HOWL-o-ween

This morning in our local dog park, there were at least 30 dogs gathered for doggie Halloween. Captain definitely does not like the little devil horns I put on as his "costume"- probably because quite obviously he's an Angel ;) - but there were two other "devil dogs" so at least he fit in :)

Project Dog Book!

Last weekend we went to the Project Dog book launch party, and it was a blast! If you didn't see my last post on it, Project Dog is a photography book featuring Bay Area purebred and rescue dogs of all AKC breeds.

The launch party was at Wag hotels, in their spacious new doggie play area, complete with a doggie runway, and treats for 4 and 2 legged guests alike ;-)

I LOVED this dog, Odinn, a beautiful Ibizian Hound:

And this Weim got all dressed up for the occasion! 

We were pretty psyched to have Captain featured as the purebred Vizsla in the book. I think his picture came out great:

This is the full Vizsla page, also featuring Jake the rescue Vizsla:

Each page has a little write-up about the dog, the breed, and the dog's arrival. The rescue dogs in particular have really heartwarming- and sometimes sad- stories, but it is so good to know they are all in good homes with loving parents now!! The rescue organizations for Vizslas listed in the book include the Vizsla Club of Northern California Rescue and the Vizsla Rescue Haven. Definitely worth checking into if you have extra room in your house for another wonderful wiggler! And even if you don't, both organizations take donations. 'Tis the season for giving!

Do you think I look good in my picture? I was going for 'Blue Steel.'

Dogtoberfest 2011- and BACONCAKE!

It's that time of year again... Halloween around the corner, Oktoberfest celebrations, doggie Halloween parties...
but what trumps them all?  

Dogtoberfest! This was our second Dogtoberfest, but it was actually either the 4th or 5th ever.
Every year (for at least the past 4 years, anyway), the dog owners in our
neighborhood get together for a picnic/barbecue and doggie get-together in our local park. 

We were blessed with very warm weather (maybe a little too warm for those of us
that have gotten used to temperatures never straying from the 55-65 degree range!),
sun, and plenty of neighborhood dogs & their owners out to enjoy the day.

Arguably the biggest draw to Dogtoberfest? The bacon cake!
Every year a fabulous dog-owning mom whips one up fresh for
the dogs, who absolutely love it.
This year's cake:

          Shaped like a cat, so the dogs can finally have their cake and eat it too ;-)

          It's a very orderly process, making sure the bacon cake is evenly distributed
and every dog gets his/her piece.

Time to line up!

Waiting.... waiting.....

At last, the dogs' moment of bacon cake bliss arrived ;-)

          Captain loves the bacon cake...

 But it was gone in 60 seconds. He quickly moved on to looking for leftovers:

Crumbs? Did somebody say crumbs?

Ah-ha! I knew there was more. I'll take some to go, please!

Click if you want to see last year's Dogtoberfest!
          

Another Dogtoberfest success!

Dogtoberfest & Halloween

He's actually my little angel, but I couldn't find a halo :-)

Yesterday at our neighborhood park it was "Dogtoberfest!" One doggie mom made a "bacon cake" to share with all the dogs, and it was pretty impressive...


At first Captain thought he should bark at it. Then, upon further inspection, he decided he really, really, really wanted it...


It was really hard to wait for the slices! We all lined up...


... and didn't even care that it was raining. Captain wolfed down his piece of cake pretty quickly:


He probably could have eaten most of the cake if left to his own devices. Luckily we got a slice to take home for later. FYI, the 'cake' was made out of rice (pre-cooked), ground turkey, and eggs, shaped into a bone and baked, and covered with "bacon frosting" - slices of bacon covering the top of the cake. What a treat!

Please more bacon cake mom!

Happy Halloween!

Perfect Bernal Day

Today we had awesome weather, an awesome park, and an awesome doggie event. First it was fun in Bernal Heights, with perfect blue skys and great views of the city.


We had time for a little window shopping:

Then we headed to Stray Bar for Bay Woof's "Beast of the Bay"- an event that rates SF's best dog spots, with all proceeds going to the winner of the best dog rescue group category. There was live music, prizes, treats, and best of all lots of friendly dogs and people to hang out with while we relaxed with a beverage!

Halloween #2

This Sunday our neighborhood had it's second doggie Halloween party, hosted by South Paw/ Pawtrero and benefiting Muttville. Everyone was out in their cutest costumes! I didn't really have one for Captain (he's not a 'dress up' kind of guy) so I just threw his backpack and a bandana on and called him "Little Red Hiking Dog."

It was a hot day and a good turn out:

And Ziggy was there too!
Captain always wants to check and see if the other dog's moms have better treats....As a sidenote, my husband has been working on Fido Factor, a local dog-friendly search and review site, with 2 other founders. Yesterday they attended a conference called FailCon and won the audience choice award (the conference was about learning from failure, but there were a number of start-ups with tables presenting). You may have caught them on the NBC Bay area news. We're hoping Fido will take off and then it will really be a dog's life :-)

HOWL-o-ween!

This Saturday our local park hosted a fun "Howl-o-ween" dog event. Dogs in costumes, a little agility course, friends & neighbors, and sunny weather made for a good day at the park.Which way to the treats?

Captain attempts agility:

Captain: "I'll sit by it, but I am NOT getting on it."One of Captain's friends, Suki, shows off her bee costume:
A fun little howloween for all.

Doggie Street Fair

In addition to Captain's birthday this past weekend, we also had a dog event on Saturday- a street fair in our neighborhood. There were a number of dog vendors, dogs, and even a doggie fashion show!Budda the pug and Fido Factor:Some interested clients:


Captain made some new friends and of course there was time to play in the park next to the fair:

Captain's new friend Betty the Great Dane:
We got some fun treats and a little goodie bag of John Paul Pet products- I tried out the Oatmeal shampoo on Captain and I have to say, I'm sold- he smelled like an oatmeal cookie when I was washing him!

You can check out a slideshow of the event on Fido Factor's Bark Blog.