"tobie"

meet toby. he's the dog of the family i'm staying with for a month in modena, italy. ohh toby. they warned me "little dog, bark bark bark bark." but toby only barked at me the first day. they say "americano, piacuto!" haha i guess it's true he likes me because i'm american. toby barks at anyone else who comes in the house (besides the family of course), he's really warmed up to me quickly. he likes to sit at my feet and put his paws on me at dinner to beg for food (he does this to everyone). he'll even sit with me on the couch, i pet him a lot because i'm new i think that's the only reason he likes me so much. when i was completely overwhelmed my first morning here (i had left my passport and half of my euros on the bus, and i was living in a strange place with hardly any communication) toby was here for me. the rest of the family had school and work and it was nice to wake up to an empty house so i didn't have to worry about talking to anyone. and even though toby understands italian, it was nice to have him around to feel loved. it's funny how dogs are just like people. they learned the language they are spoken to in. i guess its' universal, dogs are a man's (or girl's) best friends.