There’s an awful lot of commotion down in the Beagle Man’s house these days about bringing home this My first month as a Westporter — with Robby and his friend Wes Toller.  E-mails back and forth to the breeder.  Plans for a trip to Nova Scotia.  The B-Man reading a book about “the power of positive training.”  Lining up a dog trainer.  Registration for obedience classes.  Did I have a trainer?  Did I go to obedience classes?  Hmmm . . .   Cause here’s...

Clover the Toller, from Ardoise, Nova Scotia So yes, as you’ve been hearing, it’s looking pretty solid that Future Dog is going to be a Toller.  And yes, arrangements are starting to be made for its arrival — knock wood.  The thing is, I’m pretty superstitious, and I don’t want to jinx anything by revealing too many details.  As my son Matt wrote in those Bud Light/NFL commercials (like the one where the dude hates quinoa veggie burgers, but he grills them at...

Yup, those rumors you’ve been hearing are true.  The very deliberate —sometimes agonizingly Some people call ’em Little Red Duck Dogs. I prefer “Toller” deliberate — Beagle Man is in line for a Toller.  A what?  A Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever.  I know, a mouthful, right?  Some say he chose it specifically because I was such a “handful,” and he was looking for the “anti-beagle.”  Not so!  There are actually a lot of similarities...

Yes, Beagle Man has gone dark for over a month now, as many of my friends and followers have observed.  Intentionally so.  I’d become abundantly aware that a lot of you out there felt I’d gotten well into the overkill stage in my research, my pros-and-cons lists, my live-dog interviews, my biding time, and my endless fretting and mulling over Future Dog.  Fair enough. So for this post, I’m turning to another of my obsessions — as I publicly unveil . . ....

Chief: Comfortable and confident during his interview Interviewed Chief, Scott’s husky, earlier this week at Acme headquarters in South Norwalk.  I’d have to say it went quite well.  I ate some chips in his presence, and the candidate, while interested, didn’t jump on the table for them; he actually claims not to be food-obsessed.  He’s got a good, solid build — not as small as Ricky, but not as large as the German Shepherds that Carol for whatever reason...

Could somebody check on the Beagle Man for me?  I think he’s losing it.  I understand his going to Norwalk B-Man with Dante the Beagle to meet a German Shepherd, and to Greenwich to meet a Husky — and even to New Paltz to meet a Norwegian Buhund.  But now he drives to Fairfield to meet a Beagle?  Eleven years with me, and he doesn’t know what beagles are like???  Go figure.  Meanwhile, things are real good with me up here . . . The Roof Rack Report (#roofrackreport on...

Scott’s Husky, Chief. We’re big UConn fans . . . a husky . . . hmm . . . “Have I missed a blog?” asked Marcia in an e-mail.  And from Bernice:  “Didn’t get your blog this week?” The fact is, I haven’t posted since May 17th — and there’s a reason for it.  In recent weeks I’ve sensed the patience of my friends and followers wearing thin as I continue to . . . deliberate.  “Oh Hank, get it over and get that beagle pup...

Goose and the Beagle Man: Get this man a dog! I suppose I should have seen this coming — the wounded feelings, the fierce breed loyalty, the surprising (and, to my way of thinking, xenophobic, uninformed, and over-reactive) anti-German Shepherd sentiment  — when I encouraged followers to “weigh in” last month in my Future Dog post: Hi Doodleman:  OK, maybe the name is a little foo-foo for you.  But no mention of Labradoodle?  Ella is beside herself that she and her breed...

Today would be Ricky William Herman’s 11th birthday. To celebrate this day, you should do whatever you want. After all, that’s what Ricky always did. 🙂

Since I was called stubborn more times than I care to count while I was living (by you-know-who), I’d rather not have that rap now that I’m . . . not living.  To that end, I, for one, will not stand in the way of this so-called “Future Dog.”  My thoughts?  My best friend, Nena, was a chihuahua, and she was My best friend Nena. Still, I don’t see any “Chihuahua Man” down the road awesome!  But Beagle Man says a chihuahua’s too small,...