March 25, 2004

Pet of the Week: Toby

Behind a misleading set of empty brown eyes, Toby Zimmer calculates his next move, planning nighttime adventures and intricate escape routes with his sinister intentions disguised by good deeds throughout the day.

“He seems like a normal dog,” said Toby's owner, and central caretaker Anthony Zimmer. “He sleeps a lot, gets pretty excited when our family eats together. But he's done some crazy things.”

Nearly everyday for the past four years, the Zimmers have awakened to their majestic golden Labrador, Toby, resting peacefully on the shady front step of their Almaden Valley home, exhausted after a night of gallivanting. With a dog-savvy security system consisting of a fence and woodpile in the back yard, nobody could figure out how Toby would get there.

“At first I thought we'd left the gate open,” said Zimmer. “But soon it was apparent that the dog was escaping on his own.”

One day Nick, Anthony's younger brother, caught Toby as Mrs. Zimmer left to go out to dinner. When the car pulled out of the garage the dog sprinted past the door as it closed to the ground.

Toby, now 7-years-old, was reprimanded and forced to face the responsibility that comes with repeatedly breaking out of the house.

“I wouldn't walk him,” said Anthony Zimmer. “I figured if Toby's going to be running around all night, getting as much exercise as he can handle and not giving us the respect of staying in our backyard, he can walk himself.”

More recently, however, Zimmer re-evaluated his disciplinary measures.

“When I wouldn't walk him, he'd escape for sure,” explained Zimmer. “Now I get him on the leash and I run him for three miles everyday. He starts out pulling me along, but by the end of the run I'm dragging him. That way he's tired out at the end of the day and he'll sleep at night instead of carousing around with the Tomcats or whatever.”

For Toby, the new and improved lifestyle may not match the thrills of the nighttime, but it appears to make up for that in fulfillment.

“I think he feels pretty good,” said Zimmer. “Toby's always had issues with authority figures; he usually only barks at men in uniform. But lately he doesn't even bother with that. He's turned over a new leaf with this exercise routine. It's encouraging.” —By Justin Petersen

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