Tag Archives: Puppy Tales

entertainment news, local news

‘Puppy Tales’ has returned!

It’s time for me to admit that I have been a neglectful puppy parent … but it has nothing to do with the care I give the pups who enjoy a special place in my family.

You might recall that when I had Toby the Puppy I routinely chronicled the things he would do to make my wife and me laugh out loud. Then came 2023, the worst year of my life. I lost my bride to brain cancer near the beginning of the year. Then I said goodbye to Toby near the end of that horrible year, also to cancer.

I put Puppy Tales on indefinite hold. Then in 2024, Sabol joined my family. She has been an absolute scream. In 2025, my family added Endo, who became BFF with Sabol immediately on joining us in our Princeton home.

Today, I made a command decision. I am dusting off Puppy Tales and will resume telling you stories about the joy of returning to the world of puppy parenthood.

I have a quick story to tell, so here goes.

I took Endo to the veterinarian’s office this morning. My intention was to determine her age. The doctor told me she could give me a pretty good guess, based on the condition of Endo’s teeth. We walked in, got our place in the exam room.

Endo’s doctor took a look at her teeth and said she is “between 3 1/2 and 4 years old.” So, there you go. The doc estimated Sabol’s age to be between 6 and 7.

Then I made another command decision. I declared that today, March 31, is Endo’s birthday. I declared also that she turns 4 on this day. “She’s still a young dog,” Endo’s doc told me. The doctor also assured me that she appears to be in excellent health. We had fought off a yeast infection and some skin allergies. Endo weighed about 37 pounds when she first joined me. Today she tipped the beam at 46 pounds, earning her the affectionate nickname of Fatty. She’s not fat, but she clearly has gained weight, which she wears nicely.

Sabol and Endo are still besties. I am grateful they love each other. I had a little fear that Sabol might assert herself as the queen of the house. She didn’t do that, although I do consider her to be the Alpha female around here.

I am looking forward once more to sharing their lives with you. My hope is that you enjoy reading about them, too.

local news

Puppy Tales, Part 63: Answering the meal bell

Toby the Puppy’s ever-expanding vocabulary now includes a feature I want to share with you. It’s his understanding of when his mother and I are getting ready to sit down for a meal.

He hears the call and responds with all due appropriateness.

We have a drill at home. When my wife and I are eating a meal, the puppy lies in a bed we have in the corner of our dining room. He waits patiently for us to finish our meal. Then, depending on what we have just eaten, we allow him to lick our plates. OK, listen up: It’s not as grotesque as some might imagine; we do wash our plates carefully after each meal.

Toby spends a good portion of the day curled up somewhere in our residence. He could be in his kennel, where he likes to sleep during the day; he might be on the couch next to one of us. He might be in our study, snuggled on top of a comforter. He could be sound asleep, “dead to the world,” as the saying goes.

But then when one of us is preparing a meal, we usually say to the other — often in a voice loud enough to be heard in another room — that our meal is ready. “It’s ready!” we might say. Or “Come and get it!” Or maybe “Breakfast is served!”

Toby hears those words, he awakens immediately and then rushes to his bed in the corner of the dining room, curls up, lies down and waits for the “treat” that awaits when we are finished with our meal.

I am convinced that Toby the Puppy would respond appropriately even if we rang a dinner bell. 

State news

Puppy Tales, Part 36

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LAKE ARROWHEAD STATE PARK, Texas — Never let it be said that we don’t cater — even in a perverse sort of way — to Toby the Puppy.

We arrived at this state park about a dozen miles south of Wichita Falls. It’s hot as hell out there … about 100 degrees.

The state park ranger in the office greeted me while my wife took Toby for a walk in the heat.

“We have a reservation,” I told her. She looked it up, found it and asked, “Do you want a pull through?” for your fifth wheel RV. I said yes.

“OK, I have two options. I can give you one site that has no shade but it quite lengthy or I can put you in another one. There’s a problem: It’s got a lot of prairie dogs.”

I thought about that one. I consulted then with my wife. We agreed. We wanted the site with no shade. Why? Because the prairie dogs would drive Toby nuts. He’d want to play with all of them.

We went to the unshaded RV site.

Should we have encamped among the prairie dogs? Some might say “yes.” We chose to save Toby the headache of being refused permission to scamper off to chase the little critters.

Therefore, we had the puppy’s best interest at heart. Meanwhile, we are baking in the hot sun.

Oh, the things we do for our little baby.