Giant drooly dog. He’s 7, but he gallops around happily like a 6-month-old horse, and about the same size, too.
Gangle gangle gangle gangle...
Very distinctive markings. Check out the close-up in the next picture.
Look at that perfect line, right down the middle of his face. Never run into a dog with anything quite like it before.
Hugo! 5 months old and already ginormous. I want to wrestle with him.
Autumn calls the fuzzy sticky-up soft fur a 'puppy fro'.
Coy puppy look. Super-soft ears too.
I don't know how to begin to interpret this expression.
Hugo's going to be a real handful, I can tell.
An Irish breed, for St. Patrick’s Day! This is another of Autumn’s dog-walking charges. She also might be our first Glen of Imaal… I’m not 100% sure whether Sophie was really one, although she sure had a similar attitude.
(Edit: Geez, I forgot to put in her name when I posted this!)
Gorgeous eyes, no? (The ears aren't normally up like that, as you'll see.)
Apparently she doesn't usually like walking in the rain, but this expedition was a distinct exception. Muddy puppy!
She's shaped just about like a corgi, maybe even a little stockier.
See the black patch on her side. For some reason, vets can't figure it out, she just has no fur there. Apparently it's not mites.
Greeting a gorgeous blue merle great dane.
She really does seem to like flumping down in the mud puddles.
By the time she got home, what with the mud and the rain, she looked a bit... bedraggled.
Fortunately, she LOVES showers. she spends all the time viciously attacking the spray of water.
It's hilariously goofy. And adorable. Just like the rest of her.
I can’t believe I didn’t take down this pup’s name. We ran into him when we were walking Tidus, and Tidus really wanted to play but the puppy hadn’t had his shots yet so that was a non-starter. Looks like he’s mixed with some kind of terrier.
The ears. I wonder if they're going to stand themselves up, or if they're going to stay TOTALLY RIDICULOUS.
Translucent ears, too!
Well, I posted some pictures of Tidus not too long ago, but he deserves a repeat performance for three reasons. One, he’s totally adorable! And two, he’s one of Autumn’s clients in her new business venture, the San Francisco Pup Scouts. That’s right: the cuter half of the Dogs of San Francisco can now be hired to walk your dog, play with your puppy, or pet sit your dogs, cats, or other pets. Best of all, donkey walks are free (if you happen to have a donkey within the San Francisco city limits)!
The third reason is that I will be taking a day off of blogging tomorrow for personal reasons, so we need something extra-cute to sit at the top of the front page for a longer than usual time. And so, I present to you, ‘something extra-cute’: Tidus the Corgi!
I may well post some more Tidus pictures at some point; if so, they’ll include some action shots. Running, jumping, playing corgis are hilariously awesome.
There aren't many faces as well-equipped to look happy as a corgi's. (Or as goofy.)
They're also awesome at looking mischievous. Which is fair enough, because they ARE.
Tidus can be a challenge to walk. He is very, very good at spotting food on the street, and one has to be alert to keep him from trying to eat it.
Corgi compaction complete!
Did I say something about goofy expressions?
More goofiness.
Tidus knows a number of tricks. This is a result of the following commands: "Sit. Okay, now lie down. Okay, now, BE CUTE!" I'm sure you'll agree that's a very well-named trick.
I have never seen coloration like this before on on any kind of dog (specifically the white fur around the eye). And Elle’s only 5, so it’s almost certainly not age-related.
The ears are pretty ridiculous too. Maybe it's a shnauzer mix?
Happened upon this pup out in front of a Petfood Express, hence I’m not sure of the breed. But the merle pattern sure is gorgeous.
(Today I learned about ‘ticking’! And I learned that this isn’t it, because that happens only on the white parts of dogs’ coats. Okay then.)
It’s funny: there are a lot of dogs that greet you enthusiastically, jumping up and down, delighted to see you. But there’s a subtle difference with a few dogs, like this one and another Rottie mix: a lot of dogs greet you like you’re the most important thing in the world. These dogs greet you like you’re their long-lost brother. Not ‘OH MY GOD OH MY GOD IT’S YOU!!!’ but more like ‘Oh man, it’s great to see you. I can’t stop smiling!’ A subtle difference, maybe, but I really love running into dogs like that.
He was very, very alert. Watching every car that went by. When I walked up, he transferred 100% of his attention to me.
Someone should start a blog of goofy dog tongue pictures.
The sheer amount of happy this guy was putting out could light up a room.
Aww. Hard to say goodbye.
This just about the last of my Macy’s window kitties from this year, and it’s only March! What on earth am I going to do for the rest of the year?
Happy smiling kitty. I bet you dollars to dog-treats that this one got adopted right away.
Kitty hypnosis helps too.
Ran into these three outside one of our favorite dog-spotting haunts, The Bell Tower on Polk. Autumn was there, and did a little dog-petting in the course of our photographic interaction.
Aussie number one. So pretty! Look at the face coloration, with the forehead merle pattern.
I had a friend who called this 'ooch': when an animal pushes up against your petting hand. It means, "MORE! MORE!" And it is awesome.
Muzzle freckles!
Not sure what kind of hound he is. Anyone want to weigh in?
Oh god, this was silly. See, the brown poodle was wandering around with this big long dog toy. Most of the time he had it in his mouth but he actually put it down, into the collar, once while I watched. And then, disaster: he dropped it! And promptly started trying to pick it up.
Most of my pictures of him doing that are all blurry, because I was laughing so hard at the poor thing.
He kept mooshing his face into the cone of shame. And his mom was standing right there. I said something like, “Hey, I think your dog might need a little help there…” And she said, “Naw, he’ll be fine!” Turned out she knew what she was talking about. A second later he’d managed to scoop it up and was happily shaking it around.
Every blurry photo I took also had the poodle's tongue lolling out. Maybe cones of shame taste like ice cream cones?
Just at the crucial second where he picked up his toy, another poodle steps right in my way. Ah well.
That is an absolutely ridiculous toy to begin with. Combining it with the cone of shame? Genius!