Good-bye to Toby ~ December 1, 2015

I haven't written my blog in a while.  I guess I got in a funk about things when Toby died this summer from his bone cancer.  He was a pretty special dog to me and everyone that knew him.  He was diagnosed in May with the cancer and made it until August 3rd.  That was a rough day.  In fact, you might say I considered it one of the saddest days of my life.  Toby did everything with me from the time he was a puppy.  He went to work with me and got to know everyone around.  I mean, in a small town, what better place than the post office to get to know everyone.  Once I retired, he was still very social on our walks on the beaches and any place else we went. 
I entered him in contests now and then and he made cover dog on a couple.  In fact, the September 1st edition of Northern Wilds featured him looking out at everyone as they picked up the issue right after  "that day."  Yes, he was a fantastic dog and I miss him.  Betsy, my rescue dog from northern Ontario, Canada ~ was also feeling lonesome.  I had him along when I picked her up and she had him as her constant companion to learn from.

Here's a photo fo Betsy playing in the waves of Lake Superior recently.  She is a very high energy dog and she does keep me busy when I am not busy anyway.  Summer is always a busy time with extra things to do outside and gardens to take care of.  No dust under my feet.  But, now that I am getting back into shorter day activities again, I will get back to my blog also.  Thanks for your patience. 

Here is one more younger dog Toby photo, playing with his favorite frisbee.  He loved that game.  Water frisbee or land ~ he could never get enough of that.  However, later in life, he had a little less stamina for it.  But, he was always ready if you brought it out.  The top photo is one of my favorite  photos I ever took ~ and I took a lot of Toby photos over the years.  He was such a ham for the camera and loved to pose.  That was one thing he taught Betsy well ~ how to pose for the camera and a love of adventure ~ especially if he saw the camera come out.  He was ready. 

Here is one more photo of Toby from last winter out on the ice.  He is sitting on the shore by some big ice formations here ~ watching me and Betsy down on the ice.  Ice was getting harder for him to navigate so he usually opted to stay on the bank if there wasn't a nice gentle trail onto the lake. 
So ~ with this said........ I will be back to talking about my deer friends and fox friends and any other critters I have been watching these days.  There's always something going on in my little spot in the woods.
Farewell ~ Toby.  You were the best dog ever.