I’m a sucker for dogs with big ears — the size tends to correspond to the bearer’s level of personality — and boy did I meet a dog over the weekend for whom this rule holds true. Pillsbury is a well-mannered, sleek and beautiful pitbull mix who lives in Alameda with his people and a tabby cat named Sigmond (though Pills and Sigmond live in separate parts of the house). Like most pitties I know, Pills is a giant lapdog when he’s not playing. His ears and eyes have me fairly convinced he’s mixed with some Pharaoh Hound but, regardless of bloodline, he’s at at the top of the pyramid in his forever home.
You have to love a dog named with a sense of humor. I met Ike yesterday at a local middle school park where we take The Biz for weekend exercise. Ike’s owners found him abandoned in an Ikea parking lot and decided to name him after it. I just love that. Ike is a little poodle mix — his owners were told maybe with a dash of mini schnauzer. After watching him run and play for a while I have to think there’s some terrier in there — which would make Ike a Perrier or a Terdle depending on your preference for designer breed names.
Nothing like a morning walk at San Francisco’s own dog mecca: Fort Funston. We took the Biz to meet some friends down there and ended up with a good-sized pack of 5 people and 7 dogs. One of them, a newcomer named Fletcher, may actually give Bizzy a run for his money in both the underbite and cuteness department — evidence below. My favorite part of the hike, though, was watching a three-legged pitbull play in the surf — it didn’t even slow him dow. Wish I could bottle that sort of attitude.
Bizzy at the Beach
Fletcher - 9.8 on the cuteness Richter scale
Ok, maybe a 9.9
Three-legged pitbull at play (count, you’ll only get to 11)
I had the honor recently of taking holiday photos for the famous Skeezix the Cat who not only has his own blog over at Skeezix Scratching Post but also makes frequent appearances over at Catster’s Cat’s Meow blog.
We had such a good time on the shoot that we decided to team up and do a holiday photo contest. You can catch the details here but the upshot is if you need to set up a Catster profie, post your favorite kitty shot and tag it with catsmeowholiday. The judges will pick a winner on December 31st and the lucky one gets a kitty photo session at their home with me.
To be fair, Bandit’s mom warned me that he was big for Shih Tzu. My parents had one when I was in high school so I was thinking maybe 14 pounds at the most. Wow, try 22 pounds. Toy breed? You must be Shiht-ing me?
Bandit may be big but he’s a doll. He’s a sweet, well-mannered guy who’s a little on the shy side around new people but, once you play ball with him, he warms right up.
What do you think for the holiday image? I’m thinking a card with some holiday colors and the ball-chasing shot. Nothing says merry, merry like a dog having a good time.
I don’t know about you but I think Mastiffs just rock. The term gentle giant doesn’t even begin to describe them but throw in two of them weighing in at almost 400 pounds combined and you have a whole lot of friendly dog in one place.
I met Easy and his mom, Tori last weekend down at Stern Grove and we had a great session with them and their human sister who clocks in at 2 years and 35 pounds. For privacy reasons you won’t see her here but let’s just say that the three of them were completely adorable together
We’re working on getting an embedded video clip for the blog but these things can take time so, for now, this link will have to suffice.
Hats off to Paul Bliss for filming and editing the segment and a thousand + thanks to the good folks at Pet Food Express for starting the My Mutt program in the first place. Finally, the whole thing wouldn’t have even been possible without Ms Foxy or her parents.
Even though I’m around them all day, sometimes I run into dogs that just blow me away. Foxy is one of those dogs. She’s a rescue dog who was hauled out of conditions too horrific to describe in Taiwan and she has transformed into a remarkable pet. I’ve met her before in September at the Bay Area Pet Fair where she won the best-in-show prize in their famous “The Other Dog Show”. As part of the prize she also won a My Mutt poster at a Pet Food Express store of her choice and last we week we had the shoot for that poster at the amazing Mill Valley Dog run up in Marin.
To make things even more interesting, a TV crew came along to document the experience and the whole thing is going to air this Friday on CBS5 where Pet Food Express has a standing Pets Around the Bay segment every Friday night.
So take a gander at some of my favorite shots and cast your vote on which one should be Foxy’s poster.
I finally had a chance to redeem myself last weekend and do a reshoot with Sterling - the bunny who wasn’t so happy to see me the last time. Fortunately, we met on a sunny morning this time instead of a rainy afternoon and Sterling was in much better form. In fact, she was so active I managed to get my first bunny action shot.
Regular readers of this blog may remember that Sterling is a rescue rabbit from Save a Bunny and that Sterling is going to be on a My Mutt poster at Pet Food Express. So, cast your vote and let us know which shot you like the most for that poster.
