Aw. Earlier this month, the newest (and truncated) version of the OED got rid of many cherished hyphens. The editor, Angus Stevenson, "eliminated some 16,000 hyphens from the sixth edition," according to a New York Times article. Angus goes on to say, "“People are not confident about using hyphens anymore...[t]hey’re not really sure what they’re for.” Sad. We love us some gross hyphen use. But some of them remain, like hyphens in compounds ("well-being");......

It makes us sad to think of all the dogs unwalked, unwashed and untrained in San Francisco. We guess this lack of walking, washing and training is because dog guardians just don’t know how to find such a service provider. Lucky for us urbanhound.com, a website that started in New York, has come to the rescue with a San Francisco version. It is a central source of all the same ads that already appear in......

Summer is heating up (or cooling down, depending on how close you are to the Pacific) so don’t forget to pack your sunscreen and pooch to take your dog with you on your adventures. You can start this Sunday at the W Hotel’s party for dogs cosponsored by Bark Magazine. Come meet the author of “TAILS OF DEVOTION A Look At The Bond Between People And Their Pets” from 4-6 p.m. This is a......

Dogs, like children, can be very expensive. But the geniuses at the Sports Basement have come up with a promotion where your canine friend can save you money. This Saturday, June 10th, the Potrero Hill Sports Basement on 16th St. is hosting a Doggie Social from 9 a.m. until noon. Bring your pooch and get 15% off everything in the store. If you don’t have a dog, borrow one from a friend. Sports Basement in......

Time when newspapers only meant two things to dogs – either they were laid out flat in the kitchen or rolled up in the palm of someone’s hand. Neither use was particularly attractive. But now dogs in the Bay Area have two, count ‘em, two monthly newspapers catering to their needs. The Woofer Times claims to produce 40,000 free papers per month distributed at over 650 locations in the Bay Area. Fetch the Paper is......

Who knows if animals have souls? But in weighty matters such as these, better to error on the side of caution and luckily for us in San Francisco, every year our dogs can get blessed at Assisi Animal Blessing as part of the North Beach Festival. This year you can take your critter down to National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, at 610 Vallejo St. at 2 p.m.......

Once upon a time a famous New Yorker cartoon suggested, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” Now a day, nobody cares if you are a dog. The Internet is awash with dogs posting of their own profiles to communicate with other canines and humans alike. Witness the explosive growth of SFist Friend and occasional contributor Ted Rheingold's dog-to-dog site dogster.com, a friendster imitation for pet owners over 30, single and childless (or just......

In an effort to stop slumping sales, Old Navy is hoping to recapture their sales magic of the late 90s by enlisting a new canine mascot. You may remember when Old Navy was a hot brand, nearly every commercial featured “Magic”, an Airedale mutt rescued from the streets of San Jose. Since Magic was forced out of his job in the Spring of 2001 (press releases cited ‘creative differences’) Old Navy same store sales......

If you needed any more proof that dogs are the new children of San Francisco, look no further than the list of most popular names for canines. Dogs used to have cute, very dog like names like Shadow or Bandit or Princess. But now, according to recent studies by VPI Pet Insurance and Bow Wow Meow now most dogs are given names suitable for human offspring. The top names for dogs include Max, Jake,......

Few things go together better than baseball and dogs – no, not the kind that contain pig snout and esophagus and cost $4.50, but the canine type. And every summer The San Francisco Giants host the Dog Days of Summer where canines are admitted to watch the game from the outfield bleachers. The tradition continues with the 10th Annual Dog Days of Summer on August 5th against the Colorado Rockies. But the competition hardly......

We love San Francisco and we love animals and we love seeing the bad guys get caught. Now we can see all three things at once in Animal Cops San Francisco on the Animal Planet Channel. We only hope these brave souls are not so busy enforcing the new pit bull laws that they don’t have time to crack down on bars that discriminate against dogs. Cama is not one of those bars. It on......

Normally our Sunday mornings are spent walking along the beach at Crissy Field looking out on the Bay and wondering who those people are on the boats and what San Francisco looks like from the water. Finally, those questions will be answered thanks the San Francisco SPCA and its second annual “Dog Day on the Bay” Sunday May 7. The event is a fund raiser for the SPCA and includes a gourmet Sunday champagne brunch......

One of the great charms of dog-friendly San Francisco is the numerous places where dogs are allowed off-leash. Legally. The city lists two dozen parks around town. Sadly, there are many places remaining that do not allow dogs, which causes many to be tied up to parking meters and such while their guardians conduct important consumerism. A fellow named Jon has made it his life’s work to chronicle the dogs of SF that are......

The people of San Francisco not only love their dogs and want to take them everywhere; now many want to become dogs and even dress like dogs. We refer, of course, to the growing popularity of the Urban Iditarod in downtown San Francisco. Is nothing sacred? Canines have very few opportunities to really perform work in this modern society, and now we can’t even pull kegs around in shopping carts? The teams do stop......

For fear of catching metal, we are not one to get involved in the whole East Coast – West Coast rivalry thing, but we would like to point out one big difference between dog friendly San Francisco and, uh, well, much less dog friendly New York. In San Francisco we can take our dogs wine tasting on the weekend. In New York, the latest fashion for the canine crowd is rubber boots. This is......

What is the Bark and Whine Ball hiding? We had hoped to report this week on the annual black tie extravaganza for the San Francisco SPCA, but SFist’s request for media credentials were denied. We had hoped to tell you the what celebrity dogs are wearing this season, who the hot makers of gourmet dog treats that look better than human desserts are and who is sniffing who’s butt but we weren’t invited so......

We all know it sucks getting old. Arthritis is the number one cause of disability in the U.S. – ours is so bad we sometimes have problem even walking up stairs or jumping into the Saturn, which we got just because getting into and out of the SUV was getting near impossible. Since this is the Year of the Dog, we decided to try out some Eastern Medicine and try some canine acupuncture. That’s......

Please join contributing SFists Bailey (that's her on the left) and her guardian, Stan, as they let us know the choicest places to bring our best friends. Almost 800 years later, those dogs on the other side of the pond that bark with an accent are about to get their own Magna Carte. Following in the footsteps of San Francisco’s groundbreaking “No-Water-Dish-Left-Behind” legislation, the U.K.’s Animal Welfare Bill introduces a duty on owners to......

We're getting ready for Valentine's Day! Take your pick: sex parties, the South Bay, the Dating Game, theater, or the gift that keeps on giving, fennel. We're also in full-fledged festival mode: IndieFest, the Korean-American Film Fest (check out our interview with Korean auteur Kang Je-gyu -- thanks, contributor Mihi!), WonderCon. Lots and lots and lots and lots of movie reviews! And we hope you had a nice time at our two Dalva parties -- it's always great to see you. Welcome to our new column, Whines And Dines, which covers SF from the dog's eye view. SFist Jeremy is proud to announce the winner of our online 7x7 poll, "I will take and maybe read a free 7x7" at 30%. "Earth First should punish 7x7 for wasting trees" came in third, at 27%. It was a week of police brutality by the Chron, and Chron brutality by the police. Cab fares and real estate are both going up -- and lumber is falling down. Plus -- news flash! SF hates Bush. (We are loving the "rename Bush Street" movement a well-meaning someone has launched.) Plus -- Mavericks ruled. ...

Please welcome contributing SFist Bailey (that's her on the left) and her guardian, Stan, and they sniff out (ha!) the dog-friendliest spots in the City. Welcome to the Year of the Dog. To celebrate and honor this year, we will keep our paws to the ground and our nose in the air to uncover all the best places to whine and dine at the generosity of others. This is a column for all the......