Mike's Tongo I stepped out the front door of our house in Vermont on Saturday to go for a run — and was almost bowled over by a high-spirited, hyper-friendly young Kerry Blue terrier who came bounding at me like an over-wound-up Disney pet from Toy Story. I didn’t recognize the pup.  “Don’t you have another dog?” I asked my neighbor Mike, the Kerry Blue’s owner.  I was thinking back to the countless times I’d been tackled in a similar...

Who'd a thunk it: Two Herman sons hiking in the woods I’m not sure how, or why, it happened.  That two weeks ago was my birthday?  That it was Thanksgiving weekend — and this was part of the family spirit?  Was there a full moon? On Saturday, I said to everyone, as I often do, “I’m taking Ricky on a hike to Snout Hook* tomorrow.  Anyone want to go?” This is kind of a standing joke.  Nobody in my family has ever said yes to this question.  I...

Ricky plans our attack Yes, I did become something of a Garmin junkie during LA/XC — but deep down, I’m all about maps.  About getting directions in advance.  About being prepared.  About knowing where I’m going. I was actually going to say we’re a map family, because I have this picture in my head of Matt, my oldest son, diligently tracing the route from Westport to New Milford on the Hagstrom’s as we drive to a Pop Warner football game.  But he...

Baby A couple of weeks ago Beagle Man received a very interesting request:  I was invited to be on the panel of judges for Westport Animal Shelter Advocates’ (WASA) Top Dog photo/essay contest.  My name had been submitted by a dog-walking friend who volunteers at WASA, a group that Bella was formed several years back to advocate for and assist the dogs at Westport Animal Control. I jumped at the chance, of course.  If it’s about dogs, count me in. The judging took...

Remember last spring when Harold Camping and his merry band of evangelicals insisted that the Bible had revealed Judgment Day — and that the world was going to end on May 21? It didn’t. Now what I always thought is that the world was going to end if you put some food in front of my dog and he didn’t eat it. Here are a few highlights from Ricky’s eating resume: •  He can go from dead asleep on the couch in the playroom to at my feet in the kitchen in less than...

LINEUP:  Which of these hardened canines do you think is the perp in the Fairfax County pooper scooper scandal? So here’s what happened:  An argument between neighbors in Fairfax County, Virginia, over unscooped dog poop got out of hand, and actually wound up in front of a jury in County court.  The defendant, a dog walker, spent $1,200 in legal fees, brought in an eyewitness to testify on her behalf, and submitted a photo of a pile of poop as evidence — all this...

Yes, I know this isn't exactly how it's supposed to be worn . . . Lots of people stuff their dogs into cutesy coats and costumes — especially this time of year. Not me.  I suppose the fact that Ricky has adamantly refused any kind of outfit, time and again, has made my decision a little easier.  At one point a friend of mine gave me a harness that would keep Ricky safe in the front seat of my Jeep when I have the top down.  I tried to ease Ricky into it, but he yelped...

Nose to the ground (Manchester, VT) Carol and I were in Vermont for the weekend, and brought Ricky along.  We were hoping, of course, to see some prime foliage, but in truth, the colors were kind of dull, and lots of the trees were naked.  “You just missed it.  Peaked middle of the week,” the locals kept telling us. Nose to the ground (Westport, CT) Thirty-three years we’ve owned our house in VT, and every year we’ve just missed “peak foliage”...

Riding shotgun in the Jeep Wrangler -- Ricky's favorite spot on God's green earth For each and every one of my 22 days on the road during LA/XC –my cross-country-road-trip-with-beagle — and ever since, I’ve been haunted by the thought:  Why no Jeep? You may think “haunted” is too strong a word, but you wouldn’t if you understood my true core weirdness and the depth of my affinity for my Wrangler.  I’m not a “car guy”...

Clockwise from left: Great-Uncle Beagle Man; Mama Kat, Baby Teddy; Ricky Oh, sure, he’s seen babies before.  Just last week he was hanging with his friend Red Buttons’ baby Emma at Burying Hill Beach. And Baby Ethan has visited us here in Westport the last couple of Passover Seders — though with so much tempting food around, Ricky is always banished for that occasion. But Baby Teddy, my oldest niece Kat’s baby — the very first baby of the Herman and...