Requiem for Toby the Basset Hound

And Reflections on the gifts of an old dog

August 21 I said goodbye to one of the most significant creatures in my life, Toby, my 16 ¾ year old Basset Hound. If you didn’t have the pleasure of knowing him, you can read his obit below. Toby was celebrated along Polk Street in our neighborhood in the tradition of Bummer & Lazarus, the stray dogs so beloved by San Franciscans in the 1860s that they were exempt from local laws and immortalized in cartoons, newspaper stories, and public funerals. Mark Twain even wrote an obituary for Bummer. Toby’s irresistible Basset charm combined with the snail pace of his Methuselah walks of his last years provided endless encounters with neighbors (housed and unhoused), tourists, cable car conductors, shopkeepers, roast chicken vendors, baristas, bartenders, cashiers, couriers, and kids. Everyone Toby, we were just his framework.

Dogs are more than companions and family, they are an interface to the world.

I keep reading stories about how meeting people and new friends can become more difficult as we age. Well, if you find that’s true, get an old dog and walk them in your neighborhood every day. You will get to know everyone. Your dog will makes dozens of new friends and you might get one or two as well.

Toby was my father’s last Basset Hound and the only one who refused to be a bar dog. Toby was the fastest Basset I had ever seen, soaring over the ground, long golden ears flapping, and drool flying. He loved to run and had no patience for being bored at the bottom of a bar stool—and he let you know it by using his ample voice as he was a talker and successful self-advocate. Slow-walk Toby loved the fresh bowl of water (with ice!) in front of Cresta’s 2211 Club on Polk Street that owner Dan always has available. It was Toby’s favorite watering hole. So after we had cried as much as we could cry and donned our I KNEW TOBY t-shirts, we went to Cresta’s and had his wake, joined by many family, friends, and fans.

Requiem for Toby

The Doghorn of Polk Street is no more. Known throughout San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood for his trademark bay, Toby the Basset Hound could be heard for blocks as he demanded stoplights to change faster during his multitude of daily walks. 

Some compared his howl to the sound of the city’s foghorns, while others likened his bark to that of the Pier 39 sea lions. Tobias “Toby” Hinckle-Mittelstaedt was aged 16 ¾ years and was a lover of pillows and outstanding service from humans. 

In his younger days, he outran his Chocolate Lab sister Nessie and led their flying zoomies and wrestling matches at home, the beach at Crissy Field, and many city parks. Despite standing only 14 inches tall, Toby was a highly-skilled burglar, stealing food off of tables, desks, and countertops four times his height to the marvel and outrage of his family. 

Long before he lost his hearing, Toby pointedly ignored calls of “come,” “heel,” and “leave it” but delighted in applause and treats for his Paw shakes and rolls. He marched to his own drummer and suffered no fools. A lover, not a fighter, Toby got along well with every dog and human he met, always ready to share a meal, a playdate, or a nap. 

He loved roast chicken, ear scratchies, being photographed, cuddles, naps, howling with fire engine sirens, tug of war, running, and meeting new friends. He detested riding in cars, going to the vet, swimming, being told what to do, and humans stopping to chat when he was on parade. He never understood humans’ fascination with babies, puppies, and holiday costumes though he tolerated them all with his trademark eyeroll. 

Toby was a rescue who was said to have been found running, abandoned on a road in San Jose. He was adopted by San Francisco journalist Warren Hinckle and Linda Corso and their Corgi mix Delilah until Warren’s health failed and Toby came to live with Pia and her family. Toby was a pallbearer for Warren’s funeral in 2016.

Toby, Toebbers, Toblerone, Tobias, Toetoe, Mr. T, TT was predeceased by Warren Hinckle, Nessie, and Delilah and will be missed every day by his family, Pia Hinckle and Chris, Lucien, Fiona, & Simone Mittelstaedt, Linda Corso, Hilary Hinckle, Ava & Max Cane, Warren Hinckle IV; Freckles the cat; and many adoring friends, caregivers, dog walkers, groomers, and fans in the neighborhood and beyond. Hug your hounds.