Goodbye Old Friend

Just after Thanksgiving, we said goodbye to Toby, our 13 year, 8 month, 1 day old puppy.
Toby was born on April 29, 2000, oddly enough on the same day my grandpa died.  He was a unique dog from the beginning.  My parents actually picked him up on the way up to camp to pick me up for a break where our next destination would be camping for a few days.  During that time, we enjoyed getting to know this tiny corgi puppy.  The thing that stands out most in my mind of that vacation was how much time he spent at our feet.  We'd be eating a meal, wonder where he was, look down at our feet and find him.  He continued that throughout the rest of his life.

Toby was memorable to everyone that met him.  He had a "puppy purr".  It sounded like a growl, but he really just seemed to be saying how much he enjoyed the attention.

Day in, day out, Toby loved to eat.  He would scarf down his breakfast in thirty seconds or less, then go to look for more in Samson's bowl.  But it wasn't just food he would eat.  When my parents were beginning a renovation, we would have to watch him closely.  If we didn't, he would sneak bits of drywall to chew on.  At one point a few years ago, his love of food nearly cost his life.  While on vacation, we made the mistake of feeding both Toby and Samson at the same time in a confined space.  Samson defended his food and in the process put a huge [like 3-4 inch] gouge in Toby's forehead.  We now know where Avon, Ohio is as that is where we left the two dogs overnight so they could stitch Toby's head and I could cool down and realize it was our fault, not Samson's.
Toby was great with kids.  He loved trying to clean up after the little ones we've had in our home.  But even if he wasn't hoping for a "treat" of spit-up or dropped food, he still loved to be near by.

Toby loved to play, although he never really learned to play like most dogs.  He didn't wrestle, but he loved to play tug-o-war.  In fact, sometimes his short, hard tugs would even beat out over Samson.  He also loved to play chase.  He would either chase a lazer light, or shadow, or another dog.  That was Samson's favorite thing to do... bark at him, getting him to play chase around the back yard.  When he was much younger living with Zeke at my parents, we could stick both dogs outside in the evening, then from the comfort of inside, shine a lazer around the yard.  Toby would chase the light and Zeke would chase Toby.

Toby is missed.  He is missed by both of us.  He is missed by his little big brother Samson.  He was a good dog!