Normally, when I offer a Puppy Tales installment it is to brag about something new in Toby the Puppy’s life, a revelation that he delivers to us, a new example of just how smart and adorable he is. Not this time. Instead, I am offering this brief salute to Toby the Puppy by commemorating an … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 96: He is the best … ever!
Toby the Puppy’s body-language “vocabulary” is expanding. I want to report briefly on a way he communicates to his Mommy and me and how we learned quickly to understand the message he was delivering. When we want to take him for one of his twice-daily walks — yes, we’re on a schedule to take him … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 95: Body language speaks loudly
As smart as I have proclaimed Toby the Puppy to be, I concede readily that he doesn’t speak English. That is, he doesn’t communicate with my wife and me in the language that we both speak. That does not mean that our puppy doesn’t communicate. I have recently concluded that after nearly eight years in … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 94: He ‘speaks’ to us!
It’s been far too long since I have bragged about Toby the Puppy. So … here comes another tidbit about our smart puppy. He has learned to virtually dress himself. Yep, that’s right. Here’s what I mean. We like putting shirts and/or sweaters on him during these cold snaps. His fur is light and he … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 93: He dresses himself
We are getting close to taking our final RV trip of the year. We won’t go far from the house, only about 50 miles to a state park at Lake Tawakoni. We’ll bring it home and then winterize it, send it into hibernation. I just wanted to salute the most notable road warrior in our … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 92: A travelin’ pooch
By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com Toby the Puppy cannot speak English, at least as I understand the language. He does, however, “speak” in a unique way that I have learned to comprehend. He answers “yes” to questions by doing something in the moment that he does not do any other time. “Are you hungry?” I … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 91: Still learning about skills
By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com Toby the Puppy is going to celebrate a birthday. He turns 7 years of age, which means — and this is my fervent hope — that we’ll enjoy his company for a whole lot longer. We celebrate his birthday on April Fool’s Day. He joined our family over the Labor … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 90: Happy birthday, fella!
By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com Toby the Puppy is the first pooch to join our family in … ever! We had a couple of dogs but they didn’t stay long enough to become assimilated into our household. My wife and I, therefore, became pretty fluent in kitty speak over many decades of welcoming cats into … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 89: The reaction is clear
By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com Toby the Puppy has a remarkable memory. He once was fearless. Nothing seemed to bother him when he joined our family in early September 2014. Then we went to a Fourth of July celebration in the summer of 2019. He heard fireworks exploding and, shall we say, became frightened by … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 88: Brave and skittish
By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com TYLER STATE PARK, Texas — You know by now that Toby the Puppy is nearly perfect … if not actually perfect. One of the aspects of his perfection is that he barks only for a reason. He doesn’t just yip and yap at nothing or nobody. Hardly. He barks when … Continue reading Puppy Tales, Part 87: Earning his spurs