I'll let Snoopy demonstrate...

Today is the first of SF Dog Blog's 2 weeks off for summer vacation. Spent the day preparing my thesis presentation to the Animation faculty at Academy of Art University (and missing the SPCA dogs)...and passed!!! Now we're officially the SF Dog Blog, m.f.a. Ah, yes: the most expensive three letters in the alphabet. How it feels to graduate, I think, can best be expressed through interpretive dance:

Thanks, Snoopy! That's pretty much how it feels.

As of 7/21/08:

Me...AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION (i.e., work) by Bay Area animation companies.

Dog Days of Summer

Oh, yes...more puppies! These guys are named after various components of Japanese cuisine: Sushi, Wasabi, Nori...and much like a spicy bite of sushi, these puppies pack a wallop--at least when they're not sleeping. Prospective adopters met several of these fuzzy cuties today, so I'm sure they won't stick around much longer. Here they are clamoring to say hi:


Harvey, a black and white Lab Retriever/Border Collie mix was the first dog I walked today, by default: He was so riled up that he butted in front of his roommate, Frenchie, when we tried to separate them for Frenchie's walk. Since this was Harvey's way of telling me he really, really needed to go out, out we went. Harvey is 5 and still has the energy of a 1 year-old. Nothing that 3 laps of running 'round the park can't fix...The photo below is the "after" version (add in the panting sound effects yourself):

Since Harvey and Frenchie together were proving to be one big dog too many for a single room in Maddie's Adoption Center, we switched them. So next I walked Harvey's new roommate, Gilbert. Gilbert is a very chill tan and white Boxer mix, whose chart claims that he is only 4. However, he seems to be closer to 7 or 8--his muzzle is graying just a tad and he prefers an easy-going, low-impact workout. Why the discrepancy? Hollywood actresses often shave a few years off their age for marketability purposes, and perhaps that's what we have in Gilbert's case. But I hope it stops there. You're beautiful and you don't need botox or anything else, Gilbert! Now it's time for your close-up:

Next let's meet Princess. Princess is a 1-year old yellow Lab Retriever mix. She apparently already has a list of suitors, er, prospective adopters. So I'll be brief and say that she's very sweet like all our dogs, she knows her basic commands, and she acts her age and breed in the sense that she's got lots of energy. As far as her name goes, just look at the photo evidence for yourself. Tiara not included in adoption fee.

Frenchie is a 2 year-old white German Shepherd mix. Don't let her name fool you; she's no French Poodle. But she is snowy white and approximately the size of 9 French Poodles, so there's that. While she of course needs a good amount of daily exercise, the cool thing is that Frenchie is very responsive in her walking. When I walked, she walked. When I jogged, she jogged. When I sprinted, she sprinted. And then I trailed behind her like a kite flapping in the breeze. 'Cause the girl can move. But that last part only lasted for a second, because Frenchie likes company and doesn't want to leave anyone behind!


As of 7/14/08:

Harvey...AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION.
Princess...AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION.
Gilbert...AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION pending medical checkup; AVAILABLE TO BE MET.
Frenchie...AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION pending spaying; AVAILABLE TO BE MET.

Fetch THIS

Some dogs play fetch. An extra-special dog plays fetchfetchfetchfetchfetchfetchfetchfetch! Meet Slate. He's a 1 and 1/2-year old black and white Border Collie mix. He has the attention span capabilities of a successful transcendental meditation practitioner. This means that he can commit to, for instance, a nice game of fetch for hours and hours and hours. See fig's 1a-1b, below.

Maybe the game of fetch he and I played didn't actually last for hours, but Slate wants it known that it could have. Once I work up to his level of focus and lasting concentration, we'll be able to play some marathon sessions. For now, we played about a quarter in his room, another quarter in the SPCA courtyard, and then for halftime we went for a walk.

If there had been an audience sitting in the bleachers for all of this, they would have been chanting, "Slate is great! Slate is great!"

Bear is a 1 and 1/2-year old brown and tan German Shepherd mix. He's been here at the SF/SPCA since May 19 (almost 2 months, a surprisingly long time for such a well-trained and attractive dog)! He's got standards. To be a good match for Bear, a human would preferably be able to commit to an ongoing training program for him, and provide the walks necessary to work out the energy that builds up throughout the day. This energy can make Bear seem a bit rambunctious, but he is not a hyper dog. He just wants the basics: 3 hots and a cot...and a walk! And the cot he could probably even do without. When I went to get him for our walk he was a little excited (he almost jumped but then he totally listened to my command saying not to). During our walk he was great, and upon our return he was of course cool, calm, and collected.

Bear rocks, and I give him my SF Dog Blog "Obedient plus Beautiful" rating.

As of 7/7/08:

Slate...AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION.
Bear...AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION.