Tuesdays With Toby

I’ve Tweeted and sent out a few Facebook posts about it,

My little dog boy is growing up!

I was duly emotional, knowing that big dogs usually only live from 10-12 years. By that standard, Toby’s life could be more than halfway over. Ugh.

But Toby has no clue about any of that, so we celebrated for a few days, making sure that he knows how much he’s loved.

On Friday afternoon, I stopped off at the PetSmart store in Greenbelt. They have a great selection of dog bones, treats, food and collars. Not a whole ton of toys for large dogs, but the fantastic selection of Kong dog toys makes up for it. Kong toys are virtually indestructible, heavy-duty big-boy toys. I picked up some nd bought him a newspaper toy for fetching (The reason for that is probably obvious).

He needed a new collar, so I bought a designer one sporting bright green bones on a dark blue background. When Toby was a kid, he would get out of his collars, so I soon realized that the cutesy collars wouldn’t work. For the past six years he’s had a Top Paw buckled collar. This one is a snap collar and is definitely less durable. But after six years, Toby has matured a bit and no longer tries to go out on the lam (as much).

Like many Labs, Toby is a big fan of apples. I found some Canyon Creek Ranch apple and chicken treats, several of which he has gobbled up.

On Saturday, Toby invited Charlie to the park for a walk. the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River.

We hiked up the levy and sat down so the dogs could eat their peanut butter Frosty Paws ice cream (You can find it at the ). Charlie was more dignified about this treat.

After our stop, we walked along past a small creek and Toby dove in, lay down to drink and came out a muddy mess. Typical Toby.

I think the boys really enjoyed their outing.

So it was really more of a birthday weekend for Toby than anything else. If you’re thinking about throwing a party for your pooch, there are some great websites with favors and presents. Over in Colmar Manor on Bladensburg Road is Eden Pet Supplies & Aquarium. There’s also Mighty Healthy Pets on Rhode Island Avenue in College Park. And if you don’t mind heading into Washington, D.C. there’s the Big Bad Woof on Carroll Avenue, with lots of options for raising a healthy dog and spoiling him just a bit too.