Shasta the mini American Eskimo may be the cutest, fluffiest, nicest dog ever. Evah! He’s four years old and I like to imagine he lives on sugar cubes, snow balls, and dandelion puffs. Shasta’s owner is the proprietaire of Floreal L’Atelier on Taylor between Post and Geary. I didn’t get much time with Shasta, or I should say, not much time in one place, and I only had my cell phone on me, so apologies for the lack of pics. But hopefully even the casual observer won’t be able to deny Shasta’s adorabilty.

It’s well-known that here at Tenderblog we have a soft spot for dogs, cats, and well, cute pets in general. In spite of the lack of parks and green areas in the Tenderloin, there are plenty of friendly little boogers being walked around for us to harass with our cameras. One such subject was Honey, this pretty little lady whom we encountered on a rare sunny morning last week. We were sitting at the Tenderloin National Forest for a couple of hours interviewing someone (more on that later), and she kept providing cute distraction chasing around all the dogs and people in sight while her owner was chilling under the sun.

Her owner was so proud and happy when we took Honey’s photo, that he insisted on posing with her. He called her honey, but also sweetie, mama, and baby. Isn’t this true love?

Don’t y’all want to have your own sweet mama or your own lover boy as well? You should take a look at all these little guys in need of a home. And one of them, Goose, almost looks like Honey.

It’s Friday, and we all could use some cute doggie downtime from our hectic weeks. Last week we introduced you to Dakota, a heaving lover of a pug that we see every day around the TenderNob. And since we have a soft spot for pugs (I mean who goes to Pug Sunday at Alta Plaza Park without a dog? um, we do), here’s Maurice.

Photo by sirgius

Now we’ll have to hang around the Civic Center hoping to meet him, although we hear he is very selective in whom he chooses to associate with in that you need to be human and… yeah, human, that’s about it.

Really, if there is a cuter dog in the hood, I seriously don’t want to meet it. Dakota has to be one of the most friendly, fun-loving dogs around. It’s just ironic that she’s always with this other fluffy white thing that we just refer to as Sir Barksashitload who has to be one of the most annoying dogs in the hood. But, you can regularly see Dakota being walked with the other one around the TenderNob between Jones, Sutter, Hyde, Post.

It’s interesting to see how things are going in regards to the dogs in the Loin ratio. When I moved here nearly eight years ago, there were very few hounds running around. These days though, it seems like there’s a four-legged crap factory dropping off his wares for a sidewalk sale every time I go anywhere. What seems to be even cooler is the fact that they come in such a huge variety. Whereas it seems the Missionites have whatever dog is cool at the moment, people here in the Loin pair up with the whole dog range, from big to small.

I bring this up because after strolling out this evening for a burrito, I came across that guy walking the pug Dakota and Sir Barksalot. I’m sure that if you hang out at Cup-A-Joe or anywhere along the “Boulevard of Children with Artism” (formerly Sutter Street from Stockton to Leavenworth) you’ve seen him as he’s a fixture. But along the way, I also saw some kind of wolfhound, a doberman, a poodle, and a dude walking one of those fluffball dogs alongside the coolest, chubby mini dachshund I’ve ever seen and it got me thinking about these guys and how I hope my camera gets back from the shop soon so the Doggie of the Week section can really live up to its name.

So, is it just me, or are there really more dogs in the hood and if so, why now?

 
Meet Archie. He is super duper incredibly cool and friendly. Here he is getting a coffee with his owner at Cup-A-Joe on Sutter at Leavenworth. I feel like I’ve seen him around the neighborhood a bit and he kinda knows the regulars. So be warned Archie, if I see you again, I’m petting the hell out of you because you’re super lovable.

This slightly aloof, moderately pudgy, speckled dachshund was seen at the Civic Center Farmer’s Market. Apparently he enjoys walks in the sun, good values in produce, and looking insanely cute if not a bit like he’s ready to go home. All hail the adorable Kennedy, our current Doggie of the Week.

We were thinking it was time for another Doggie of the Week when this great picture from reader Myleen Hollero came in. She lives on Geary and Hyde, and she says she loves the neighborhood -that’s why she reads the Tenderblog. The picture of this little guy was apparently taken at Ace Autobody, at Ellis between Larkin and Polk, and she says “it was an angry little effer”. And looking at him, we have to say we believe her…

If you liked it, check out more of Myleen’s photos on her website.

Well, they obviously aren’t twins, but their pink bows are matching. We didn’t get their names, but we spotted these two outside the Pine and Larkin Post Office, eagerly awaiting their owner who was standing in line. Cute, yes. Waiting silenty, no.

We had really planned for Doggie of the Week to be a weekly feature, thus the title, but this friendly fellow who needs to be adopted popped up and we decided he needed to be featured now.

This is Bear. He’s currently up for adoption at Rocket Dog Rescue. He’s the featured dog there as well. Here’s what they say about him:

He LOVES to swim, play fetch, chew on his kong, and can make awesome pig-like noises. Bear is house-trained, gets a long with other dogs, rides in the car very well, has a good amount of energy, and really loves his people. Bear is a big, strong dog who needs a firm, patient, responsible owner who is willing to give him proper exercise, mental stimulation, and obedience training. Bear is in training now and whoever adopts or fosters him will get continued training for him free! If you think you could give him a forever home, please send an email to leda@rocketdogrescue.org

From our brief encounter with him this morning at Cup-A-Joe (at Sutter and Leavenworth) where he was bopping around, we can confirm most of this description, especially the “has a good amount of energy and really loves peope” bit. He was at Cup-A-Joe for barely 10 minutes but he got tons of pets from just about everyone who wandered by. He wasn’t too crazy about my big honkin’ camera lens, but otherwise, he’s a great lovey dog.

Apparently the only down side for this fellow is that for long-term adoption, he really needs a yard, which is obviously tough for most of us in SF who are lucky if we can look at a yard, much less actually have access to one. If you want to see more of this 2 1/2 year-old “Polar Bear Disguised as Pit Bull”, check out a bunch of his puppy pictures such as the one below in this set.