Dogs of SF Contest: Finally, Dogs!

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Adam Lang

Edit 5: And the winner is… listed at the bottom!

Edit 4: Sounds like Ceili is doing okay. I’m guessing, based on only a little sketchy information, that the surgery went all right and she’s recovering at home. I’m sure she appreciates all the happy thoughts, as do I!

Edit 3: Autumn’s family dog (Ceili) is in emergency surgery! OMG! The prognosis is tentatively good, but nothing is certain. Please send good thoughts her way.

Edit 2: New daily posts are happening below this post, as with the last two weeks, so that more people will see and vote. Scroll down for the dog of the day.

Edit 1: Argh argh argh. I categorized one of the dogs picture under the category ‘Dgos’. Which means I didn’t post it at first. Fortunately the person who submitted the picture was actually paying attention and set me straight! I did a quick check and didn’t see anything else like that, but if you submitted a dog picture  (or more) and don’t see one of yours here, and you haven’t won in some other category, please drop me a note and let me know.

First off, congratulations to both Lucca and Lady Jane: the two tied for first, with 29 votes apiece! Looks like I’m going to be giving out more t-shirts than I originally thought. Not to mention Kaylee and Elly, who got 28 votes, after starting out the weekend at half that! I’m not sure but that the two of them wouldn’t have pulled out in front if the contest had lasted a few more hours.

Second off, the dogs contest voting begins today. I tried to get three separate people to judge the semi-finals of this one, and they all said ‘no’. (Well, two said ‘no’ and one just didn’t answer at all. I would have cadged Autumn into it except she hasn’t been available.) And more than one of the people submitting entries are friends, and I just don’t feel like trying to figure out how to be impartial, so here’s what I’m doing: I’m limiting finalists to one ‘dog’ entry per person (using my best judgement in the case of people who entered two dog pictures.) And I’m leaving out anyone who already won. This narrows things down to seven choices, and I’m just going to hand that off to you guys.

So, here are the entries. Pick the one of these seven you like the best!

Beagle-Corgi Mix

ENTRY 1: Penny the Beagle/Corgi Mix, Ecstatic for Memorial Day on Huntington Dog Beach

Violet the Schipperke/Pomeranian

ENTRY 2: Violet the Schipperke/Pomeranian in her Glamor Shot

Bowpi the Basenji and a Chihuahua Mix

ENTRY 3: Bowpi the Basenji Doing the Hula with a Confused Chihuahua Mix

Two Basset Hounds

ENTRY 4: Elvis and Priscilla the Basset Hounds Explore the Beach

Terrier

ENTRY 5: Devo the Extra Cool Terrier (…of some sort…)

Costa Rican Street Dog

ENTRY 6: Chilling Costa Rican Street Dog

Chihuahua/Dachshund Puppy

ENTRY 7: Curry the 16-week-old Chi-Weenie Grinning Like a Madman

Pit Bull Mix All Dressed Up With No Place To Go

ENTRY 8: Chico the Pit Bull Mix, Being Goofily Delighted at Life, in his Jogging Clothes!

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.

Posted in Photo Contest | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Cowterday Supplement: MORE COWBELL!

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Adam Lang

Autumn and I took a drive down some very… questionable dirt roads last month, on our way to and back from an event in a mountainous area out near Yosemite. How questionable were the roads? Well, let’s just say that when we were done, I spent five minutes peering under the car with a hand-light to make sure that I hadn’t poked any holes in my oil pan.

While we were driving, we ran across (but fortunately not into) a small herd of cows. And these cows were clanging like nobody’s business. Neither Autumn nor I had ever run into cows with actual cowbells before, not even while Autumn was in Ireland. But if you ‘pasture’ your cows in an utter wilderness on the side of a quite steep hill, I can see why it might be a really good idea. (Sorry for the shaky quality of the video… handheld, y’know. But at least you can hear the cowbells.)

Cows

They weren’t much interested in us as long as we didn’t get too close.

Cow

This one was further down the road. And was VERY freaked out by the car.

We slowed down to cow-speed, and spent around 100 feet trying to figure out how to get the cow to let us go around as she trotted along the road in front of us. Just when I thought she was going to keep out there for miles, she suddenly let us by and then ran off in the other direction.

Posted in Caturday Supplement | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Ozzy the 4-Month-Old Husky Puppy

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Adam Lang

There’s a little cafe called ‘OZ Lounge’ that’s right on my way home from work, if I walk home. It has jazz, most evenings. What it doesn’t normally have is an adorable 9-month-old husky puppy lounging outside listening to the music. With his duck. Who happens to be named after (or at least the same as) the cafe!

I’m going to have to stop by there more often, if he’s going to be hanging out there!

Husky Puppy

Perfectly mellow pup, as long as nobody came between him and his duck.

Husky Puppy

I always think of huskies as grey/black and white. The tan/brown ones are so striking.

Husky Puppy

The markings really are amazingly intricate.

Husky Puppy

He really looks like he expects something from me.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Dog of the Day: Mars the Airedale Terrier

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Adam Lang

Second Airedale we’ve had. (Here’s the first.) He’s a smaller one, but just as nifty.

Airedale Terrier

I am used to terriers being little. Airedales are even a little bit intimidating, knowing how destructive a 15-pound terrier can be.

Airedale Terrier

Airedale Terriers were originally bred to hunt otters. I’m not sure I can forgive them for that.

Airedale Terrier

The standard grooming for these guys always puzzled me. If I were a dog I’d want that fur on my muzzle cut, so I could see, you know, straight out in front of me?

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Dog of the Day: Dorothy the 11.5-Week-Old Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Adam Lang

In celebration of Autumn’s triumphant return from the East Coast, here is a ridiculously adorable newcomer to the neighborhood that I ran into in our local java-cave, the Chameleon Cafe.

Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy

This pup needs more socialization stat! She was all timid! If they don’t watch out she’ll turn into the only Bernese Mountain Dog in all of history that conforms to the breed standard! (‘Standoffish’ my butt.)

Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy

Spotty dog lips. Soulful brown eyes. Maximum adorability achieved.

Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy

There’s a little smile.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Dogs of SF Photo Contest: Cats

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Adam Lang

Edit 3: Wow. Well, that’s pretty cool. We have a tie for first, and second place is one point behind! Full results are at the bottom.

Edit 2: Man, the competition is really heating up! Two of the pics are neck in neck, with a third making rapid strides from behind! This is still anybody’s game, folks.

Edit: as with last week, remember that daily posts will appear below this one.

It’s cat contest time! I persuaded someone I respect as an animal cute-ologist to pick the submissions for me. These are the results. I would like to say that I am honestly sorry to those of you whose pictures did not get picked, or to those who submitted two pictures but only have one here; my correspondent said that this was a pretty tough choice for him, and it would have been murder for me. (Especially as I know two of the people who submitted entries.)

I would also like to note that people really like their cats. I had two people submit between ten and twenty pictures of their cats, despite the rules only saying two. I decided that it was only fair that I limit them to one entry each. (In theory, people who submitted two cat pictures could have ended up with two finalists in this round, though it didn’t work out that way with anyone in practice.) I admit, though, some of those pictures were pretty darn cute.

And I am still trying to get someone lined up to pick the top five of the dog photos for next week, because I really don’t want to have to do that myself. I wonder if I can find someone at Bay to Barkers next weekend (HINT HINT HINT go to Bay to Barkers next weekend) to do it?

So, here are the entrants, again in a quite random order. Please pick one, and again, if you feel like claiming yours in the comments, that’s fine, otherwise I’ll just keep them anonymous.

Kaylee the Dog and Elly the Cat Being Goofy

ENTRY 1: Kaylee the Dog and Elly the Cat Being Goofy

Violet the Schipperke/Pomeranian and Zoolander the Black Cat, Napping

ENTRY 2: Violet the Schipperke/Pomeranian and Zoolander the Black Cat, Napping

Drake the Cat (or Possibly Drake's Cat) Investigates a Camera

ENTRY 3: Drake the Cat (or Possibly Drake’s Cat) Investigates a Camera

Lucca the Cat Snoozes on a Laptop

ENTRY 4: Lucca the Cat Snoozes on a Laptop (Lucca may look vaguely familiar.)

Lady Jane the Cat Hatches Evil Plans From Under an End Table

ENTRY 5: Lady Jane the Cat Hatches Evil Plans From Under an End Table

Results:

  • Tied for first, Lady Jane (entry 5) and Lucca (entry 4) each at 29 votes.
  • Second place, Kaylee the Dog and Elly the Cat at 28 votes.
  • Third place, the cat who may or may not be known as Drake
  • Fourth place, Violet and Zoolander.

Awesome work, everyone!

Posted in Photo Contest | Tagged | 9 Comments

Dogs of SF Contest Winner, City Category

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Adam Lang

Of course the poll ended early again. Specifically, it appears to have ended at midnight GMT. I guess because my database is in GMT? But in any case, it hadn’t moved much lately (two votes in the last 24 hours), so I’m declaring polling closed. The final results:

  • Fifth place, with 1 vote, is ENTRY 2: The Golden Gate Bridge near sunset
  • Fourth place, with 6 votes, is ENTRY 5: Devo Surveys his Domain from Bernal Heights.
  • Third place, with 7 votes, is ENTRY 1: Violet in Front of Postcard Row.
  • Second place, with 33 votes, is ENTRY 3: Jasper Enjoying the Breeze on Baker Beach.
  • And the winner is, ENTRY 4: Lambeau on Bernal Heights at Sunset, with 42 votes!

Congratulations, and thank you to everyone who entered. You guys are awesome! Prizes will be sent out all at once, so please be patient, since we have two more weeks of voting for the other two categories. The next category, Cats, will be posted tomorrow!

Posted in Dog of the Day | Leave a comment

Caturday Supplement: Neighborhood Trio

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Adam Lang

Not sure if I posted some of Autumn’s pictures of these three before or not. I took a quick look and couldn’t find them. They live about a block and a half from us, in a little bitty pedestrian alley between two row houses. The road out in front is a cable-car road on a hefty hill, so nobody takes it at more than 15 mph, and the cats seem to do just fine. They get fed by the people in this apartment building, and are quite tame. I hadn’t found them before this, although Autumn mentioned them several times. But now I know where they are, so I can go get some feline fuzz therapy every once in a while.

Three Black and White Cats

The eyes on the solid black one. Gorgeous.

Three Black and White Kitties

Should be pretty easy to guess where the people who feed them live.

Black and White Cat Stretching

Streeeeeetch! Also, cat-butt.

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Dog of the Day: Lhasa Apso Jailbird

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Adam Lang

Aww… wonder what he was caught doing?

Lhasa Apso

Was getting in my car when this pup popped up in the window about 20 feet away and let me know, in no uncertain terms, that this was his house and that visitors were not welcome! BarkbarkBARK!

Lhasa Apso

He totally cracks me up.

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Dog of the Day: Havelino the 9-Week-Old Pembroke Welsh Corgi Puppy!

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Adam Lang

There have been quite a few people, including some quite famous photographers, extolling the virtues of the iPhone as a camera. Why? Because you always have your iPhone with you. And a camera is no good if you don’t have it with you.

Well, I always always always have my compact camera with me: it’s a permanent resident in my left-side trouser pocket, along with my keys and change. Except yesterday. Yesterday I couldn’t find the damn thing, and rather than spend any real time searching, I figured I had plenty of pictures, and that I was highly unlikely to run into anything that I just HAD to take pictures of, especially since I was planning on going straight to work and then just coming straight home.

And I get to work, and what do I see standing pretty much right outside my workplace than a 9-week-old corgi puppy. To say that I squealed like an eight-year-old girl would be, strictly speaking, inaccurate, because I probably squealed like two eight-year-old girls. And pulled out the iPhone. Thank goodness I hadn’t forgotten that too! I also solicited a few pictures from Havalino’s dad. It’s probably pretty obvious which here are which.

By the way, ‘Havelino’ is an alteration of ‘javalina’, which is another term for ‘peccary‘, a sort of pig-like animal that wanders Arizona, Texas, Mexico, and various parts of Central and South America. I’m not entirely sure I see the resemblance, although I admit they do have pretty short legs.

9-Week-Old Corgi Puppy

I don’t understand people at all. I mean, three people just walked right by this puppy as he was sitting there on the sidewalk. Could YOU walk by this puppy without petting him?

8-Week-Old Corgi Puppy

It’s probably a good thing I don’t have a corgi puppy. If one gave me that look, I’d be like, ‘okay, okay, I’ll call in sick again today and spend the day alternately petting you and chasing you around the house.’

8-Week-Old Corgi Puppy

The rest (including this one) were taken by his dad.

9-Week-Old Corgi Puppy

The pink spots on the nose.

9-Week-Old Corgi Puppy

I think someone is teaching himself how to make elephant noises! (Trust me. You want to watch that. All the way through.)

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments