Posts by Hank

It’s no secret that I’m not good at training dogs.  The funny part of this, though, is that a lot of people we run into think Kemba is extremely well behaved.  They’re impressed that he’ll drop a ball at your feet after retrieving it.  That he’ll come when he’s called.  (Mostly.)  That he doesn’t…

It was a late Saturday afternoon in late August.  By this time, I felt Kemba had had more than enough cavorting on the beach. His beloved Pickle was out for a visit, and the two of them had been at it for hours: fetching in the surf, wrestling in the sand, kissing and making up.  They’d had their…

Happy Birthday, best boy!  Here are nine things I love about you. •  The way you quietly, patiently stare at a closed door you need me to open — like the living room slider when you need to pee, or the bathroom door, so you can have a drink out of the toilet. •  Your gorgeous, flowing ears, that…

When Kemba was a puppy, he and I worked with a dog trainer.  Neither of us — Kemba nor I — did that great.  The trainer was a perfectionist.  I wasn’t.  During a “recall” session at Burying Hill Beach, when I commanded Kemba to “Come,” she wanted him to dash to me and stop precisely at my feet.  H…

Sometimes when Greg and Kelly both need to be away from their house, Greg will ask me to look in on Ruckus, let him out to pee, maybe play with him for awhile.  When I get there, I can hear Rucky barking, paws scratching frantically on the window panes of the front door — so happy to see me.  Once…

For most of you, when you hear the word “Beagle,” you automatically associate it with “Snoopy.” Me?  I think “Ricky.”  Obviously. Sure, over the last eight-plus years, Kemba has become my soul mate.  No doubt about it.  But Beagles are special.  They can’t be replaced.  There’ll never be another R…

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know when I say my UConn Huskies are National Champs!  For the FIFTH TIME since 1999!  Five national championships in 25 years!  Next closest number of ‘ships in that same period? Just three — for both Duke and North Carolina.  (What’s up with that, b…

(Winhall, VT: 32 inches)                                                                  YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW BEAGLE MAN, KEMBA, AND RICKY ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM.

Don’t let those long skinny legs, ferociously wagging tail (accompanied by ferociously shaking butt), and innocent black eyes fool you: That one-year-old Pickle (before his somewhat sensitive male surgery) was quite the sex fiend.  Last summer — when he was just seven months old! — I saw him on the…