The Adventures of Toby the Gypsy Doberman

Toby came to me in February 2003. I was checking out the newly uploaded webpage for Special Needs Dobermans for their Senior Dobe Project. There on that page was the face of an 10 year old Doberman who was in rescue. Her owner had died and no one in her family wanted to take her. So the vet got her owner's family in touch with Dogworks who took her in. I saw this picture and thought that no 10 year old dog should be sitting i rescue. She should be spending the last days of her life laying by a fire place in the lap of luxury, as should all Doberman. I contacted Jolene at Dogworks. She didn't think I had the best situation since two Hellhoundz already resided here and I worked full time. I asked to meet her anyway. Being a Doberman, and a Gypsy, my heart was stolen immediately. She had a lump on one of her paws and we agreed to have it removed and checked for cancer. It came back clear. Then we agreed that I would take Toby for two weeks, if it worked out I would keep her, if not, she'd go back to rescue and no harm no foul. After four days, I called Jolene and told her she couldn't have her dog back, she was already part of the family.

Toby spent the next year training me. Leave a shoe out and I will steal it. Leave a sock around and I will steal it. I will trade it back with you later for your wallet. She never damaged anything, just stole things. I learned to put my shoes away and pick up after myself, or run around the house searching for shoes and socks. Toby has bad hips, so she takes slow somewhat dragging steps. If she wasn't getting enough attention, she would step into the room where you were, show you that she had stolen something, as it dangled from her mouth, and go back into her bed. She stole the heart of every one who came through the door.