Toby has what we call 'Canned Dog Food Belly'

I want this on the record. Let it be known by all that I warned my wife well before it happened.

It was Sunday that I told her what she did not want to hear.

"Toby's going to get fat."

Toby's our dog. Our only dog, now that Star has died. Star was a sweet, female black Lab that after about 12 years just gave out. Her health had been declining for the past year or so, but my wife, the animal lover, did all in her power to make Star's last months comfortable.

She gave Star an expensive arthritis medicine every morning and night.

"I think it's helping her. She's moving much better," my wife observed after the first several days of treatment. But in the past few weeks it was evident that even the medicine couldn't ease Star's pain.

And since she had lost most of her teeth, Star could no longer eat the dry, crunchy food we used to give her. To remedy that, wife Sherry began feeding her canned food which was much easier to chew.

A couple of weeks ago, though, it was obvious Star wasn't going to make it much longer. She could barely even get up to eat or drink, so we made the decision to have her put to sleep. We planned on having the vet come to our house so as not to make Star's last hours traumatic ones. We never took her in the car except to go to the vet's and she always got very nervous on those rare occasions.

Before the vet could come, however, Star began acting 'funny' as Sherry put it and she decided to take her in to see if anything could be done. Star was dying of heart failure by the time they arrived at the vet's office and there was nothing that could be done.

That evening, we buried Star alongside Housepaint and Hershey. If you've ever buried a pet, you know it was a sad time for all of us.

Even Toby. He's been much more subdued since Star died. Almost as if he's grieving. Can dogs grieve? He sure acts like it.

Now this is where the warning I mentioned earlier comes in.

To comfort him, my wife has let Toby move inside. Previously, he was an outside dog. Stayed in the fields and woods all day and half the night. Always on the move. And he ate the dry, crunchy food that is supposed to be better for active dogs.

But since Star's passing, all Toby does is lay around on MY bed watching TV and eating bon bons. Well, he doesn't eat bon bons, but he won't eat the dry, crunchy stuff anymore. To soothe his sad psyche, Sherry began treating Toby to the canned food.

Toby used to be the picture of fitness, but I noticed Sunday evening when I was shooing him off MY bed, he was developing a bit of "canned dog food belly."

That's when I issued my warning about Toby.

Of course, even the fittest among us gain a few pounds during the winter months. I, myself, have noticed over the years, that, every winter, I put on an extra five to 10 pounds and have to work all summer to get it off.

During this time of year, it's dark when I leave for work and it's dark when I get home, which means I have no opportunity to work in the yard. In truth, there's not a whole lot of yard work that needs to be done this time of year, but in the summer, I'll stay outside doing something until 8:30 or 9.

Now, come 6 o'clock, I can be found plopped down in my recliner eating snacks and watching TV while waiting for dinner to be served. I've been following that pattern for years now — get fat in the winter, slim down in the summer.

It has just dawned on me what Sherry meant when she responded to my warning about Toby getting fat: "Don't worry about TOBY getting fat," she said.

HMMMPH.

Hey Toby, pass the bon bons.

Cody Sossamon (cody@gaffneyledger.com) is publisher of The Gaffney Ledger.