Toby is such a cutie patootie!

Toby goes for two walks a day, and one of those walks is often on the Hix Small Cemetery Road and Sheen Road. Being the photogenic hound that he is, we take oodles of photos of him!

And he is so obligizing of us. He often senses or smells deer and other animals and his ears perk up to full attention.

He loves walking around the cemetery and often has a smile on his face.

Of course, as he ages he pants more and even drinks water every 15 minutes or so. He is a happy boy, for the most part.

Our last visit with Dennis

Sigh...Dennis has osteosarcoma and will be euthanized sometime this week. We are heartbroken... So, today we went to see him for the last time as I wanted to shoot some photos of Veronica and Dennis together. I just haven't done that enough over the years.

Dennis seemed to enjoy all the love and attention he received, and he has the best Mom in the world.

He was a handful for Veronica from when she first adopted him, and now, 7 years later, he is quite the marshmallow. He was worth every minute of time she had to spend getting him to this place of calm and love.

Everybody who meets Dennis loves him to the max and Veronica is lucky to have a dog with such a beautiful soul. I have always loved Dennis' smile.

Veronica's heart is shattered knowing that Dennis will be crossing the bridge soon. There will be an emptiness in all our hearts when we meet again as Dennis was a great friend to us and to Toby.

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Oh, to remember him as a young 3 years and 7 month old pup. Veronica adopted him on March 9, 2016.

Drew was the first one of the Bowdoin Greyhound Gang to meet Dennis on March 13, 2016. They became fast friends.

Toby and Dennis became best buddies. This is one of my favorite photos of them. They would hang out and follow each other around the yard. Two big boys!

Lady Flame thought that Dennis was one handsome dude. She took to him immediately and they would run and play hard!

And, Dennis has always been my special boyfriend! We grew to love each other over the years. He filled my heart with joy. We are going to miss you, Dennis...There is a special place in all our hearts for you.

Toby went to Popham Beach

 

Happy Springtime! We celebrated by taking Toby to Popham Beach. He loved walking on the sand and enjoyed all the sounds and smells of the beach environment.

We spent some time walking above the high tide mark and then right along the edge of the wave action. The sand was so enjoyable to walk on as it was quite compacted.

Toby even spent some time getting his feet wet and didn't even seem to notice the waves lapping at his toes.

He walked the beach for at least an hour and was then ready to go back to the car for his post walk snack.

Here you can see my reflection in his doggles just to prove that the whole pack was together at the beach!

Play Date with Dennis, Juniper, Toby, and Reuben

Here is a video of the dog play that occurred between the new friends.

Oh my, oh my...it has been a long time since we had a play date. We have been wanting Reuben, the wannabe Greyhound, to meet Juniper and Dennis and it finally came together today. Shannon, Billy, Beth, and Veronica all graced us with their presence to make this day a greyt one!

Here is everybody's heartthrob, lovebug Reuben.

Here is my boyfriend, Dennis.

Drew's girlfriend, Juniper, was getting some loving from Billy! She plays the field!

One of our goals was to get Juniper used to playing with non-greyhounds as she has shown a bit of displeasure in this part of life. And, Reuben needs some playmates as Toby is blind and cannot participate in play. Here is the first meeting of the minds!

Reuben seemed to really like hanging around with Dennis.

And, Dennis really wanted Reuben to play with him.

Dennis seemed to be channeling Flame and Trouble with his pawing and barking. Reuben's like, "What the heck, Dude?" I have a bit of video footage that shows the play that occurred between Juniper, Dennis, and Reuben, which will be posted soon. 

While the boys were sorting out who was going to be alpha, Toby and Juniper were getting attention on the deck.

And then, Billy pulled out the TREATIES!!!!!!! Toby loves treats, and therefore absolutely loves the treat-meister, Billy!

Dogs Paw Pad Protection nonslip grip

The last visit to the vet was awful as Toby couldn't get purchase on the slippery floor and went splay legged which resulted in some muscle strain, along with a lack of confidence to jump into the car due to the pain. He finally seems all better so back to the vet we go. This time, we have Dogs Paw Pad Protection which is like a flexible, stretchable kinesiology tape base with a non-slip coating on top. And, they worked great! They are still on Toby's feet after two potty breaks in the night, the vet office visit, and a 1.7 mile walk in the woods!

There are six sets of Paw Protection in a package. We got XL for our Greyhound paws.

First, Drew applied an entire paw to one of Toby's front feet.

Then, he cut out the pads and applied them separately to Toby's other front foot.

And, finally here is one of Toby's hind feet. He did not slip at all at the Vet's office. 

Toby at the Androscoggin River (Papermill Trail)

We decided to walk part of the Papermill Trail to photograph Toby within Autumn's coat of many colors. This location is almost at the height of color being about 12.5 miles inland from Casco Bay, as the crow flies. At about 10:45am, we walked over to a boulder and down to the edge of the Androscoggin River to an outcropping of granite. The air was still and the river was glassy smooth.

Because Toby is blind, we don't let him off leash right away. We let him get the lay of the land, so to speak. Drew takes him to different parts of the rock and I snap tons of photos.

Toby is so cute and he is a master at avoiding looking at me during photo sessions. I forgot to bring a squeaky toy with me, so it took me forever to get a few photos of his head looking in my direction.

One last shot of him with Drew. You can see that he was getting so much more comfortable on the rock.

And, ta da! Drew took the leash off Toby for a few minutes while he stood stock still on the rock all by himself!

Such a good boy!

Trapper aka Reuben aka Star aka Leroy, etc

Billy and Shannon adopted "Trapper" (name will change soon) today. He is a cute as can be hound mix who will hopefully fill a void that has existed since Trouble died. Cherise has been rather unhappy since that time.

Trapper has similar colorings to another hound that they had years ago. For us, it is the eyebrows that are sooo cute!

Along with his tail! We love the little flag that waves back and forth as he walks.

Oh, and his floppy ears are sooo big and silky smooth! They really fly around when he runs!

Shannon is hoping that Trapper will be a cuddlebug when he gets used to his new home!

He is tiny compared to the greyhounds, but is a substantial hound at 1.5 years old.

We are all going to have fun with him and there will be lots of family photos to come! P.S. Drew and I are honorary uncle and aunt!