***COUNTDOWN:  5 DAYS TO LA/XC-6*** Which would you choose? Yay!  Finally!  After 16 years of dog ownership — 11 with Ricky the Beagle and 5 with Kemba — I’ve won my first battle of wills!!!  (Obviously, if this was ever goin…

* * *COUNTDOWN: 15 DAYS TO LA/XC-6 * * * Beagle Man came home from Montauk at the end of September with all sorts of complaints about his back and his right shoulder.  He tried to blame it all on me — as usual:  You know, “all that tennis ball throwing, all that stick throwing.”  But the real rea…

One of the first things you always hear about Duck Tollers is how intelligent they are.  After what I saw this past weekend, though, I’m really not so sure.  Ah, Kemba, Kemba, Kemba.  Okay, here’s the picture:  Beagle Man brings Kemba to stay with Elise, the dog-sitter, on Mr. Mantis Okay, yes, yes — the real Aesop’s fable is” The Ant and the Grasshopper.”  I know that.  And my fable, I have to confess, turns on a rather major misconception:   I actually thought it was illegal to kill a praying…

I guess I can’t really complain too much, since I spend most of the summer out in Amagansett, where I have a big sandy beach and a whole ocean to play in.  But now that we’re back in WePo, I have to stick to this narrow strip of sand on the far side of the It’s true: I’m about to turn 5. with no party!  All be…

I have to tell you about the new girl who moved in next door.  Her name is Grace, and she’s really, really good looking.  She’s a Vizsla.  I’ve always liked Vizslas.  She has a short, super-smooth coat,