Kim Boykin & Wylie, Molly and Toby

Who is in the photos at right and below?

Kim Boykin, fulltime writer and author of The Wisdom of Hair and her trusty canines Wylie, Molly and Toby.

What's the occasion for Coffee with a Canine?

I have coffee every day with Molly under the kitchen table, Wylie watching over me from the couch he’s not supposed to be on, and Toby in his bed by my husband’s chair acting aloof but taking everything in.

What's brewing?

Seattle’s Best #4, dark roast coffee at home. At Jumpin’ Java, a bone dry cappuccino, not so hot, about 120 degrees.

Any treats for you or your dogs on this occasion?

Nope, they’re all on a diet and only get treats at bedtime.

How did your dogs get their names? Any aliases?

Molly-standard issue lab name.

Wylie-we live on Lake Wylie.

Toby-named after his dad who had some long funky registered name with Toby tacked on the end of it.

How were you and your dogs united?

We had three older dogs at the time when we got Molly almost 10 years ago. She was the puppy you get to distract you from the fact that the old guys weren’t going to be around much longer. They lasted three more years. So what did we do? We got a fifth dog, Toby, who was a 25th wedding anniversary present to my husband. The old guys, Shadow, Fuzzy, and Milo passed away within a year of each other. We thought about being a two-dog family, but that didn’t last long. Wylie was a Christmas present from my husband two years ago.

Are your dogs more help or hindrance to your writing?

Wylie is 2, so his job is to get the older dogs off their butts as much as possible. Most of my time is spent letting Wylie in or out about every 10 minutes for the better part of the morning and settles down around noon. I’m so ADHD, it doesn’t affect my writing and it gets me off my butt.

What is each dog's best quality?

Molly is sweet and she sings with my husband. Molly’s the better singer.

Toby is the weirdest dog we’ve ever had. He is Jack Russell terrier smart; he’s aloof most of the time but can be a world-class snuggler.

Wylie is the happiest dog we’ve had and is the poster child for enthusiasm.

If your dogs could change one thing about you, what would it be?

Because of problems some of our other dogs had in the past, I’m a stickler about not giving them table food. If they could, they would sit down to breakfast and dinner with my husband and I. Truth be told, Toby’s been caught a time or two on the table, most notably on the buffet table, this past Thanksgiving when no one was looking. Got himself a turkey leg and ran.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life in which your dogs could speak, which actors should do their voices?

The part of Molly will be played by Melissa McCarthy, napping. Toby, on a bad day a young Pacino or De Niro on a bad day, on a good day an old Pacino or De Niro. And Wylie, Seth Rogen.

If your dogs could answer only one question in English, what would you ask them?

Why in the world do you eat the deer poop in the garden and then throw it up on my white couch?

Visit Kim Boykin's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Wisdom of Hair.

My Book, The Movie: The Wisdom of Hair.

Writers Read: Kim Boykin.

--Marshal Zeringue