E-Mail This Article to a Friend Dog days Where to shop for passionate fans, pups, and philanthropists BY GENEVIEVE RAJEWSKI
	Sniff it out at ... • Anthropologie, 799 Boylston Street, Boston, (617) 262-0545; Atrium Mall, 300 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, (617) 559-9995. • Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. • Newbury Comics, various locations. • Polka Dog Bakery, 256 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, (617) 338-5155. • S’Poochies Boutique, 400 Tremont Street, Boston, (617) 357-7387. • What Would Johnny Damon Do?.

Come the holidays, when both dollars and time are in short supply, only the idle rich can afford to shop for everyone on their list. The rest of us are frequently forced to make choices. Boss or favorite co-worker? Immediate family only, or nieces and nephews too? Friends and lovers?

So, this year, we suggest you start by rewarding the loyal. And when it comes to loyalty, few can compete with Red Sox fans, man’s best friend, and those who always remember to keep charity in mind.

For fans of the Dirt Dogs

Sure, it’s easy to love the Red Sox now. But after years of suffering heartache and indignities, it’s the die-hard fans who’ve earned the right to relish their moment in the sun. While you can find 2004 World Series Champions Red Sox hats, shirts, and other gear at pretty much any drugstore, gas station, and sports store throughout New England (and we do encourage you to go ahead and indulge), it’s the bootleg T-shirt that best captures the spirit of the "bunch of idiots." At the What Would Johnny Damon Do? Web site, you’ll find a variety of white WWJDD men’s and women’s T-shirts and tops ($19.95–$26.95), all bearing an image of the Savior in Center wearing shades. The online store also carries a number of white T’s reading JOHNNY IS MY HOMEBOY; FOULKE YEAH!; WHO’S YOUR PAPI?; and JETERS NEVER WIN ($19.95).

Yes, we all know how the World Series 2004 DVD Boston Red Sox vs. St. Louis Cardinals ($19.95) ends. But that won’t keep you from biting your nails and welling up with tears of joy as the Red Sox make history by vanquishing the Yankees and then putting away the Cardinals in four. Narrated by Denis Leary, the DVD begins with battered Sox fans pronouncing at spring training that "this is the year," with varying degrees of conviction. After an overview of the season and the Division Championship Series, the story finally delves into the two series that will have Red Sox Nation hitting replay all winter. Highlights include long, candid takes of the various Champagne celebrations, now-prophetic-sounding sound bites from Kevin Millar, and very amusing footage of Alan Embree and Mike Timlin. The A-Rod incident and the Sox victory song, "Dirty Water," are conspicuously absent; we can hope, though, that NESN’s just-released DVD Faith Rewarded: The Historic Season of the 2004 Boston Red Sox ($19.95), delivers them both and more.

After weeks of celebration and sleep deprivation, Sox fans likely have forgotten many of the details of the now-legendary season and post-season. Fortunately, writers Stewart O’Nan and Stephen King were taking notes and exchanging e-mails, from spring training right through Keith Foulke’s toss to Doug Mientkiewicz for the final out of the World Series. Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season (Scribner, 2004; $26) allows readers to relive the long, sometimes torturous, and ultimately triumphant journey of the Red Sox, one game at a time. Now and for a lifetime, fans will be able to revisit every moment, including Brian Daubach’s attempts to make the 2004 roster and "defensive liability" (ha!) David Ortiz catching Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan in a base-running blunder on National League turf.

If your Sox fans are planning a road trip — say, to Fort Myers for spring training, or to see the Dirt Dogs play at Wrigley Field come June — Newbury Comics stocks a Red Sox car-decorating kit ($14.99), perfect for outfitting their ride with logos, pennants, and more.

For man’s best friend

A visit to Polka Dog Bakery rewards you just as much as it does the pet lover on your list. The South End doggy café delights the senses with its black-and-white photos of happy canine customers, glass cases and canisters full of handmade treats, and the (scarily) enticing smell of the Peanut Butter Oatmeal Crunch, Carob Chip Puppy Dough, After Dinner Mints, and other puppy munchies on display. If you find it hard to choose, the bakery will fill a bag or bakery box ($11/pound), lunch box ($12.50 filled), or treat tin ($24 filled) with a chef’s selection, lower-calorie treats, or items sized for small or large dogs. Monthly deliveries are available on request. Also in the South End, S’Poochies Boutique, a new luxury pet shop, offers kosher Hanukkah doggy treats ($7.99/60) in addition to peanut-butter bonbons, glazed doggy doughnuts, "burgers and fries," and personalized cakes.

Another way to treat the dog lover in your life is to replace his pooch’s drooled-on toys with ones so attractive he won’t mind having them lying around. At Anthropologie, you’ll find dramatic Bodhi squeak toys shaped like delicate lotus flowers or "lucky" carps ($15), as well as the rugged I B Squeaky Octopus chew toy ($10), made of rugged purple canvas and soft, durable fleece. The store also sells fleece-trimmed, squeaky Bite Meez dog or alligator hand puppets ($10), which are so charming their recipient may be loath to sacrifice them to a rousing wrestling match with his dog. Meanwhile, S’Poochies carries a squeaky stuffed dreidel ($8.99).

Are you more fashion-minded? If so, ignore your friends’ chewed shoes and pet-hair-covered clothes, and pimp their pooch instead. Anthropologie stocks a number of soft, colorful dog scarves ($8 and $14), featuring rosettes, pompons, fringe, and more. At S’Poochies Boutique, you’ll find WagWear leashes and collars ($125), Little Lily leather dog booties ($99–$129/set of four), and designer pet totes ($200–$350) in patent leather, leopard print, plaid, and more.

If you can’t bring yourself to gift your loved one via her dog, opt for Dog Is My Co-Pilot: Great Writers on the World’s Oldest Friendship (Crown, 2003; $14), an anthology of essays, short stories, and commentaries that explore life with dogs. The collection is from the editors and publishers of the Bark, a hip, literate, dog-centered quarterly out of San Francisco that has been praised for its intelligent exploration of "dog culture." Half the material in Dog Is My Co-Pilot has never been published before; authors include Rick Bass, Margaret Cho, Erica Jong, Caroline Knapp, and Alice Walker.

For those who love underdogs

Should the Red Sox fan or dog lover in your life believe the holidays should be about giving, not receiving, consider a gift that benefits a local charity. Tickets for January’s "Hot Stove, Cool Music" concert at the Paradise have sold out, but it’s still possible to share the music/sports/philanthropy phenomenon with someone you love. At record stores, you can buy Peter Gammons Presents: Hot Stove, Cool Music Volume 1 ($12.98), a CD featuring musical veterans Kay Hanley and Bill Janovitz, as well as Susan Tedeschi, Paul Westerberg, Pearl Jam, Dropkick Murphys, and performances by both baseball analyst/concert organizer Peter Gammons and Theo Epstein’s band, Trauser. Proceeds go to the Jimmy Fund, which benefits cancer care and research at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Polka Dog Bakery has created a perpetual calendar ($24) featuring black-and-white portraits of its canine customers. All proceeds are donated to the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

At the Registry of Motor Vehicles, you can score a do-good license plate. Funds collected from the Red Sox/Jimmy Fund plate, which sports the Red Sox logo, go toward fighting cancer; funds from the Massachusetts Animal Coalition plate (featuring the image of a dog and a cat with the caption I’M ANIMAL FRIENDLY) go to nonprofit humane organizations and municipal animal-control agencies to support low-cost or free spaying-and-neutering programs. Both plates have an initial registration fee of $36 and a special-plate fee of $40, and cost $81 to renew every two years.

Genevieve Rajewski can be reached at ticktockwordshop@comcast.net