Blog
Toby Heads Off to Chase Sky Stones….
Written by Jimmy
With sadness, we are announcing Toby’s departure today as he moves to chase stones in the sky. Toby has been a dear member of our family for 11 years, watching over our children with never a bite, a scratch (well they bit and scratched him a lot) or a harsh word. He was a gentle giant to his little mentee Lewie and a brave wimp to the world. On one hand, he was a gamma dog to every canine in the park, greeting dogs of all sizes by jumping to his back in submission. On the other hand, he fought his illness with amazing stocism – we knew he was in pain, but jumped to his feet for every dog walk with wagging tail and chased every stone and grabbed every stick to the end.
He was blessed to have his last days full of beautiful London sunshine…
To the band, Toby was two things above all… a full throated singer, who is featured on almost every track, most notably Floating with You, where we actually gave him a verse… He sang to the sunshine even on this last day…
He was also the great ‘giver of stones’ – below he is in typical pose, waiting for you to grab a stone. When you weren’t looking he would swiftly stick a wet and muddy stone in your crotch… not exactly the sex drugs and rock and roll the band anticipate…
To his mentee, Lewie, he was a constant loyal father figure. His tail was always available for a good chomp, his tummy always there to be tucked against to get all warm and snug.
And we know Lewie will always have his friend’s back. Even if not the most appropriate image!
When the wonderful Jimmy Stewart lost his canine friend Beau, he wrote a poem, and it seeems a good one for Toby:
So long and happy stone hunting…
The Family and the Band
28 March 2012