I have been trying to write something about about Tobie, but I never know quite where to start. I can't find the right words to describe how much I loved him, and how much he meant to me. There just really aren't words that do Tobie justice.I was looking for a puppy in the summer of 1996. I knew I wanted an 8 week old blue merle female aussie puppy with 2 blue eyes. I called a lot of breeders, but couldn't find what I wanted. I even called Tobie's breeder, Kim Buffum, of Country-Way aussies, and she told me about a 12 week old black tri boy she had, named Luther (at the time, I thought she was calling him Lucifer!!). I said no thanks, not what I am looking for! My Mom and I went to the Australian Shepherd Club of Washington's 4th of July show to look at puppies and meet breeders. We saw lots of puppies that day, but when I saw Luther/Tobie, I knew he was exactly the puppy I wanted! I watched him win Best of Breed Puppy, he had the day before as well. We went back the next day to pick him up, where he had won Best Opposite sex puppy. He was named Country-Ways It's In His Kiss, after the cher song and I decided to call him Tobie. It was love at first sight.
When Tobie was good, he was amazing, when he was naughty....he was super naughty!! Nicole nicknamed him "No-No-Bad-Dog". He was so incredibly smart, and that tended to get him in a lot of trouble. In college, Tobie let himself out of my bedroom one morning while I was at work, ransacked the house....ate all the garbage, stole the loaf of bread off the counter, and then went back in my room and shut the door behind him....all while Nicole slept and Rylie was crated. I came home thinking we had a raccoon on the loose! Tobie was definitely a beautiful dog, he was my first "show dog". I showed Tobie in 4-H, where we were the overall grand champion in junior showmanship and red robin handling one year.
Tobie placed first in his class at nationals, over 40 other aussies. We also won best in match at an all breed conformation match. Tobie was an ASCA champion, and was on his way to being an AKC champion, when he had an emergency surgery and was then neutered. Tobie was so incredibly smart, but so very naughty in the obedience ring!! We did many classes together, but he just loved to embarass me in the ring, silly boy! In the long sit, I turned around to find him humping another dog once. Another time, he met another dog in the middle of the ring to play. On the recall, he saw Kim out of the corner of his eye and jumped up on the bench next to her, instead of coming to me!
What I loved about Tobie, was his love for life. Tobie loved everything and everyone. He was quick with his tongue, and was so accurate! Tobie could not control his licker!! Tobie was like my shadow, right up until his last day. He followed me everywhere I went. He layed in the bathroom while I showered, in the kitchen while I cooked, and on the couch while I watched tv. He never left my side...he was faithful and loyal, and so sweet with those freckles. Tobie loved to go camping, hiking, boating or just go for a ride. Ryan said he loved the way Tobie watched me when we met on our first date. Tobie really never took his eyes off me, how much more perfect could a dog be? When I first moved in with Ryan, Tobie was a little jealous of sharing his Mom. At night, he would go up and wake Ryan and act like he had to go potty. When Ryan went to let him out, Tobie ran back to bed and stole his spot. He did this repeatedly...pretty smart!! Eventually he learned to share, but spent most nights spooned against my legs. Tobie also unloaded our dishwasher once. Top and bottom shelf! We have pretty heavy plates, that he somehow got out. There was only one dish casualty....Tobie always kept me on my toes.
Tobie placed first in his class at nationals, over 40 other aussies. We also won best in match at an all breed conformation match. Tobie was an ASCA champion, and was on his way to being an AKC champion, when he had an emergency surgery and was then neutered. Tobie was so incredibly smart, but so very naughty in the obedience ring!! We did many classes together, but he just loved to embarass me in the ring, silly boy! In the long sit, I turned around to find him humping another dog once. Another time, he met another dog in the middle of the ring to play. On the recall, he saw Kim out of the corner of his eye and jumped up on the bench next to her, instead of coming to me!
What I loved about Tobie, was his love for life. Tobie loved everything and everyone. He was quick with his tongue, and was so accurate! Tobie could not control his licker!! Tobie was like my shadow, right up until his last day. He followed me everywhere I went. He layed in the bathroom while I showered, in the kitchen while I cooked, and on the couch while I watched tv. He never left my side...he was faithful and loyal, and so sweet with those freckles. Tobie loved to go camping, hiking, boating or just go for a ride. Ryan said he loved the way Tobie watched me when we met on our first date. Tobie really never took his eyes off me, how much more perfect could a dog be? When I first moved in with Ryan, Tobie was a little jealous of sharing his Mom. At night, he would go up and wake Ryan and act like he had to go potty. When Ryan went to let him out, Tobie ran back to bed and stole his spot. He did this repeatedly...pretty smart!! Eventually he learned to share, but spent most nights spooned against my legs. Tobie also unloaded our dishwasher once. Top and bottom shelf! We have pretty heavy plates, that he somehow got out. There was only one dish casualty....Tobie always kept me on my toes.I could go on forever with stories about Tobie, but it could still never accurately tell how special he was, and always will be. Tobie saw me graduate high school, college, get married and have a baby. Almost 14 wonderful years. April 18th would have been Tobie's 14th birthday. Few people in this world are lucky enough to have such an amazing dog. I was lucky enough to have Tobie and Rylie. Josh and McKenzie have some pretty big shoes to fill.
I miss him so much.
I could tell a few stories of my own about Tobie, but you've captured who he was. He was smart and sweet, he was devoted to you, and he was a happy boy. Always a smile on his freckle-face. He could unlatch the front gate that most people cannot even open, for Heaven's sake! Way too smart! We will all miss him...
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