Roll of 28(+1): Days 1 through 3

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Adam Lang

M.C. over at The House of Two Bows has started doing something called ‘Roll of 28’ (+1, this year) where, every day in February, you post a picture that you took that day. I think that sounds like fun, and I’m going to try to do it. Obviously, I’m cheating for the first three days, since I’m posting them today, but each one was in fact taken on that day.

They’re mostly going to be pictures of other things besides dogs (though some will be dog-related, as with Friday’s), and I’m going to post them unedited. It’ll force me to try and do a little more composition in the camera rather than just pointing and clicking and letting Photoshop sort it out.

So, without further ado, some pictures:

Giant Glass Cherry

Feb 1: This is a major theme in the current window display at Macy's. Yes, it's a giant orange glass cherry. No, I'm not sure why.

Garage Door Mural

Feb 2: A recent garage door mural on Marina Auto Body. Which is, incidentally, in SOMA. Go figure.

Dog Art

Another little shop near Union Square (on Sutter near Powell.) Kinda goofy!

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Caturday Supplement: More Macy’s Kittens

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Adam Lang

Gonna run out of these pretty soon if I keep doing them weekly. Hopefully I can get some more from other places.

In other news: argh! I can’t believe I just plain forgot to post yesterday. I had some problems during lunch break (oh, the restaurant I wanted to go to is closed, okay, I’ll go here where there’s a 40-person line, okay, how about there where… etc) but I could’ve at least posted last night. Oh well, nobody’s perfect.

Kittens

Tiger-tabby! They're what I think of when I think 'cat'.

Kittens

If I had a cat, I would probably still be in bed right now, rubbing a kittybelly.

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Double Dog Day: German Shepherd Mix and Chow Mix

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Adam Lang

German Shepherd Mix? Almost definitely. Chow mix? Who knows. Distinctive as heck though!

(Had a good-sized post I was planning on for today, but business-lunch took more time than I expected, so you get a short one. Soon though.)

Edit: Steph over at ‘Musings of a Biologist and Dog Lover‘ has done a detailed breakdown of what she believes the genotype and breed mix of the ‘chow mix’ are, here. Check it out, it’s well worth a read. Dog genetics is a fascinating subject to me… I mean, really, how do you start with a wolf on one side and end up with a West Highland white terrier and a Bernese mountain dog on the other, just by twiddling a few genes?

German Shepherd Mix and Chow Mix

Tee hee! The ears! The goofy expression! Gawd, the one on the left kills me.

German Shepherd Mix and Chow Mix

This one just looks like he was made out of spare parts. Ridiculous.

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Dog of the Day: American Akita Inu and Unknown Mix

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Adam Lang

Not sure about the victim’s breed, but the one on top is definitely an American Akita. Never realized until recently how big those guys actually are: they average more than 100 lbs! In fact, they’re the only breed that averages over 100 lbs that lives, on average, longer than ten years (according to the best survey I could find). And so pretty!

Plus we have a bonus white foofly dog. Autumn and I always have trouble identifying them.

Akita Inu, Unknown Mixed Breed, and Small White Fluffy Dog

Watching dogs play can be so disconcerting when you've never owned one. When the teeth are out, it looks scary as hell, even though every other indicator says that they are having a blast.

American Akita Inu and Unknown Mixed-Breed Dog

I love the placement of the akita paws.

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Dog of the Day: Umm…

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Adam Lang

This is one of the very few pictures that I haven’t been tempted to edit in one way or another. I just like it.

But I wish I could figure out what it was of! He looks like a bigger, rangier Tibetan terrier, or a maybe smaller, slimmer Old English sheepdog that’s growing out a close clip. But he’s right in between size for the two of them.

Dog

I just realized something: it's hard to tell: he's actually standing on top of a wall. Maybe he really is small enough to be a Tibetan terrier after all?

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Dog of the Day: Moe the Basset Hound/Australian Shepherd/Golden Retriever

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Adam Lang

No, Moe isn’t from the dog show. He’s another leftover from last summer’s Bay to Barkers. And according to my notes, he was getting his canine good citizen certification when I took these. So a belated congratulations to Moe, the good citizen!

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

Awww. Someone sure loves his mom.

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

I guess this must be the 'playing peek-a-boo' part of the test?

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

This is the 'behaves well on leash' part. That one was pretty easy for Moe.

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

He did get a little confused by the signposts though.

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

Goofy face for a pretty goofy dog.

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

God, that tail is ridiculous.

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

This is the 'stay' part of the test. As I recall, Moe did pretty well at that, too.

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

Mom might've been a bit nervous, but the pup was delighted with the whole process.

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

He sure knew that there was a lot of attention on him, and loved every minute of it.

Basset Hound/Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd Mix

And then it was off to the corner of the ring, for a well-earned bowl of water and some treats.

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Seen in the City: Dog Statue

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Adam Lang

There’s a shop near Union Square (on Post between Mason and Powell) that has a bunch of dog art in it. I haven’t been by when they were open yet, but this guy was in the window.

Dog Statue

That’s quite an expression.

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Dog of the Day: Lilly (Lillyput Gulliver) the Chihuahua

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Adam Lang

I was totally overwhelmed by the dog show, so it’s going to be a while before I post any pictures. Plus, ye gods, it’s DARK in there. With things that move around as much as dogs do, it was murder to get decent pictures.

So here’s Lilly. I took some pictures of her last week. She’s got a facebook page! And her mom’s boyfriend is running an organization called SharingPet, which is an attempt to help prevent a million pets from being euthanized over the next year. Check it out, see what you think.

In other news: these pictures were taken on my iPhone, because I wanted to see if the HDR (high dynamic range) mode on the camera helped with pictures taken in the bright sunlight. As it turns out, HDR is not well-suited for dogs… see the last image for why.

Chihuahua

The handy travel-size! (Just don't put him in the overhead compartment.)

Chihuahua

Incidentally, that is not 'I'm terrified' body language, that's 'I'm in the middle of sitting down' body language.

Chihuahua

And this isn't 'I'm annoyed', it's 'Help! I've been frozen in the act of shaking myself!'

Mutant Chihuahua

And this, as promised, is why you don't take pictures of dogs with HDR cameras. Even lesser movement screws things up, although perhaps not quite as... dramatically.

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Roving Reporter Post: Golden Gate Dog Show!

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Adam Lang

Just checking in from the dog show, where the dogs are all awesome! (The show itself? Perhaps a bit silly. But that’s not news. 🙂

Whippet

Dog ball. This pup was a little overwhelmed.

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Caturday Supplement: Happy Kitty!

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Adam Lang

A cat that Autumn and I cat-sat a while back in Berkeley. Super-affectionate greet-you-at-the-door-and-beg-for-skritchies kitty!

Cat

Some cats are just as good affection sponges as any dog. Aloof? Hah!

Cat

I need more cat pictures. Getting low again.

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