Moonrock Saffron (Saffie for short), a 10-month-old Jack Russell terrier, bounced along the sidewalk like a jumping bean as she and her owner, Donna Medeiros, walked along with 15 other members of Society Dog.

Three times a week the club's members walk their dogs for an hour at different spots in and around San Jose and then hang out afterwards at pet-friendly restaurants like Willow Glen's Pizza My Heart. Medeiros and her younger sister, Marissa, drove from Almaden to join the group for "Yappy Hour," an early evening stroll on June 17.

Medeiros adopted Saffie from a breeder who quizzed her and her husband for 30 minutes as to whether or not they could give the dog a good home. "She's very particular," Medeiros said. "But Saffie actually picked us. She came right up to us and nuzzled. None of the other puppies did that. Now when my husband comes home, she rolls over so he can kiss her tummy."

Two to three days a week Saffie spends the day at a doggie day care. She's also the star of her very own website now. "We took a trip to Carmel [with Society Dog] and I created the site," said Medeiros. "For her first vacation!"

According to the website, Saffie enjoys the club walks a little too much.

"I've been so excited that I have forgotten my loose leash walking manners, but plan to settle down for the next one," one entry attributed to Saffie explains. Judging by the way the puppy leaped onto benches and curbs on the June 17 walk, such Zen-like serenity is hard to come by.

As the dogs walked their owners along the streets of Willow Glen, they swirled to a stop every few minutes to drink from bowls of water left outside by shop owners. The longest pit stop—and judging by the way the pooches rushed through the door, the favorite stop—was the Gussied Up Dogs boutique.

The dogs aren't too proud to take handouts. One store worker tossed dog cookies to the waiting crowd. Enraptured by the attention, several dogs failed to rejoin the walk.

"I think we lost some people," said group founder Terri Festa. Under her guidance, the group has staged Easter Egg hunts, "naked" dog walks and Christmas parties. Several dogs weren't naked Thursday night, however. Two sported tiny baseball caps, and a bulldog strutted around in a lavender T-shirt.

Milton Alexander showed off two baby photos of his 6-year-old dog, Audit. In one the dog perches on a white beach chair wearing a Hawaiian lei. "She was born April 15," he said, adding, "I used to make fun of people like me." He drives Audit to Fremont for grooming at Candy Dog Salon.

Does Audit have a website? Of course.

Alexander, once a stalwart non-dog person, now loves Audit so much he's giving back to the dog community. Every December Alexander organizes a food and supply drive for homeless animals in the Bay Area. "It's a long four weeks," he said ruefully. "But we've raised $32,000 over the past five years."

Smile!

Homemade photos on websites aren't good enough for some Almaden pet owners.

They take an extra step and have formal professional portraits taken that can hang on the wall of the living room with the rest of the family photos.

Laura Marshall has captured thousands of dog smiles and cat squints as part of her studio photography business. She and her husband are also raising four dogs and one cat of their own.

"I adore animals more than life," said Marshall, who recently became a licensed veterinary technician in her "spare" time. "I think there's nothing more wonderful than a dog."

She began taking pet portraits about 15 years ago when a friend asked for a photo of her 11-year-old Great Dane. Since then she's snapped everything from dragon snakes to rabbits to tortoises.

Marshall's proud of one portrait in particular. "Seven dogs, all unrelated.

The youngest was a 1-year-old Jack Russell terrier. The oldest was a 12-year-old mutt. They'd all been dumped on the ranch where [the owner] worked," Marshall recalled. "It took 15 minutes to get a perfect portrait because they were all crazy dogs."

Jumping up and down, squeaking toys, and rolling around on the floor are just part of a day's work at her studio. "Sometimes I don't do anything and they sit there and they're good. But that doesn't happen very often," Marshall said, laughing.

Dogs are more difficult than kids to photograph, according to Marshall, because kids can be bribed. "You can actually reason with children, and bribe them, you know, 'If you're good we'll go to McDonalds!' You have to really love these guys and have patience, patience, patience. I go through a lot of dog treats."

Pam Tyson had Marshall take a portrait of her five golden retrievers. "I had four generations there and I wanted to make sure I got a picture of them all together before the older one got too old," she said.

Tyson breeds golden retrievers at her Almaden home. She sells to local families, mostly relatives and friends, after a stringent and expensive application process, complete with training contracts and neuter agreements.

"Their temperament is just incredible. I see the UPS guy in our courtyard and he's petting the dogs and throwing balls, and he's not even delivering a package," she said. "They have a good sense of how you're feeling and they bring you through the hard times."

From the moment the puppies are born until the day they leave her care, Tyson devotes her days to them. She fixes the dogs a raw food diet every day based on what they would naturally eat. The puppies have their own baby pool. And the dogs spend a lot of time training and attending her kids' soccer matches. Working from home for Hewlett Packard, she said she takes training breaks instead of smoke breaks.

"I learn from each and every one of them," she said. "They teach me how to be a better trainer and a better person."

You don't have to be a professional dog trainer to spoil your pooch.

Catherine Veregge has three children, but she sets the table for four.

Ourson (pronounced Or-son), a 2-year-old chocolate toy poodle, eats dinner at the table with the rest of his family.

"He eats pretty much what we eat. He truly, truly thinks he's one of my children. He's least pleased with our third child, who's the baby," said Veregge.

As would any mother, Veregge knows all of her fourth child's endearing quirks.

"When Ourson smiles, he looks like he's snarling because he can't quite get all the facial muscles working. It's great," she said.

Veregge's daughter Meghan explained that Ourson selects his own toys from a shelf above the fireplace. "He barks until you pick him up so he can pick out the toys he wants," she said. Among the favorites are a monkey and a stuffed bear that the poodle plays fetch with, but constantly trips over since the bear is about the same size as the dog.

"In French, 'Ourson' means 'little bear cub.' He talks to us. He'll nudge you like a hundred times when he wants something," Meghan said. She paused when asked what else she likes about the poodle. "That would take way too long."

Mardi Paw

At a pet party three weeks ago, longtime Almaden resident Susan Schmitt found herself the proud new owner of a "Herd the Bird" cat toy after Hugo, her 2-year-old cat, ran away with the sample during the product demonstration. Pet adviser Barbara Curl attended a luncheon along with 10 of Schmitt's friends and brought samples of Pet Lane products such as treats, toys and grooming tools.

Schmitt also bought treats and dishes. "They're very, very cute. The dishes say, 'Cats Rule!' Very cute."

Hugo and Howie, an 8-year-old cat, are covered by pet insurance in case of illness and are microchipped in case they wander away from home. Their initial introduction did not go well.

"Howie was not happy when Hugo first showed up. It wasn't until three months later ... that they started getting along," Schmitt said. "Without sounding like a childless cat-lover fanatic ... They're fantastic companions. They're very easy to care for."

Spoiling pets may sound crazy, but it can keep pets healthy, advocates say. The Pet Spa in Los Gatos does a brisk business in grooming Almaden pets. "When we groom dogs, we touch them all over. If we see them on a regular basis, we can detect changes. We alerted one of our owners to take the dog to the vet and headed off a very serious disease by early intervention," said business owner Bonnie Grogan.

The South Bay's only pet bakery, the Five Paw Bakery in Los Gatos, bakes all-natural treats like puppy pizzas, peanut-butter balls and even birthday cakes. Anderson's dog Saffie likes the liver treats. And there are vegetarian snacks for dogs on a diet.

"I've eaten all of them, mainly to make sure I get the proportions right," said shop owner Paul Callero. "The spices surprise people—we use nutmeg, garlic. I have to taste the treats; it's the only way to really tell."

The bakery also specializes in hypoallergenic treats for his 50 or so customers whose pets break out in itchy skin rashes from wheat allergies.

Callero and his wife, refugees from the high-tech world, opened the shop last July. "At first I thought, what the heck's a pet bakery? But the environment is almost exactly what we hoped for—all day long we're surrounded by happy people and their pets. It's the dogs that we really enjoy. There's some favorite pairs ... Elvis and Priscilla, two dachshunds. Rocky and Bullwinkle, pugs. One customer from Almaden brings his two Dobermans here."

What about mental health? If Fido needs more of a vacation than one day at a spa, the Cypress Hotel in Cupertino offers a package deal for pet massage and an animal psychic consultation.

Over the top, maybe, but the owners say the pets give more than they get.

"They're just a blessing. They're just a gift, so full of love and joy," said Tyson. "The puppies that I can offer other people have been so special in my life. The last time I sold a puppy it was to a little girl with cancer. I don't know how many years she has, but that dog will be a blessing to her, and I was just so proud that I could offer her that."

Almaden may be going to the dogs (and cats, and birds, and rabbits), but their owners don't mind at all. "They live the Life of Riley," Tyson said.

408.671.3417

www.societydog.com

alphadog@societydog.com

Laura Marshall
Photography

408.267.4768

www.lauramarshallphoto.com

lmp@lauramarshallphoto.com

The Pet Spa

1516 Pollard Rd

Los Gatos, CA 95032

408.379.8911

www.spa4pets.com

friends@spa4pets.com

Five Paw Bakery

315 Main St.

Los Altos, CA 94022

650.941.5729

www.fivepaw.com

pawpal@fivepaw.com