Lots of fuss and excitement leading up to Beagle Man’s trip to Portland, Maine, this weekend to pick up Steve the Breeder says he took Kemba (left) to Puppy Obedience Class, and that he “socialized” very well. Excuse, me — but isn’t he just sleeping? the little whippersnapper.  The whole household is in an uproar.  A week ago B-Man bought virtually every toy in Choice Pet Supply that was not made in China, as well as pretty much everything else in the store a...

Breeder Steve with Kemba in front of friend’s dog bakery in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia: Doesn’t that look like a pup who’s ready to travel 6,000+ miles? * * * COUNTDOWN:  169 DAYS TO LA/XC-4 * * * Jk about starting the countdown already.  I mean, I won’t even have a dog yet for another two weeks.  But as I’ve learned from LA/XC-1, -2, and -3, it’s never too early to begin planning.  And part of the prep, of course, means getting Kemba geared up for...

Selfie at the summit — and no, I didn’t take the chairlift On our way up to Vermont Thursday night (Yes, Beagle Man fans — MTK season is over; VT season has begun 🙂 ), I told Carol that since Friday was supposed to be a gorgeous, sunny fall day, and I’d heard foliage was the best in years, I was going to hike up Bromley Mountain.  “And,” I added, “next time, I’ll be able to go hiking with Kemba.”  Carol gave me a sad-face. ...

Kemba the Toller Kemba Walker   Stella Herman (with a very young Beagle Man)                 Five days after returning from my Halifax pick-the-puppy tour, I got this comment on my blog from Meg, a close friend of Carol’s since high school: Ricky William Herman Hank: I’m on a ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia and talking to a couple with a toller… great dog….showed them photo of your new puppy…they think his father is their...

Marcia says Kemba’s “irresistable.”  Lang calls him “beyond cute,” and Anne-Lynn writes, “What a sweetie!  I want a hug.”  According to Bill, he’s a “stud muffin,” whatever the heck that is.  Polly writes:  “If I didn’t know he was real, I’d say this was a stuffed dog, the kind you win at a carnival games.”  “Precious,” gushes Judy.  Can we slow down the train just a little?  Man, people...

Beagle Man and Kemba select each other About six weeks ago, after a painstaking breed search that was well-chronicled (maybe a little too well-chronicled?) in this blog, I finally determined that Future Dog was going to be a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Next?  The hunt for the right breeder. Son of Beagle Man juggles 3 Toller puppies I looked into one kennel in New Jersey.  And another kennel in upstate New York.  And a third in Minnesota.  But early on I got stuck on this...

 Everyone, meet KEMBA!!! Kemba, meet everyone!!! LOOK FOR A NEW BEAGLE MAN POST EVERY THURSDAY.  OR PRETTY CLOSE TO THURSDAY.  COULD BE WEDNESDAY.  OR FRIDAY.  LET’S NOT GET TOO OBSESSIVE HERE . . .  OH, AND BTW, YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

Which one will be Puppy Herman? I’d by lying if I said I wasn’t ridiculously excited about going up to Nova Scotia this weekend. Matt and I are flying into Halifax Friday night.  Saturday morning we’ll do a little get-acquainted-with-the-city tour, then grab some lunch.  And then . . . The Main Event:  We’ll take a 45-minute drive west of Halifax, to the town of Ardoise, home of Saltydog Kennels — where we’ll get to meet the future Puppy Herman for the...

I don’t know quite what to make of this dog, Jeep.  He belongs to Kelly’s cousin Tommy, and he came Jeep (in neutral) to visit Beagle Man and the missus out at Montauk last week.  Quite honestly, he wasn’t exactly what I’d call handsome — at least not like yours truly.  But I’ll tell you this:  He was a huge hit, both around the house and down at the beach.  Everyone was making a tremendous fuss over him, and seemed to think he was absolutely adorable. ...

Stella! My mom’s name was Stella.  She died in 1996, and I still miss her a lot.  I’ve always loved the name Stella, and have hinted to all my sons that it would be nice if they named a girl after my mom — but based on the family track record, I’m not counting on too many daughters.  So I decided I’d name my next dog Stella, which would be both an honor for my mother and a pretty funny irony:  She was deathly afraid of dogs, which is why my sister and I never...