Hyattsville in Photos: The Thinker
Toby hasn't seen Patch readers in a while and he wanted to greet you this morning with a recent photo.
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Monday, November 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Tuesdays With Toby
Tuesdays With Toby: Must Love Dogs
There are sometimes when a bit of “personal space” is needed.
A while ago, I wrote a column about dog separation anxiety and the stubborn love between me and my yellow Lab. Nothing has really changed since then—we still adore each other and Toby is, by far, my best friend. There are sometimes, however, when a bit of “personal space” is needed. For instance, when Toby is really droopy tired (once the clock strikes 9 p.m.) he doesn’t like me to get too close to his muzzle. No goodnight kisses from Mom! He will go so far as to shove me away from him with his four legs. This boy may be beauty by day, but he’s a beast by night. And then there are times when I can’t get him to leave me alone, too. Like when I get out of the shower. I open the door and nearly stumble over a dog body, splayed out with a …
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tuesdays With Toby
Tuesdays With Toby: Best Friends
Toby and I made it through last week's earthquake together. Here's our story.
Last Tuesday was created just for this column—it was a true Tuesday with Toby. (Confession? Not all of my dog columns are about things that my Lab and I do on Tuesdays. However, last week was a pure, distilled form of what this column is all about). Help me out here and think back to what happened last Tuesday (Hint: the ground shook!). It wasn’t my first earthquake, but it was the first time I was in a building that was literally swaying back and forth. Like a dummy, I was standing in front of the large glass windows in my living room. Toby was there too, running circles around my legs. I tried to catch him by the collar and soothe him, but he wasn’t having any of that. When it all stopped, I leashed him, tried to find the cat (to no …
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Tuesdays With Toby
Tuesdays With Toby: Have A Drink!
If you take your sweetie swimming make sure to plan ahead and bring some fresh water for him to drink.
Toby did a little swimming last weekend and it was pretty clear that he enjoyed every moment of it. We went over to the arts district for some Yogi Castle and ran into former city councilman Doug Dudrow outside there and got to talking. Well, I was talking. Toby was sniffing around and making new friends. It was smoldering hot outside and Toby was panting pretty hard. After about 30 minutes, we said our goodbyes to Doug and hopped in the truck. After a short jaunt to a nearby government building, I hauled the dog out of the Hades-ish hot vehicle and let him run to a small, shallow pool with a few short fountains. Yep, he belly flopped right in! After a few circuits around the pool, Toby drained about a gallon of the clean water and then …
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Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesdays With Toby
Tuesdays With Toby: Stubborn Love, Separation Anxiety
Hyattsville, how does your pup feel about you leaving him alone?
I’m desperate. Toby’s desperate. How do we reconcile our deep love for each other with my need to leave the house sometimes? Toby is six years old, but still very puppy-like. At our last vet visit, he hopped into the technician’s lap and curled up. His body was way too big for her and she gently reminded him that puppyhood is over. Still, he didn’t flinch. I’m not sure if his young-at-heart-ness is the reason why he is glued to me all the time. He follows me everywhere, even if I’m in the same room as him (My poor dad used to trip over Toby in the kitchen because the dog insisted on laying by his master’s feet even when he was washing dishes). Most times this is endearing—heck, it’s always endearing—but it also can be inconvenient. For …
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Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesdays With Toby
Tuesdays With Toby: Random Dog Pain
We're a day late on this, but I wanted to make sure Toby was all better so this article would have a happy ending.
It’s not too often that I am brought to the point of tears because of Toby—that is, unless I’m doubled over in laughter at some of his hysterical antics. But last week it was a different story. Out of nowhere, Toby began to wail in pain. He was walking behind me inside our apartment and just broke out holding his right paw off the floor and looking at me to help him feel better. I coaxed him to my lap on the floor and held him for a while. He seemed better and hopped up on the couch to rest. That was short lived and he started wailing again. I took him to lay down on my bed with me, hoping some petting and sleeping would soothe his pain. It was the weirdest thing. Toby was holding his head up and turning to one side while lying next to me…
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Editor's Notebook
Taking Toby to Work
Today is Take Your Dog to Work Day. Did you do anything special with your pooch?
There's lots of ways to type on a laptop keyboard. You can go the normal route and use your fingers. I've seen people play the piano with their toes, so I'm sure it can be done with a keyboard too. Some folks talk into headsets using a program that changes their spoken words into text on the screen. Toby, my yellow Lab, uses his muzzle. For me, everyday is Take Your Dog to Work Day. I work a lot from my home at Mosaic at Metro apartments on Belcrest Road. Sometimes I work out by the pool, sometimes in the common areas. It's often the case that I have to leave my apartment to get any work done. That velvety, yellow muzzle won't allow me to get a word typed in edgewise. Normally, I prop up my feet on my comfy brown sofa, my laptop perched on…
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Sarah Nemeth
12:15 pm on Saturday, June 25, 2011
Thanks Bailey! He's written a couple already! He stood in for me while I was sick ... for the Tuesdays With Toby column ;-) more ›
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Tuesdays With Toby
Tuesdays With Toby: Shady, Cool Places to Take the Pup
Where’s the best place around Hyattsville to walk the dog during hot weather?
Sometime’s it’s just hot. Stinking hot. And that’s when I lose my brain. I’d been going on morning walks to shake out some of the winter kinks for about a month. As you probably remember, the hot weather sneaked up on us like a prowling tiger. Toby was enjoying the sunrise walks with Mom and all the exciting things to sniff along our route. One day got off to a slow start and we went for our daily constitutional in the mid-afternoon. We went down Queensbury Road and made it to Riverdale Park. It was there that I realized how exhausted and overheated Toby was. He was panting profusely and dragging along way behind me. I tried to run through the sunny areas and take it slow through the shaded places so Toby could regain some strength. I was …
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Sarah Nemeth
1:40 am on Monday, July 11, 2011
Thanks Doc! I am so happy to have found you guys. I've never seen people so in love with my dog as I am!!!! Thanks for helping us out -- Toby sends a deep-chested Woof! more ›