Toby's own version of sit and stay

Ice covered the floor of the cave, and the penguin said, slide. Without any effort, we slid....

I have been acquiring a small repertoire of practical but impressive tricks. For example, when a treat is involved, I can sit, lie down, and jump up on command, as well as perform any combination of those three commands indefinitely (as long as I can SEE the treat). More impressive to most onlookers is that before I have any meal, I know to lie down and wait for the food bowl to be presented, and then wait until someone says "Ok!" before going to it and starting to eat. However, lately I have gotten it in my head that "lay down" (sic) means simply "do not stand up" rather than "stay in one spot." That means I can still move around as much as I want, as long as I don't stand up! I slide all across the room, out the door and down the hallway. No one can tell me it is wrong, because they are all laughing too hard! Moral of the story: a dog can do whatever it wants as long as it is super cute while doing it!

Toby Reminisces About Puppyhood

Now that I am over one year old, make no mistake, I am a very brave dog. I do not hesitate to jump in the face of even the largest rottweiler. However, like any pup I, too, went through a phase of being very suspicious of the unknown. Take, for example, the following video. I had accidentally knocked an optical mouse onto the floor. Having never seen anything like it before, I was admittedly terrified. However, I tried to be brave (just because I am a cavalier doesn't mean I can't be a guard dog!):

Psychedelic Spaniel

Toby's Favorite Things: Cardboard Edition

Oh sure, I have a lot of toys, a whole box full. But I can't deny the guilty pleasure of destroying cardboard. Paper towel rolls, boxes, miscellaneous packing material, it does not matter.


So satisfying!

What are YOU looking at??

Toby's First Birthday!

Happy birthday to me! I am one year old today -- my birthday is extra special because I was born on 8/8/08! We did a lot of fun things today and I got to eat a lot of treats that I don't normally get, like a taste of ice cream.


The day started off with a trip to Petsmart to pick out some new toys and treats. I tried out a few toys before deciding on this Kong squirrel. Kong seems to make the only toys that are virtually indestructible. I tear the stuffing out of any other toy in minutes. This toy doesn't even have any stuffing.
Then we went to Greene Valley Forest Preserve in DuPage County to see their off-leash dog park area. It is about 40 minutes outside of downtown Chicago. This is a good dog park because it has over seven acres to play off-leash and there is a separate area just for dogs under 20 pounds. There weren't as many other dogs there as I had hoped, probably because it is very hot in Chicago this weekend! Fortunately I had my own water bottle and bowl so I didn't get thirsty.


The only bad part was when I was stung in the foot by a bee! I am a good natured guy though and promptly forgot all about it.