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!
The little one sure does have the ‘vicious puppy snarl’ down pat.
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.
Big and foofly, as befits a San Francisco cat.
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!
I never realized German shepherd ears were floppy at this age. THEY’RE SO DAMN CUTE!
Definitely no shy pups here.
Aw, man, that look.
No question what this guy is. And such a gorgeous specimen too. (Light post today… feeling under the weather.)
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?
This guy was all class. If you rubbed his belly, he would paw gently at you in an attempt to return the favor.
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.
He’s just the right size to pick up and drop into my backpack.
He looks a little like Watson, actually, except without the slightly cynical expression that Watson so often wears.
I would be an awful puppy parent: I couldn’t resist giving that dog anything he wanted. Look at that face!
I know what he reminds me of! He’s totally a fennec fox!
There’s the lucky mom. She totally needs Autumn to come puppy-sit. And me to come help.
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.
And there’s the tongue, right on schedule.
Why do some dogs look like they’re happy when they stick their tongues out, and others look like they are totally taunting me?
Narrowly avoided lens-noseprint.
Not quite sure what this expression is. Besides cute.
And today, the dogs of Yappy Hour!
Among the larger canine attendees. I haven’t run into a doberman in quite some time.
They really are streamlined dogs.
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.
She didn’t even have the ‘grumpy old man’ schnauzer thing going, she was just too cute.
The ‘ballroom dancing’ portion of the party was obviously quite well-received. (The black one is a Labrador mix puppy, by the way.)
Clearly a budding romance!
Not sure what this pup is, but he didn’t need a partner: he was dancing around all by himself.
Gorgeous pup. And polite and and sedate the entire time I was there. That’s just about a first for me and cocker spaniels.
Not sure what the little guy was, but he got on famously with just about everyone.
There had to be a golden there somewhere, and this one was the glamor girl of the party.
And the grand dame of the ball, keeping an eye on the proceedings.
And this guy is totally the clown of the party. German shepherd mix, maybe?
Pugs always remind me of Peter Lorre, so let’s assume this one is the detective, Mr. Moto.
Uh oh, I think I just blew someone’s cover.
The massage services at the party were obviously first-rate too.
But eventually, there’s an end to every party. And, in this case, a morning after.
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.
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!
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.
Picturesque, isn’t it?
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:
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.)
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.
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…
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. Such gorgeous little birds.
Finally, that really is three brown pelicans, not three exposures of the same one. And some cormorants and gulls in the background.
Having some problems getting switched over to the new hosting plan. Can’t post large amounts of new stuff until I get switched over. As it is, I’m deleting old stuff that I probably shouldn’t be. Ugh.
So… dognose.
As always, my favorite pose.
Writing this live from the aftermath of the Pampered Pooch Party, at the Half Moon Bay Ritz Carlton.
It’s been a really long time since I stayed at a Ritz Carlton (like… I think I was eight? Ten?) And although I’ve been in a few other luxury hotels since then, I had mostly forgotten what it was like. I was going to say ‘I could really get used to this’ but I’m not actually sure I could: it’s that disconcerting. But it’s certainly nice once in a while.
I’ll try to get some pictures up tomorrow. In the mean time, two more of our friend here.
Yeah, you get that goofy ‘high-and-mighty’ expression, but I know you just want to lick my toes.
When he yawns his ears stand even more to attention than usual.