New Year’s in VT: Kemba slides easily into Christine’s pack (yellow Lab is Summit; then Hercules, Lanie, and Flicka (L-R) From time to time, circumstances force my hand and I have to leave Kemba with dog sitters.  This pains me, because I’m sure he can’t be totally happy when he’s not in my company.  My logic He makes himself equally comfortable with Elise’s squad (Spare Change, Pepper, and Debit) behind this belief?  Well, I know that I...

The one-and-only classic Chuckit Ball Ultra Last night, on the first night of Chanukah, Kemba got an orange-and-blue Chuckit Ultra Ball.  This is by far his favorite kind of toy.  He used to be content with regular tennis balls — he’d fetch them 24/7 — until he decided tennis balls grow on trees and were no longer a big deal.  These days only the Chuckit balls hold his focus. Doesn’t Kemba even look like the pup on the packaging? So how did he react to his present?  He...

What’s wrong with this picture?  That’s right:  I’m not in it!  Last month Grace, Supermodel and the dog next door (Photo: Pamela Hanson) my sweet, cutesy next door Vizsla, weaseled her way into a fashion shoot with supermodel Christy Turlington, for Loro Piana.  (Which, it turns out, is a chic clothing brand.  Yeah, I thought it was a musical instrument too.)  Okay, I get it, so Grace’s people, John and Malcolm, are both in the fashion biz.  They’re...

A couple of Saturdays ago, Westport went absolutely nuts!  It happened right around noon, when that guy Joe was announced as our next Dogs welcome President.  Cars honking all up and down the Post Road, and Compo Road South!  Everyone grinning and shouting!  Beagle Man went for a long ride on his bike, blowing his whistle like crazy!  Out of nowhere, it was like one huge party broke out!  I get that Joe’s win was a big deal, but for me, there’s even bigger news:  Come...

Heading out to dinner last Friday night.  I began scooping up my things — car keys, phone, reading glasses, Time for a new wallet, looks like mask — but I didn’t see my wallet in the drawer by the front door where I usually leave it. “Have you seen my wallet lying around?” I asked Carol.  She, of course, gave me the look.  The one that means, Oh my God, again?!  And also, How many times have I told you to get some sort of carry-bag so you can keep your stuff...

Things I like: •  Carrots.  I like a lot of things besides my kibble, but this is the only people food Mom gives me.  Of course I grab the better stuff when no one’s looking — bagels, salami, pickles, you name it — but then I get in trouble.  Not big trouble, though.  Risk-reward?  Definitely worth it. •  Jumping in the ocean and fetching tennis balls.  Or bumper toys.  Or sticks.  Pretty much anything that floats.  You toss it, I’ll bring it back to Like you.  Or maybe...

Charlotte and Robert flanking me, “The Rev” “We interrupt this blog about dogs to bring you some breaking news:  The House Formerly Known as Camp Herman has been torn down . .” That’s how I started my mid-June post (“Glory Days“) about the demolition of the house my family lived in for over 30 years — from “Group 3” — 20+ years, and still going strong! 1987 through 2018.  The bulk of that blog entry consisted of favorite memories...

Are you ready for some football?  I’m sure not!  Beagle Man gets so moody during the football season.  I wonder . . . do you think rooting for the Jets could have anything to do with it?  The season began yesterday with the Thursday Night game (Super Bowl champs Kansas City beat Houston), but Beagle Man’s season doesn’t start till Sunday, when the Jets play the Bills.  The Jets — surprise, surprise — are 6.5 point underdogs.  The Jets J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! JETS!...

Kemba: “Mine!” It was all quiet on the eastern front.  I’d been flinging the Green Ball into the ocean for Kemba to retrieve for a good 45 minutes now, and he was  happy to follow my command to “read and relax.”  I was comfortably leaning back in  my sand chair, book spread open on my lap, and my good boy had dug out a neat little nest right at my feet.  Just a few beats later I noticed his ears perk up in high alert; then he sprung to attention.  Which...

Beagle Man’s always telling anyone who’ll listen that there’s nothing he’d Where I sleep when I’m in Beagle Man’s and Mom’s room like better than for me to sleep in his bed with him.  But it’s not gonna happen.  Mom says, “Absolutely not!” and it looks like what she says goes.  The thing is, I happen to know that a lot of my friends get to sleep in their owners’ beds.  My cousin Ruckus, for one!  So if you’re...