Pupper West Side: Albus Dumbledog Is as Kind-Hearted as his Namesake With a Beard to Match

By A. Campbell

Happy Holidays! My name is Albus Dumbledog – my friends call me Alby – and I’m a five-year-old standard wire hair dachshund. As you can imagine, my name is an homage to Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and kind-hearted mentor to Harry Potter. In addition to being very wise and professorial, the two of us also have our bushy eyebrows and beards in common. See?

It’s a life of leisure that I enjoy on the Upper West Side. I sleep in bed with my parents – just like a human with my little head on a pillow – so each morning it’s snuggles in bed before we start our respective days. Mom heads to school because she works as a teacher (in fact, it was one of her young students who commented that my name should be Albus Dumbledog. I mean, genius! Children are so creative, amiright?) and I stay home with Dad who works as a professional singer and voice coach. I’ll serve as Dad’s teaching assistant, offering my feedback to students and making sure they don’t slide off key. If Dad has a break in between clients, we’ll head outside to stretch our legs in Central Park – my favorite place.

On the weekends or at holidays, we’ll head upstate to visit my cousin and best friend, Leila. Leila is a beautiful basset hound and she’s undoubtedly the most clever, breathtaking pup I’ve ever met. I adore her! When we’re together, I’ll follow her around and just mimic everything she does.

My parents say I’m a pup with high EQ. I’m very emotionally in tune with whatever is going on around me or what someone is experiencing. And to tell you the truth, I’ve been pretty stressed and tired lately. That is, ever since we welcomed a new addition to the family – my human baby brother, Phoenix. When Phoenix came home from the hospital, I was sooooooo excited to meet him. I always want to make sure he’s happy and healthy and well taken care of, so that’s translated to a lot of sleepless nights for me. If Phoenix wakes up in the middle of the night and needs to be changed, I’m standing nearby on high alert. When he’s laying in his crib, I’ll poke my snout in to make sure he’s comfortable. When he’s being rocked in his glider chair, I like to lay on my dog bed close by and just gaze at him. Last weekend we had a breakthrough. At four months old, precious baby Phoenix finally locked eyes with me and gave me the biggest smile!! It was a pivotal moment in our relationship and I was SO DELIGHTED! I can’t wait for him to get a bit older so I can show him all my favorite parts of Central Park. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to celebrating his first Christmas together.

Read all of our Pupper West Side interviews here!

If you think your pup deserves a shot at neighborhood fame, we encourage you to reach out to Audrey at pupperwestsideuws@gmail.com to be considered for a future profile on West Side Rag and follow your fellow Pupper West Sider’s adventures on Instagram at @pupper_west_side_uws

If readers are interested in becoming pet owners, we encourage you to consider adopting or volunteering to be a foster parent with one of the many shelters and nonprofits based in and around New York City. These include but aren’t limited to Muddy Paws Rescue; Animal Lighthouse Rescue; Animal Care Centers of NYC; NYC ASPCA; Humane Society of New York; Bideawee; Social Tees; Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue and Animal Haven.