Toby the First and Toby Jr

I didn't mention it here at the time, but earlier this year my dog Toby died. She was a great dog, friendly and loyal, and perhaps a bit too clever for me to leave food unattended on the kitchen counters, because she'd often find a way to get it. She once grabbed a whole new stick of butter that I had just put on the butter dish when I wasn't watching, and ate it. Here's a picture of her -- it's a fairly old one, taken with a primitive digital camera (apologies for the poor quality) when she had both of her legs:

Another time, I had set out a big loaf of my favourite sourdough bread to make a sandwich, but left the room briefly. From the other side of the house, I heard the door to the garage open (she knew how to open it from either side), and I heard her enter the kitchen. There was a thump sound from the kitchen, and I yelled "Toby!" and got in there as fast as I could, to see her tail slipping back out the door, and my loaf of bread was gone. I chased her outside and she was running around with the big loaf sticking out of her mouth. It was a funny sight despite the loss of my bread. ^^ I liked to call her "Tobi-kage" sometimes. Just a Japanese term for some kind of ninja trick that stuck in my mind.

Later in her life, she developed cancer twice, which resulted in the loss of one of her front legs, but she was still energetic and could get around pretty well. But the last time I visited back home, I could tell that it was probably the last time I'd see her, and it was. So rest in peace, Toby.

It's been some months since then, and Mom has adopted a new dog, male this time, who she's named Toby Jr. This dog had a playmate that met a tragic end, which is the point at which Mom adopted him. Here's a picture of him. Looks like a charmer with the lady dogs, I'll bet!