Hi it’s Robin, an almost 8 year old lhasa apso dog from North Walsham, back again after a long break with part 18 of my dog-blog. We’re all sad at the moment because my cat brother Toby has passed away. So I thought I’d get Dad to publish this blog with some of my memories of Toby, together with some previously unpublished bits that Dad’s made a note of but has apparently been too busy to post for the past four years!
6th November 2024
Toby’s not been his normal self lately, staying indoors most of the time, when he usually likes to wander about all over the place. I’ve been keeping a close eye on him just to make sure he’s OK, and it’s actually made a nice change for us to spend so much time together. But this morning Mum and Dad had a serious discussion and the word ‘vet’ was mentioned. I disappeared at that point because I recall going to the vets a few years back and coming home with no nuts – still haven’t found them even to this day.
When Dad returned home from work Toby was placed inside his cat carrier, which is normally something that results in serious injury to whoever attempts this task, but today Toby seemed quite calm. Sadly the vet's assessment was as Mum and Dad had expected and less than an hour later Dad returned with Toby inside a cardboard box. Mum and Dad let me spend some time with Toby and I gave him a good sniff so I could understand that he’d passed away. Dad dug a hole in the flower border in a spot Toby loved to spend time in the summer, and he was laid to rest (this photo of Toby from August this year is near his final resting place) By the time that was all done I’d polished off the contents of Toby’s bowl. It’s what he would have wanted.
7th November
I’ve been sad this morning, crying quite a bit as I wander around the house sitting in all the places Toby normally hides from me. It’s hard to lose your cat brother, even though I know he never really liked me all that much.
Recalling my arrival as a small and enthusiastic puppy at the Newsteads back in 2017, me and Toby didn't exactly hit it off! In fact despite my friendliest bum sniffing efforts I managed to get slapped about quite a bit. Here are my thoughts from my first three days at 19 Norwich Road:
Day 1 - Monday 6th Feb 2017
Arrived at my new home. Mum and Dad seem nice and the place looks great with plenty of toys and a comfortable looking basket. No one told me they had another dog. He’s a strange one I can tell you – quite skinny with whiskers and pointy ears, and an impressive ability to jump onto kitchen units. I’m not one to judge, but this guy seems a bit up himself. Walked past me like he owns the place, nose in the air, totally blanked me.
Day 2 - The other dog seemed surprised that I was still here this morning. I gave him my scariest bark, which clearly shocked him. Wasn’t expecting to hear such a pathetic bark in return. More of a squeak! What a plonker.
Day 3 - Starting to think the other dog might be a cat. Decided to say hello – went straight in for a sniff and got a smack on the head for my trouble. Mum shouted ‘Toby!’ which is definitely a cat’s name, so that confirms it.
It took Toby a few weeks to come to terms with the new arrival, and then this happened.
Apparently some sort of cat-related breakthrough has occurred. My cat brother Toby sat on the dining room sofa, and that’s it. Seriously, so what? I do that all the time. Turns out that until about a month ago the dining room sofa was one of Toby’s favourite places. Mum even made Dad buy that particular sofa because it matches the cat (honestly, that’s true!) But about a month ago Toby stopped sleeping on the sofa, preferring instead to sleep upstairs, where I’m not allowed to go. I arrived about four weeks ago, but I’m sure that’s of no relevance to the situation.
In fact, now I look back on those early days when I was still a small puppy, it was almost as if Toby deliberately went to places I couldn't go!
Perhaps a turning point in our relationship was reached when I saved Toby from a dangerous situation, although he wasn't exactly grateful at the time.
I should be celebrated as a super hero dog after saving Toby from certain peril this morning. He’s in charge when up against either of the boy cats from Number 21, but he regularly gets beaten up by the girl cat at number 17. So when I heard a familiar girl-cat screech this morning I dashed outside to find Toby cornered. I fearlessly chased off the offender to save the day but when I returned to Toby and gave him a friendly sniff just to make sure he was ok I got a slap round the face.
In fact it was about a year before Toby really did accept me and we became close friends (well sort of)
Regular readers will have probably been a little sceptical about the idea of me and Toby chilling, but we do on the odd occasion. It’s taken him over a year but Toby has finally accepted me, or at least resigned himself to the fact that I’m here to stay. He loves me really.
However, our relationship was briefly rocked after the revelation that Toby had a thing going on with Mrs Bunny, my favourite toy who I play with in a very special kind of way.
Stunned, shocked, confused. I’m all of those things and more at the moment. My relationship with Mrs Bunny doesn’t seem as blissful as I had thought following this shocking and devastating revelation in a recent photo. I think she’s having an affair with my cat brother, Toby. Just look at them. You don’t have to ask what’s been going on there do you?
But of course the three of us sorted everything out and eventually me and Toby went into business together.
Don’t mention this to anyone but me and my cat bro Toby are running an illegal mouse racket. It works like this. Toby kidnaps a mouse and brings it home, beats it up a bit and then we send a ransom note demanding fish flavoured treats. Only we’ve not yet managed to get as far as the last bit because Toby’s beating up methods are a tad heavy pawed and so far all of our kidnapped mice have tragically died while being beaten up a bit. It’s been left to me to stash the bodies inside the house when no one’s looking. These attempts usually fail at the outset because I’m spotted looking guilty as hell with a mouse tail hanging out of my mouth. However, this morning I found one of Toby’s killings from a few days back that I must have missed. No one was around so I sneaked it inside. It was the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, apart from a pea I found on the carpet last Christmas, so I just dropped it underneath the dining room table and went out for the day with Mum and Dad. But when we returned home Mum declare that something didn’t smell right in the dining room. Eventually the mouse was found and Toby got the blame. Ha!
My last dog blog (part 17) was published way back in 2020 shortly after a strange yellow haired man appeared on the television sayiing the word 'stay' quite a bit. After that all my people stayed at home for several weeks, which was great.
Quite a bit has happened since. I still live a 19 Norwich Road with Mum and Dad, but it's got a bit quieter in recent weeks because by human brother, Tom, as moved out, and I really miss him. However, at weekends everyone comes together including my two favourite small people, my human nephew Alfie (now 7) and neice Evie (just turned 5). They are the best!
So just to bring you right up to date here are a few bits and pieces Dad's made a note to tell you about:
2020: I’ve been rocking a cool long haired 70’s look of late, thanks to the groomers being closed in the light of coronavirus restrictions. Apart from the added insulation value and looking like the coolest dog-dude since Dougal in the Magic Roudabout, there are not many benefits in being a long haired lhasa apso. Chief among the disadvantages is an increased risk of standing in your own poo because of restricted peripheral vision. Another is getting a poo stuck at the back end, and that’s not pleasant I can tell you. Neither is the enforced bath that immediately follows. Very brown water! Dad took these two photos of me the day before and after my longest ever wait for a haricut!
I’m in regular trouble for stealing stuff, but this time I’ve excelled even my own high thieving standards. Dad was making a flat-packed bedside cabinet from Argos. He had all the component parts spread neatly across the lounge carpet. Two sides, various drawer bits, a top and a bottom, numerous screws and three knobs. The knobs caught my eye. They appeared to be made out of soft pine, deliciously chewy but soft enough to sink my teeth into. I stealthily sneaked into the room, helped myself to a knob and quietly adjourned to the dining room. The knob was everything I had anticipated and more. Dad’s currently on Amazon buying some expensive looking replacement metal knobs.
After doing a wee against a gate post have you ever stepped in your yellow puddle? No? Maybe it’s just a dog thing. It’s taken me almost four years but I’ve finally worked out how to avoid the wee puddle by stepping just a little bit further forward than normal when walking away from the pee-scene. Brilliant. Fragrantly maintained feet and no more pissy paw prints on the kitchen floor.
Today has been a good day. Me and Toby have been working on our team strategy for getting food. Toby walks immediately in front of our target human so they either have to step/fall over him or move in the direction of the cupboard where our food sachets are kept. Should this approach fail, I enter the scene from behind, carefully waiting for the meal-target-human to step forward before launching myself at the back of their knee, causing a leg-buckling effect. This normally gets the message across. Today, as a result of perfect pet teamwork and a fortuitous lack of human communication, we managed to get fed by Dad early at 3.51pm, and again by Mum at 4.36pm. After that we crashed out together on the sofa.
My main purpose in life is that of guard dog. I am Robin, head of security at 19 Norwich Road. So imagine my annoyance when Dad purchased a Ring doorbell in Amazon’s last big sale. Its purpose is to tell them that there’s someone at the door, but that’s my job. So when I hear the distinctive ring I immediately respond with my own traditional bark-alert, just so everyone’s aware that an intruder is about. I also respond similarly whenever the Ring doorbell is advertised on the television. In fact, my response to the door bell sound is now so ingrained that even when we’re in the car and one of my humans receives a Ring alert on their phone, I completely go into a ‘there’s someone at the door’ meltdown.
I'm still not convinced that Toby's relationship with Mrs Bunny is as innocent as they say!
It started off as an genuine mistake on my part. Alfie was holding his cheese straw, pointing it downwards and quite close to my face. I genuinely thought he was offering me a nibble (like the meaty treat in this photo) , so I bit off half of it. Dad pointed out that I probably thought the cheese straw was being offered to me, and that was right. So that gave me an idea. If any food item is held close to my dog-level it’s fair game? Seems reasonable, right? By the end of the day I had stolen a potato, another bit of cheese straw and two crisps. No one was speaking to me by the evening, and I didn’t get my usual 6.35pm treat. There’s a clear lesson to be learned here, if only I can work out what it is.
Often in the evening Dad will stretch out on the sofa and watch his iPad. Occasionally me and Toby will both decide to sit on him, and inevitably there's some competition as to who can get closest to his face! On this occasion, largely thanks to his unfair cat spreading technique Toby won.
....and he won on this occasion too. In fact that's how it went most of the time!
Next door seem to have a new dog, but there's something a bit off - I can't quite put my paw on it.
My favourite toy is Mrs Bunny, and I play with her in a very special thrusting kind of way. The current Mrs Bunny is in fact not the original. Sadly she passed away to the great wheelie bin in the yard after falling to bits following a particularly vigorous thrusting session. A cried for several days before Dad went to Tescos to buy me a new Mrs Bunny and all ended well when I unwrapped the most perfect birthday present I’ve ever been given (see Part 13 for the full story). However, what I didn’t know until today was that Dad actually purchased two Mrs Bunnies just in case I killed Mrs Bunny2 and Tescos stopped selling them in the mean time. But Mrs Bunny2 is still in one piece, so when Mum was cleaning out a cupboard earlier this morning she found another Mrs Bunny. Confusing or what? I thought my breakfast had been spiked for a moment, but there were definitely two Mrs Bunnies. Having inspected the new addition I discovered that Mrs Bunny3 is actually a boy. So welcome home Roger the Rabbit. And I did!
These days I can get away with a quick sniff of Toby's private areas without getting a clip round the ear. I'm not sure whether he can't be bothered with violence anymore or now likes this personal attention. It's probably the latter.
Ahoy there shipmates, it’s old sea dog Cap’n Robbie here! I’ve been sailing on the high seas today with my shipmates, Mum, Dad, Tom, Alfie and Evie. Actually I didn’t enjoy the experience of being on a boat on the Norfolk Broads for two hours. Not at all. Shook the whole of the first hour, wouldn’t eat my cheesy nibble biscuit (the only time I’ve ever gone off my food) and did several nervous farts. I did start to enjoy the experience towards the end and looked rather resplendent in my high viz life jacket!
Almost up to date now - in the summer this year we had a couple of new arrivals. Two rabbits called Noodles and Reggie. They've settled in well, but neither me nor Toby have been allowed any closer than this. I'd love to play with them and Toby thought they looked delicious!
To round off Robin's Dog Blog part 18, here is something from before my time - a short video from nine years ago entitled 'Toby's new toy."
I'm going to miss my cat brother. RIP Toby.
I hope you enjoyed reading this and I'll see you next time.
Love Robin xxx
So good to hear from you Robin, wondered how you were getting on. Think your dad is just getting lazy (and old), such a shame that your loss is what it takes to get him working again. So sorry to hear about Toby, but I am sure that when you go over the “rainbow bridge” you will catch up with him again and really enjoy a slap on the head. Noodles and Reggie sound ok, but I bet they don’t snuggle up with you on top of dad on the sofa, but be warned, don’t eat the chocolate raisins, they’re not good (I refer to your long haired bath!). I do hope that you get on ok without Toby, bu…