Dog of the Day: Sharon the Ridiculously Fluffy Golden Retriever

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Adam Lang

Yes, this pup is a full golden retriever. She’s gotta be some kind of mutant, or maybe a throwback to the golden retrievers of the last ice age, where primitive man needed a super-fluffy yet totally adoring dog to take the edge off those chilly glacial nights, and thus bred the proto-golden-retrievers with Siberian timber wolves, Angora goats, and wooly mammoths*. In this way, they bred a dog with fur so long that, in the event of polar bear attack, you could actually hide your children and smaller belongings in the dog’s fur.†

(* This is not actually true. † Neither is this.)

Fluffiest Golden Retriever Ever

There's the golden retriever happy face, coupled with fur that would probably take eight (pleasant) hours to fully comb.

Fluffiest Golden Retriever Ever

Look at the fur on those legs. Looks like she's wearing fuzzy leg warmers.

Fluffiest Golden Retriever Ever

All I ask of life is that, when I finally can get a dog, he or she looks at me that way.

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Dog of the Day: Alaskan Malamute

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Adam Lang

It has been an exceedingly unpleasant day, and tomorrow is not looking much better. (No, nothing to do with my computer, which is largely going according to plan.)

So here is an exceedingly pleasant Alaskan Malamute.

Alaskan Malamute

I need two of these guys tonight. One so I can bury my face in his fur, and the other one to paff me gently and repeatedly about the head and shoulders with his tail.

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Dog of the Day: Only the Shadow Knows

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Adam Lang

Got my replacement hard drive (well, actually an SSD) and have spent most of the day setting it up. Consequently, I don’t have access to my photo library at the moment. With any luck, I should have the last of the stuff I need to get my computer back in tip-top shape by this coming Thursday or Friday at the latest. If you are curious about the details of my computer modifications, look at the text after the dog picture. If not, please feel free to skip it; I won’t be offended, I promise.

The dog picture in question is a bit of a cheat: it’s from a dog park in the East Bay. However, I thought it was pretty, so you get to see it.

Dog Silhouette

You can't tell what breed he is, where he is, what position he's in, or anything else about him... but you can tell he's happy.

For anyone who is curious about the details of my computer modifications: I have opted to get a new SSD for my laptop, to replace the hard drive. The hard drive is working fine since I reformatted it and remapped all the bad blocks, but I am still cautious, and anyway this gives me an excuse to get one, which I’ve been wanting to do for ages.

I chose an OCZ Vertex 3, as the highest-performance and most future-proof drive I could get: it has a 6 gbps interface, so the next laptop I get will be able to use it to its fullest potential, but it should do fine in this one as well.

Since it is significantly smaller than my internal hard drive, I have decided to remove the optical drive from my computer and replace it with a hard drive, which will be used for bulk storage of photos, video editing stuff, and my iTunes music library. (Using a bracket made for this purpose by Other World Computing.) When I’m not editing or posting photos, listening to music, syncing my iPhone, or editing video, I can keep the hard drive spun down and just use the SSD.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how this works. Keep your fingers crossed for me… there’ve been a few people who have had problems with this model of MacBook Pro and SSDs, and of course two internal drives is an unsupported configuration, though it should work in theory.

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Dog of the Day: Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Mix?)

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Adam Lang

Can’t tell if this pup is pure Staffordshire, or if he’s mixed (with pit bull, maybe?). Sure has a dignified expression, doesn’t he?

Staffordshire Bull Terrier

Sleek grey beauty! Such a happy pup.

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Dog of the Day: Rami Ferrari the Miniature Australian Shepherd

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Adam Lang

I guess mini Aussies are relatively new. I must admit that thus far, I haven’t been terribly impressed: I’ve met a few of them, and every single one of them has been terrified of me.

At least, up until I met Rami Ferrari, the incredibly awesome tiny little fluffy Australian shepherd who loves everybody. I think this pup has singlehandedly changed my opinion. He even has a facebook page, so he can find more people to give him cuddles.

Miniature Australian Shepherd

My first look at Rami. At first I thought he was going to be just another timid mini-Aussie.

Miniature Australian Shepherd

And then I saw this and my heart melted. Look at that happy face! That dog couldn't possibly be a scaredy-cat, could he?

Miniature Australian Shepherd

Nope. No scaredy-cats here. Rami loves everyone!

Miniature Australian Shepherd

Sweetest little pup ever. If I had him, I'd never have to worry about finding a dog-friendly apartment in SF: what landlord could possibly resist that face?

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Dog of the Day: Yorkshire Terrier

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Adam Lang

If you’re wondering why I post so many Yorkies… well, for one thing, they’re a very popular dog in the city. I guess it’s partly because they’re small enough to keep in a small apartment, and partly because they’re generally some of the politer (and less terrified) of the really tiny dogs.

The other reason I post quite a few of them is because, well… admit it: they’re adorable.

Yorkshire Terrier

They always look like they're in the middle of a really bad hair day, but somehow can make it work. Like those tousled movie stars.

Yorkshire Terrier

Aww. Someone re-wetting a coldwetnose!

Yorkshire Terrier

I can't remember if this is the Yorkie I saw running around playing with a tennis ball or not. It was ridiculous: the Yorkie couldn't fit the ball in his mouth so he just pushed it around with his nose, at high speed.

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Dog of the Day: Borzoi

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Adam Lang

I’ve been hunting one of these pups for ages, ever since Autumn and I saw two of them wandering down Franklin Street in Pacific Heights a couple of years ago. I finally found one, and it turns out it was almost certainly one of those very dogs, two years and half a city away.

They’re so elegant. They make me think of the Russian nobility. You know. Minus all the blood and, uh, weirder bits.

Borzoi, aka Russian Wolfhound

Borzoi are also known as Russian Wolfhounds. They make the Irish ones look awfully scruffy and giant and clumsy... although, let's be honest: if I was up against a wolf, I know which one I'd want on my side.

Borzoi, aka Russian Wolfhound

They look as streamlined as greyhounds, but that long floofly fur must come in very handy in the Russian winters.

Borzoi, aka Russian Wolfhound

Nothing can smile like a borzoi.

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Dog of the Day: Mickey the Jindo

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Adam Lang

Another new breed for me, the Korean Jindo dog, named after Jindo Island, off the coast of Korea. They’re a feral dog type (think dingo) from that island, which is getting a bit of popularity here in the states.

I am told that Mickey is a bit of an ambassador, having been on television in connection (somehow) with the San Francisco Giants, although I can’t find any mention of this online. Nonetheless, he’s clearly a handsome devil, either way.

Korean Jindo Dog

Mickey was just chilling out underneath a park bench, while his dad sat on top of the bench. They both looked like they were right where they wanted to be.

Korean Jindo Dog

Pretty face. Actually interesting how similar they ended up to a dingo. Maybe a little less awkward-looking, though.

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Dog of the Day: Trout Teaser

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Adam Lang

This is Trout, the pup that Autumn dogsat this weekend. I’ll be posting more of him later on, but right now I’m still hashing out the last of my computer problems, so all you get is a little taste of Trout. (And yes, Trout is an East Bay dog. But I’m sure he’s been to San Francisco at least once. 😛 )

Trout is part pit bull, part border collie, part Lab, and part something little (since he’s smaller than any of those dogs. Rather than say all that, though, I’d rather just say he’s a new breed. Maybe we could call it ‘fishdog’, with the official breed name ‘Troutulous Ridiculousus’.

On the up side, so far it looks like my computer fixes are working, so things should be back to approximately normal (albeit extremely busy at work) tomorrow.

Trout the Pit Bull/Labrador Retriever/Border Collie Mix

More Trout, less blurry, later this week, I promise.

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No Dog of the Day

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Adam Lang

I am having some serious computer issues. Like my laptop’s hard drive has gone south in a big way.

The good news: I have a very current backup. (Like, I don’t think I’m missing a single file.) The bad news: I still don’t have a damn hard drive to replace it with, at least at the moment.

Hopefully be back up and running soon.

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