Dog of the Day: Golden Retriever

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Adam Lang

Someone plumb ran out of wag today.

(Two more pictures after the break.)

Golden retriever

Poor guy. Wonder how long he'd been out there? He looks so... deflated.

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Dog of the Day: Sidney the Australian Cattle Dog

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Adam Lang

I’m feeling a lot better today, thank goodness. So it’s time for a bigger post: Sidney, an Australian cattle dog that I ran into last week. Unfortunately, most of my pictures of him turned out badly. Fortunately, Andrew, Sidney’s dog-guardian (as opposed to a guard-dogian, which I guess would be Sidney) was happy to make up the difference. I have hidden Andrew’s pictures below the fold, both so that they don’t make the rest of the front-page pictures that I took look terrible in comparison, and to tempt more of you to look at the rest of the story, and maybe comment.

So yes. Six pretty amazing pictures after the jump, and one pretty mediocre one before. And thank you very much, Andrew, for permission to post the six.

Australian cattle dog

This ACD seemed a wee bit OCD. During the short time I saw him, he literally never stopped staring straight at his ball.

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Dog of the Day: Miniature Schnauzer

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Adam Lang

Sorry for the low-effort, one-picture post, but I have been totally run down all day today. No idea what it was, but literally nodding off when doing things, falling asleep on a bus and missing my stop, etc. And then when I lay down to take a nap: not a chance. NO SLEEP FOR YOU.

Got plenty of sleep last night, plenty the night before. Feeling totally fine otherwise. No idea what’s going on. Hopefully ten hours of sleep will cure this.

So, yeah. Have a ridiculous-looking schnauzer.

Schnauzer with erect ears

I can't decide whether this guy looks so goofy because he's been so thoroughly shaved, or because of those ridiculous ears. I guess I'll just have to say 'both'.

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Dog of the Day: Basil the Dachshund/Labrador Retriever Puppy

Posted on July 25, 2010 by Adam Lang

Well, the fella I found walking this little guy was sure about the dachshund part of him, but the other half was unknown. And since I only got a couple of decent pictures (all the rest were spoiled by a lousy camera and a hyperkinetic puppy!) Autumn had a tough time with him. She finally hazarded a guess that he might be half Labrador retriever, though, and since that was the first thing I came up with (but had a tough time believing, size-wise), I’m going with that.

That said, though, it does raise a couple of intriguing questions. First, how big is this guy going to get? A standard dachshund actually isn’t all that small a dog, really: they average 15 to 28 lbs. And a lab is 55 to 80 lbs on average. Is this little guy really going to grow up to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 pounds? Alternatively, if he’s really half Lab, and he’s going to be little (20 lbs or so), doesn’t that make him more probably half miniature dachshund, half Lab? And if so… how? The mind boggles.

One more picture, after the break. (PS: I love the name Basil… Basil Woofbone, maybe? Rawfbone?)

Half-dachshund, half labrador retriever puppy

Wiggly puppies are the best kind. And they don't get a lot wigglier than dachshunds, or half-dachshunds in this case.

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Dog of the Day: Boxer

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Adam Lang

After yesterday’s post, DoSF is back up near the top of the rankings on Google, under the search term ‘slightly late‘. Search Engine Optimizers, eat your hearts out! (Note: this might be because nobody ever searches for ‘slightly late’ on Google. And, really, why would they?)

So anyway, it’s Friday night and I’ve had a long week, so here is a dog who fits my mood admirably. He was out in front of the Apple store on Chestnut Street on Thursday. He was there for at least 20 minutes, and in that time he did not change his expression, his position, or his apparent mood at all. He wouldn’t even sniff at my hand, although when I scratched his neck just right his hind leg twitched a bit.

He’s either the most highly disciplined and patient dog I’ve ever seen, or really, really depressed. Or possibly both.

Second picture after the break. Of him in the same position. But at least it’s a different angle.

Very serious boxer mix.

Look closely at the collar. He seriously looked like he'd been a saggy-skinned dog, and someone had pulled his skin up and bunched it around his neck and then tied it off with the collar to make (the rest of) him look more presentable.

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Dog of the Day: Hunter the Flat-Coat Retriever

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Adam Lang

Hunter is only our second flat-coated retriever: this was the first. (Said posting, bizarrely, appears to have been the reason that DoSF was #3 in the google rankings for the search ‘slightly late’ for a couple of days, a few months ago. Maybe I should be late more often!)

I love looking at the interplay between dog and owner guardian. (Hey, it’s apparently the new term in San Francisco.) A lot of people (guys in particular) who would never show affection to their girlfriend/spouse/kids in public will cuddle and wrestle with their dog with unabashed glee. (And no, I’m not saying that the guy in the picture is like that; I don’t know him, and didn’t see him with anyone but his dog. I just know he really liked his dog. Which is only fair, since his dog is one of the most awesome dogs I’ve ever met.*)

That kind of dichotomy seems a little odd to me, from a purely biological/behavioral standpoint. I wonder how many animals are more comfortable cuddling up with a different species than they are with their own? I guess the ‘in public’ part doesn’t really apply, though… humans may not be the only species that is self-conscious, but it certainly is the most comprehensively embarrassable.

(*) As are all of the other dogs I’ve met.†

(†) Well, almost all.

Two more pictures after the break.

Black flat-coated retriever, head shot.

A reverse from the normal shot: here's a human gazing adoringly (or at least happily) at his dog.

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Dog of the Day: Molly the Boston Terrier

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Adam Lang

A Boston terrier with a whole lot of personality. The more exposure I get to the ‘derp-derp’ triumvirate (Boston terriers, pugs, and French bulldogs) the more I like them.

Three more pictures after the break.

On this model, the ears fold back for easy storage. Please store your Boston terrier fully assembled.

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Dog of the Day: Australian Shepherd

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Adam Lang

Fuzzly! Second picture, after the break.

Tricolor Australian Shepherd

It always blows my mind to see the super-fluffy dogs in San Francisco who, even in direct sunlight on warmer days, seem cooler than all the labs and other shorthaired dogs.

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Dog of the Day: Black German Shepherd/Corgi mix

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Adam Lang

Well, I have to say, at first I thought this guy was a repeat customer: same color, same short legs, same long body, same dainty paw placement. However, there were a few things that dissuaded me. One, Zoë didn’t have the blaze of white on her chest. Two, his ears seemed a leeettle bit more pointed than Zoë’s. Three, he was definitely a ‘he’, or at least had been before the surgeons got done with him. And four, his mom was there and she seemed fairly certain that he didn’t have any corgi in him.

Looking at him, though, and at these pictures, I find myself totally unable to believe that last. Sure, he’s not a pure corgi, but there aren’t a lot of breeds that can make a dog like this out of… well… whatever his other parent was. Presumably something black, and with at least semi-erect ears. Black German shepherd, maybe. And possibly a Cardigan Welsh corgi… though that, of course, is just another shot in the dark.

He needs to meet Zoë, though. I think the two of them would get along splendidly.

One more picture, after the break.

Black German shepherd/corgi mix, maybe?

I have to say, whatever he was, he was very well-trained, and resisted temptation admirably. Hmm, maybe he wasn't half-corgi at that.

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Dog of the Day: Mad Siberian Husky!

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Adam Lang

I was witness to a bit of doggie-related drama in Golden Gate Park last week. While my company was having their annual picnic, a husky and a miniature dachshund… ah… had some sort of unfortunate interaction. I didn’t see the actual altercation, just the aftermath. As far as I could see, the minidach wasn’t seriously hurt, but it did spend a fair bit of time yelping like it had had a leg severed and just in general being obviously terrified. The husky was, of course, just fine.

So, I can say from an eyewitness’s standpoint: don’t walk your dog off-leash in Golden Gate Park, at least right now. The police are really, really overanxious after a couple of recent dog attacks in the park. When the owner of the minidach called the police, they sent out three patrol cars and an animal control van, and found the owner of the husky lounging on the grass with his (very-well-behaved) dog. The woman with the minidach was a wee bit overwrought, and although I couldn’t hear what she said, her tone certainly sounded like she was telling the officers that they should shoot the husky, and his owner in the bargain. The husky’s owner seemed like a reasonably responsible dog owner, from what I could see, but then, in front of the cops, how else are you going to act?

Methinks certain dog owners get a bit oversensitive. If her dog was injured, it was on the level of a child with a skinned knee. These things happen, on or off leash — in fact, I’ve seen two dogs get nipped in SF, and in both cases both dogs were on-leash at the time. Nobody was seriously injured, those two times or this time.

Anyway, the husky appeared to be rather amused by the whole thing. Is it just me, or are huskies some of the smuggest looking dogs I’ve ever seen? Four more pictures, after the break.

Siberian Husky, lying down

For some reason, Siberian Huskies all remind me of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.

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