We can hear him going at it, even though we’re in the kitchen.  Scratch-scratch-scratch-scratch!  That’s Kemba, scuffing at the large, flat cushion on the living room couch, as if he were in the dog park, pawing dirt or grass.  Next, he’ll frantically circle that same cushion (you’ve seen dogs cha…

In my next life, I want to be a dog living near the beach in Santa Monica.  Quite the sweet deal they have going there. Their ubiquity, their visibility (and the assumption that they belong!) at restaurants and bars, their generally cushy lifestyle, and the sheer number of them, first made an impr…

Kemba’s making me throw this stuffed Hello Kitty.  He won’t chase a ball — ONLY hello Kitty . . . Thus begins a text from Elise, my dog sitter — and it doesn’t surprise me.  My boy can be pretty particular about what he chooses to fetch. It’s hard to throw a stuffed animal!  Elise continued.  (You…

It all started in November, when Beagle Man got his new Cherokee.  At the same time, he bought the “unlimited” pass at Fred’s.  Now we go there at least once a week — sometimes more.  And it’s terrifying!  I can’t tell you exactly why we go to this house of horrors, but I can tell you exactly what…

I’m not gonna lie.  I think my dog is gorgeous.  The thing is, I’m not the only one — not by a long shot.  Every day I get stopped about Kemba’s appearance.  Just yesterday, while we were walking around Equinox Pond in Vermont, two different dog-owners expressed variations on this same theme:  “Tha…

Did you ever see so much snow??!!  Beagle Man’s been going around telling everyone we’re stuck up here in Vermont, and can’t make it home to Connecticut.  That we’re “stranded.”  Hah!  Stranded, my heinie!  Sure, we’ve had tons and tons of snow — it never stops! — but somehow Beagle Man managed to…

Jumped out of the shower just in time to see The Man in Orange make yet one more preposterous, self- congratulatory speech — Straight Outta Fantasyland — before jetting out of Dodge.  A good start to the day!  (Later, listening on radio, I’d hear the Rev. Al Sharpton say, “Pettiness is now on a fl…

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 behind this belief?  Well, I know that I can’t be totally happy when I’m not in his company, and I assume th…

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 on…

What’s wrong with this picture?  That’s right:  I’m not in it!  Last month Grace, 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 instrume…