Double Dog Day: More Vicious Puppy Fight!

As noted yesterday, these are Calvin Hobbes (large) and Riley (small).

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy

A quick time-out from the fight to do a hilarious patter song!

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy

Someone stuck his head in the lion’s mouth.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy

Coming up with captions for this level of cute is hard work.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy

Quick break in the action for hugs?

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy

I gotta admit, sometimes the expressions can be a little… off-putting.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy

Those ears.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy

And THAT expression is just totally goofy.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy

Dogs have silly ridgy mouth-roofs. Ridgy roof, ridgy roof. Okay, that’s enough from me, I’m getting a little too goofy today.

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Double Dog Day: The GREAT PUPPY FIGHT of 2012!

It’s been ages since we had a great puppy fight. And this one is pretty great!

The small one, who is supposedly some kind of spaniel mix (although he looks a lot like a papillon mix to me!), is named Riley, all of three and a half months old. The bigger one, a six-month-old German shepherd mix, is named (god I love this) ‘Calvin Hobbes’. They met, and it was vicious snarling snapping puppy love at first sight.

I’m splitting this post in two. Too many pictures to post in one day (twenty-ish!), and well worth two days for two such adorable dogs.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy Playing

I always stop for dogs, but most other people don’t. However, there was a little audience surrounding these two on the sidewalk, as people stopped and squealed inadvertently.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy Playing

It’s always fun watching grown men squealing.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy Playing

Calvin kept getting momentarily distracted. I think he had a little less invested in the fighting than ‘bold Riley’ did.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy Playing

It’s rare that a dog who is play-fighting gets distracted enough to even look at me when I’m taking pictures. Calvin was a total sweetheart, though, and gave me smooches on the way by when he left too.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy Playing

This is apparently Riley’s favorite move: lock his teeth in the other dog’s flews, or whatever that skin flap is called. Calvin hardly even seemed to notice, even though I can tell you those teeth were damn sharp.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy Playing

Calvin, on the other hand, liked to glomp his jaws around Riley’s leg. But he’d just sort of let them rest there, so Riley could just pull his leg right back out again.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy Playing

Look at those little sharp pointy teeth.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy Playing

Okay, I love that expression.

German Shepherd Mix Puppy and Spaniel Mix Puppy Playing

I could have stood there and watched this for hours.

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Double Dog Preview: PUPPY FIGHT!

Been working on editing these pictures a bit. I’m not done, so I’m just going to post a preview and finish up tomorrow. I promise, they’re worth it.

So, stay tuned for… THE GREAT PUPPY FIGHT OF 2012!

German Shepherd Mix and Cocker Spaniel Mix Playing

The little one sure does have the ‘vicious puppy snarl’ down pat.

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Caturday Supplement: Boatcat

Here’s an oldie-but-goodie: I took this picture in 2006 (wow, is that really six damn years ago now?) when I was visiting the Hyde Street Pier. There was a rowboat sitting on the beach, next to the pier, covered with canvas. And this fine fellow was sunning himself on top of it.

Marmalade Kitty

Big and foofly, as befits a San Francisco cat.

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Dog of the Day: Whisky the 4-Month-Old German Shepherd/Labrador Retriever Mix Puppy

Been seeing a lot of puppies this year. Maybe I’m just noticing them more or something. Whatever it is, though, I welcome it.

Edit: Misread my notes, this guy is actually a German shepherd/Labrador retriever mix. Cute!

German Shepherd/Labrador Retriever Mix Puppy With Floppy Ears and Black And Tan Coloration

I never realized German shepherd ears were floppy at this age. THEY’RE SO DAMN CUTE!

German Shepherd/Labrador Retriever Mix Puppy With Floppy Ears and Black And Tan Coloration

Definitely no shy pups here.

German Shepherd/Labrador Retriever Mix Puppy With Floppy Ears and Black And Tan Coloration

Aw, man, that look.

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Dog of the Day: St. Bernard

No question what this guy is. And such a gorgeous specimen too. (Light post today… feeling under the weather.)

St. Bernard

I think if I got a St. Bernard I would have to get a king-sized bed. I mean, what’s the good of having a dog like this if you can’t cuddle up at night when it gets chilly?

Saint Bernard

This guy was all class. If you rubbed his belly, he would paw gently at you in an attempt to return the favor.

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Dog of the Day: Jed the Papillon/Dachshund Mix

Okay, so I’ve fouled up my notes again. According to them, I didn’t take any pictures at all on the day these were taken (June 13), and instead took pictures of a pup named Jinxster, a corgi/German shepherd puppy, on June 12th. Those pictures are entirely missing.

So, is this Jinxster? Is he really a corgi/shepherd mix? With those ears? Ah, who knows? Who cares? All I know is, he’s totally ridiculously adorable.

Edit: So it turns out, as noted in the comments, that this is Jed, not Jinxster. Hi Jed! Jinxster is here.

Adorable Puppy

He’s just the right size to pick up and drop into my backpack.

Adorable Puppy

He looks a little like Watson, actually, except without the slightly cynical expression that Watson so often wears.

Adorable Puppy

I would be an awful puppy parent: I couldn’t resist giving that dog anything he wanted. Look at that face!

Adorable Puppy

I know what he reminds me of! He’s totally a fennec fox!

Adorable Puppy

There’s the lucky mom. She totally needs Autumn to come puppy-sit. And me to come help.

Adorable Puppy

I dunno. I’m not seeing corgi here… the body isn’t long enough, the legs aren’t short enough. I guess sometimes the puppies have different proportions though.

Adorable Puppy Sticking his Tongue Out

And there’s the tongue, right on schedule.

Adorable Puppy with Tongue

Why do some dogs look like they’re happy when they stick their tongues out, and others look like they are totally taunting me?

Adorable Puppy Nose

Narrowly avoided lens-noseprint.

Adorably Disgruntled Puppy

Not quite sure what this expression is. Besides cute.

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DoggiEvent: Yappy Hour, Part 2

And today, the dogs of Yappy Hour!

Labrador Retriever and Doberman Pinscher

Among the larger canine attendees. I haven’t run into a doberman in quite some time.

Doberman Pinscher

They really are streamlined dogs.

Miniature Schnauzer

I think mom said this pup was getting a grooming the next day. Which is funny, because she looks totally adorable to me. But then, I’m a sucker for the half-flopped schnauzer ears.

Schnauzer

She didn’t even have the ‘grumpy old man’ schnauzer thing going, she was just too cute.

French Bulldog and Labrador Retriever Mix Puppy

The ‘ballroom dancing’ portion of the party was obviously quite well-received. (The black one is a Labrador mix puppy, by the way.)

Labrador Retriever Mix Puppy and French Bulldog

Clearly a budding romance!

Scruffy Dog

Not sure what this pup is, but he didn’t need a partner: he was dancing around all by himself.

Cocker Spaniel

Gorgeous pup. And polite and and sedate the entire time I was there. That’s just about a first for me and cocker spaniels.

Scruffy Little Dog and Lab Mix

Not sure what the little guy was, but he got on famously with just about everyone.

Golden Retriever

There had to be a golden there somewhere, and this one was the glamor girl of the party.

Vizsla

And the grand dame of the ball, keeping an eye on the proceedings.

German Shepherd Mix

And this guy is totally the clown of the party. German shepherd mix, maybe?

Pug

Pugs always remind me of Peter Lorre, so let’s assume this one is the detective, Mr. Moto.

Pug

Uh oh, I think I just blew someone’s cover.

Yorkshire Terrier

The massage services at the party were obviously first-rate too.

Man and Dog

But eventually, there’s an end to every party. And, in this case, a morning after.

Fountain with Dog Ball

They did a great job cleaning up after the party. By the morning after, you would never know that there had been a dog soiree there at all… except for one little something someone missed.

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DoggiEvent: Yappy Hour, Half Moon Bay (Part 1)

At last, my photo documentation of the Yappy Hour celebration at Half Moon Bay’s Ritz Carlton Hotel. Apparently they’re going to have these on the last Thursday of the month on a regular basis. (I think it’s last Thursday of the month, anyway. Hopefully there’ll be more info on line available soon.)

(By the way: I finally resolved my little hosting issue. Sometimes there is no substitute for a telephone call.)

The Ritz itself is a gorgeous building, on a sea cliff overlooking the Pacific. Some lovely views from some of the rooms, I’m quite certain, although as a lowly blogger who was given a truly ridiculously inexpensive rate, I had to content myself with a merely pretty view off in the opposite direction. How terrible!

Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay

A view of the hotel, from a quarter mile or so away. It doesn’t come a lot more picturesque than this.

There were a variety of pretty spots within a short walk, around the edges of the golf course.

Bridge Near Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay

Picturesque, isn’t it?

Ocean Near Half Moon Bay Ritz Carlton

The view from the ‘back porch’, so to speak.

And then there was the get-together. It was very low-key, with about a dozen dogs in all, and a single vendor, who had some very fancy dog-related paraphernalia. And three water coolers: one had regular water for the dogs, and the other two were chicken-flavored water and beef-flavored water. (It is not entirely clear to me the difference between that and bullion, but whatever, right?) And, of course, they had all of the amenities:

Fireplug

No comment.

Okay, I didn’t realize quite how long this post was, and I’m quite tired tonight. So tomorrow… the actual dogs! (And a couple of people, too.)

 

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Birder-day Supplement: The Birds of Yappy Hour

Still haven’t finalized my solution to this blog mess. As soon as I do, I have all the photos edited for my yappy hour roundup. But in the meantime, here are some other non-dog-related pictures I took down at the Half Moon Bay Ritz.

Note! The photography contest is now officially closed to entries! (Although if you’re really nice to me I might let you sneak in something under the wire. But hurry, dammit!) Over the next two weeks or so I’ll be setting up a voting system where people can vote on the top few pictures in each category. Keep an eye out, and please do vote when you see them.

Brown Pelican

I thought this one was a brown pelican, although I note that most of the pictures of brown pelicans on Google seem to have white heads…

Crow

This bears a striking resemblance to a piece of jewelry I made in a metalworking class about fifteen years ago. Crow, I think.

American Goldfinch

American goldfinch. Such gorgeous little birds.

Brown Pelicans

Finally, that really is three brown pelicans, not three exposures of the same one. And some cormorants and gulls in the background.

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