Posts by Hank

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…

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…