Some dogs come with their names already attached. Some dogs come home with you and get renamed before the first day is out.
Tobe (pronounced like "Robe" with a T) was originally Rocky. The Solosky family — Julie, Mike, and their kids Nick and Elaina — picked him up from Happytail Puppies in Oak Ridge, NC in July 2020, right in the middle of a season when the world had slowed down and a new puppy made a particular kind of sense. They'd promised the kids a dog when they moved to Charlotte in 2019. The pandemic just clarified the timing.
The renaming happened because Julie and Mike wanted to honor someone. Before Charlotte, the Soloskys lived in Wilson, NC, where their next-door neighbor — a man named Tobe — had been the kind of presence that doesn't fade after you move. Naming the puppy after him was a small piece of continuity. A way of bringing the old place into the new one.
Five years in, Tobe has settled into his role as the Soloskys' lowest-energy member. The official family verdict: "the laziest dog in the world," delivered with the affection that title tends to carry. He naps. He drifts from room to room, finding whichever family member happens to be sitting still, and curls up next to them. With two teenagers in the house, the supply of warm bodies on couches is generous, and Tobe avails himself of all of it.
His sleeping signature is belly-up, paws in the air, on his oversized bed in the primary bedroom. He dreams loudly — running motions, high-pitched sounds — which the family has come to treat as nightly entertainment.
He is not, in fairness, lazy in every register. A ball flying down the street will get him sprinting full-tilt. Tug-of-war has been a favorite since puppyhood. And no outing is complete without a pup cup from Starbucks, which is non-negotiable in a way most family rules aren't.
He has his perches. The dining room chair, where he watches the world go by. The primary bedroom, where he starts the night under the bed before stretching out on his own. He coexists peacefully with Fritz, the family's Siamese cat — a working arrangement that doesn't require commentary.
Nick has already started lobbying to bring Tobe with him to college someday. Elaina isn't ready to share him. The negotiation is ongoing.
For the Soloskys, Tobe isn't really about lazy or active or any single trait. He's the part of the day that's always there — drifting toward whoever's sitting still, settling in next to them, and making the house feel like a household.
Not bad for the dog formerly known as Rocky.
Tobe is the May 2026 Precious Pet for Stroll Ballantyne Country Club — the second Precious Pet we've adapted from the print magazine since Lucas opened the column in April. To recommend a pet, email Delia at ballantyne@strollmag.com.