd Police Dog

This one just kept looking like he wanted a hug. No fair police dogs being off-limits for petting.

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Dog of the Day: Ruby the Australian Cattle Dog Puppy

Ruby’s six months. And she’s a lucky pup: her mom works at Zynga. Why does that make her a lucky pup? Well… without taking any position on the company itself, it’s a ‘dog-friendly workplace’. So Ruby gets to go to work with Mom a lot. Great work, if you can get it.

Blue Merle Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler) Puppy

Ruby was surprisingly well-behaved for a six-month-old puppy, though that might have just been because she was exhausted.

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Turkyday Supplement: Some Wild Turkey for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope all of you have as much to be thankful for as I do.

And as these guys do. We ran into them this summer at ‘Little Yosemite’ (a park in the East Bay). No hunting in State Parks, so these guys don’t have to worry about ending up as someone’s Thanksgiving meal.

Wild Turkeys

These guys were just acting all happy and turky-ish. (Not to be confused with ‘Turkish’.)

Wild Turkeys

And then they noticed us and they ran away fast. I predict that they have a long future ahead of them, even if they do look kind of delicious.

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