My Golden Retriever named Toby has become a central figure in my life.  He is my true and faithful companion, and he's such a good dog!!  Not that Toby and I don't have our issues.  A while back, he was beset with mats of tangled hair that kept developing on various parts of his body.  He was not very cooperative but I was managing to get most of the mats out by combing.  However, the serious one that was still left was the mat in his tail.  It was a big, tough one, and the comb was no match for it.  I decided that the only way to get it out was to take the scissors and cut it out (although the experts say that this is bad technique).  But Toby was having no part of those scissors.  And that was as far as I ever would get.  It was a stand-off, and I was about ready to throw in the towel and hand him over to the dog groomers at Sherry's Pampered Pets.  However, when my daughter Nancy was over at my house one day and we were talking about this issue, we decided on one last different plan of attack, built around the fact that Toby has a definite defect in  his character.  (He's addicted to licking me in the face.)  So, in accordance with our plan, I got down on the floor with him, with my arms around his head, and my face quite close to his, and while  he was deliriously licking me in the face, Nancy closed in from behind and cut the knot out of his tail.  Toby never knew what happened.

Since then, he has developed another fairly large mat under his left leg, but I decided that I would let that one go for a while.  There is only so much face-licking a person can take.

Toby has brought much joy and happiness to me during my retirement years, and hopefully this story will serve to remind other persons facing their retirement years that having a dog is an option that should be seriously considered.