Toby and the Next Mutation

One thing I don’t share to often is about my life outside of my fandom.  There is a lot more to me than just Ninja Turtles, and today I’ll like to share about my dog, Toby.  He was born in 1997 and he’s the first of our dogs that I have seen as completely mine.  Of course my mom would argue this with all she does for him.  The story I’d like to share of Toby is how he went to the set of the Next Mutation with me, that summer of 1997.

Toby was born in the house across the street as our neighbor and friend was not excepting her dog to have puppies.  I was there the day he was born and she offered me to pick a puppy as my Graduation and Birthday gift. It did not take me long to choose as Toby was a stand out doll.  He had the markings of a collie with the soft fur of his mother.

The first three months of Toby’s life I didn’t go anywhere without him.  So there was no movie theaters or eating out during this time.  I took him to pay bills, through drive thrus, even to a few of the stores I went to.  He would just ride in my arms as I walked around.  When I first took Toby for a walk on a leash, I had one of those retractable leashes, he saw a squirrel and went running after it. I press the button on the leash to stop him and the leash broke as he kept running.   I dropped to my knees and called for him, Toby stopped chasing the squirrel and ran back to my arms.  He was such a good boy.

At the end of June, I had a trip planned, this would be my first time leaving Toby.  The longest he’ll go without me around and I did feel sick about it.  Though I was being picked up by Leonardo (from TMNT-L) to go to Chicago Con for 4th of July weekend to meet some other TMNT-L members,  MrLee2 and Roseangelo.  I had a great time that weekend, getting to meet the Image crew, Gary Carlson, Frank Fosco and Andrew Pepoy.  They were even selling original Comic Art.  Directly after the convention, I went to Roseangelo’s house to spend a week with her.  Enjoying some amazing Chocolate Chunk Rice Crispy Treats and watching “Turtle Tunes” for my first time.  This was a long time to be without Toby, though it was still only the beginning of this trip.

The next part of the trip was for my folks to pick me up and drive with me to Vancouver, B.C. to meet up with my sister and her friend.  While there I was going to be on the set of the Next Mutation and meeting the actors.  The plan for Toby was that he would stay with my Grandmother.  So it was a big surprise to me when my folks showed up with Toby in the car.  He was so excited to see me.

I ran around the yard with Toby as he barked at me, his tail wagging fast.  It was his first and only big trip, as we got my stuff packed into the car.  I said good bye to Roseangelo and her family and went on my way.   We did many stops along the path and I took many fun pictures of Toby at the different locations.  Once we got to Vancouver we stayed at my sister’s friend’s house.

The following days were just as originally planned, we got to go spend some time on the set hanging out with the great people who worked on Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.  They sold me on the series as I wasn’t sure about it before this trip.  But everyone there was great and was putting their heart into working on the show.  Seeing the sets live was amazing.  And the fun part about it, was that Toby was with us on this trip.  So I have video and photos of my puppy being held by actors from one of my favorite TV series.  These are memories that I hold very dear to me.

Throughout the years Toby has still been with me for a lot of the stuff around the house.  Any of my friends who know me real well have gotten to know Toby, including when I did Turtle Con 2000 (Cowabunga Corner #25).  Toby stayed at the hotel room with us and got to meet all the Turtle Fans who came to our party as seen in Cowabunga Corner 50.  He’s a very friendly dog.

These days I don’t bring Toby out as much as he is getting older.  He stays home with his sister, though still spends a lot of the time with the family.  His age is starting to show, I really wish there was a fountain of youth, he would be one I’d toss into it.  He’s a great friend.  And I’m proud to have him in my life.