Posts by Hank

My recent post — A Nova Scotia What?? — focused on the increasing popularity of the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, my dear Kemba’s tribe.  This heretofore little-known breed, according to the American Kennel Club, ranked in the top three in popularity gains over the past decade. Reading up on…

When our beloved Ricky the Beagle passed away in 2014, we were all devastated.  At the same time, one thing became instantly clear: I couldn’t live without a dog for long.  It wasn’t too many weeks before I began casting about for my next breed.  (Let me make it clear that loving a Beagle does not…

Not having been in the military, my knowledge of “KP Duty” (kitchen patrol) comes from cartoons and sitcoms, where KP duty is always the punishment for bad behavior. For me, KP Duty means something else.  As all dog owners know, when you mention your dog’s name, even if you’re not addressing him…

Kemba’s a handsome dog.  And it’s not just me saying this.  He gets compliments on his looks from strangers all the time — often several times in one day. There’s one circumstance, however, that’s make him look a little less dapper.  And that’s when he drools. Fortunately, Kemba doesn’t drool all…

Throughout the 21 years I’ve owned a dog (Ricky the Beagle, 2003-2014; Kemba the Duck Toller 2014-present), I’ve been repeatedly amused by, and thoroughly skeptical of, the explanations of certain odd dog behaviors by the so-called “experts.”  For instance: Dog owners wonder why their pooch walks…

HAPPY 10th, KEMBA!

The plan: Meet Greg and his boys — our son and grandsons — and take in an after-school Staples baseball game on a sunny early-May afternoon.  I drove in to the high school grounds the “back way” — the narrow road that allows you to circumvent the busy main entrance and head straight for the large…

I was walking with Dede, Mayor of the dog park (or so I’ve dubbed her) earlier this week, along with her Sadie, and, of course, Kemba.  She was telling me about a health scare she’d recently been through with Sadie.  (Thankfully, it turned out all right.)  “How old is Sadie?” I asked.  “Ten,” she…

(* COME ON, NOW — BE HONEST!) When playing fetch with two or more dogs, do you cheat in favor of your own by signaling (a slight nod of the head; a subtle hand signal) in which direction you’ll be throwing? When another twosome (human/dog) approaches for a meet-and-greet, and the human asks, “Is…

I happened upon a Rover.com list last month of the most popular dog names for 2023.  Topping the charts for the males: Charlie (also my grandson’s name); for girl dogs, it was Luna, followed closely by Bella.  This jibes with my personal experience at Winslow dog park, where I’m pretty sure half t…