The Bad Penny (beta)

“The moral of the story is: Say yes to every dog.”

-Jon Moore of Tiger Bear Wolf

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It would be sacrilege, blasphemous, a crime worthy of punishment by death were The Bad Penny not to rabidly pursue a band named Tiger Bear Wolf to participate in our ongoing – and, thanks to our rad readership, very popular – Pet Sounds series. In keeping with that thought, we chased down the post-hardcore math-rock band from Greensboro, North Carolina – and wouldn’t you know it, they were immediately into the idea.

Tiger Bear Wolf consists of four human beings – Jonathan Moore (guitar, vocals), Noah Howard (guitar, vocals), Matt Bostick (bass) and Lawrence Holdsworth (drums) – who recently released a self-titled album 17 years in the making. (Yes, you read that right.) In a story that will pull at your heartstrings, the pink-cheeked punks found themselves on a roll after putting out their first two records in 2002 and 2005. But Tiger Bear Wolf’s third effort was not the charm. Hard drives containing the songs intended to be on that next record went awry, and the band wasn’t able to recover the material until much later.

A source of solace and comfort for Moore during those trying years when the Tiger Bear Wolf recordings were lost was, no doubt, his dog Robo. You might want to keep a box of issues handy for this very special installment of Pet Sounds, as Robo is no longer with us and the rare photos that Moore so generously shared with us are rather breathtaking. Either way, here is the story of Robo the dog, unwavering companion to the frontman of the band Tiger Bear Wolf.

Hi Jon. Thank you so much for participating in Pet Sounds and sharing such lovely remarks about Robo. It’s clear you have a big heart and that Robo was indeed a special dog.

Thanks! You’re going to love Robo.

Did you name him after Robocop? (Sorry, that’s a pretty stupid question.)

You are definitely not the first to ask if Robo was named after Robocop. Nobody actually knows how Robo got his name. Robo came into my life in about 2003. I was working at a swimming pool store that had a few contracts to clean apartment complex pools. So my job was to drive around to a few apartment complexes every day and check chemicals, net out the leaves, scrub some tiles and maybe run a vacuum. One day when I got back, the office manager asked me if I knew anyone who wanted a dog. 

Coincidentally, a roommate of mine had just moved out and took our house dog with him. I told her I’d take him myself since I was down one dog. She said her neighbor had just moved out and left his dog behind. He was living under the shed behind the guy’s trailer, and she thought his name was Robo. I probably would have said yes if his name had been something else, but I was definitely going for this Robo.

Did you name your band after the three animals Robo feared the most?

Robo was not scared of any outdoor animals. I think he felt more in his element outside. Outside he would chase squirrels, deer, cats, whatever. But inside the house he was really skittish around the cats. We got a kitten when Robo was about 6, and when she would come up to him, he would turn his head to avoid making eye contact with her, keeping the rest of his body totally still, like he was trying to stay invisible to a Tyrannosaurus.

What is your very first memory of Robo?

After my coworker told me that Robo needed a home, I rode my bike home and told my roommate Adam that I found a new dog for us, but he was down in Asheboro (about 45 minutes from Greensboro, where we lived). Our other roommate had my car so I needed Adam to drive down there to pick Robo up.

When we got there, Robo was filthy, but friendly and charismatic. Adam was like, “You sure you want this dog?” Well, we drove all this way and if we didn’t take him, who would? This was probably Robo’s first time in a car and he did not like it. He never really got used to the car.

So I guess my first memory is just two dirtbags recognizing that circumstances threw them together because they needed each other.

When do you recall seeing him at his happiest?

Robo was definitely at his happiest when he was burning ass at the dog park. Robo was super fast and agile. He loved to get all the other dogs chasing him, and I never saw him get caught. He would do this running spin where he turned 270 degrees and nipped at his pursuer, and then he was off in the other direction while they were crossed up and confused. It must have been pretty embarrassing for those other dogs and their people.

You’re the first musician in this 94-part series who has (at least ‘fessed up to) bringing their pet to your concerts. He didn’t bark, get scared, etc.? Did you have a special set of headphones for him?

I didn’t really bring him to shows, we just had shows in the basement where we lived. Our house was at the corner of Lawndale and Cornwallis, and everyone called it “Corndale House.” We lived there from about 2004 to 2006. Lawndale is a pretty busy road, and the house was on a big lot, but situated really close to the road. So we could play loud in the basement and have lots of people over without neighbor trouble. The basement also had a separate door, so we could kind of keep the shows down there and have the living space be more isolated.

Robo didn’t really come down to the basement when there were shows going on. He was pretty tolerant of the parade of strangers, and I’m sure he was a comfort to folks who were having a weird night every once in a while. When you’re freaking out at a party, you find the dog, right?

What TBW songs did Robo inspire or make cameo appearances on?

One time we were walking with Robo and some kids started throwing rocks at us. It made me think about how people at all levels of power make choices that could harm others. Presidents choose to drop bombs on residential areas, knowing that children will be harmed. Children throw rocks at dogs just to sort of see what happens. What should we preserve in this world where people are so careless with others? The answer for me at the time was “rock and roll.” America must be good, because it made rock and roll. Not the best lyrics I ever wrote, but they got started because some kids were throwing rocks at me, Robo, Mark and Adam on our way back from the library. [The song in question is “Something Worth Saving From Bear.”]

What was Robo’s most unusual tic or habit? For example, my female dog feels compelled for some reason to hump pillows at almost exactly the same time of day (6 p.m.).

Robo was a Houdini-level escape artist. There was no fence he couldn’t dig under, and he had a compulsion to get out. Once he got out though, he had no idea where to go. Most of the time, we would find him at the front door.

After my wife and I got married, we lived about two blocks away from Corndale. One day after I left for work, Robo escaped from the backyard, and she couldn’t find him anywhere. She had to work around noon, so she had to leave before he was located. On her walk to work, she had to pass Corndale, and when she did, guess who was there? Robo, of course, and he was stoked to see her. He was like, “Oh man this is crazy, I’m here, and you’re here!” So happy to be reunified. I got a call from her at work, while she was carrying him home, traffic whooshing by in the background, “Hey Jonathan, I found your fucking dog.” Don’t worry, they made up.

What was the most amusing thing you ever witnessed Robo do?

We used to go swimming in this reservoir called Lake Townsend just north of Greensboro. We pile a bunch of people into the van, or caravan a few cars up there and bring the dogs along. Robo, Sarge and Sherman were the dog contingent of our party. Sarge and Sherman were pretty into swimming. Sarge seemed to think he needed to bite the water to death. Once he retrieved half a watermelon that we threw in the lake after we ate all we could. Sherman was graceful in the water, and had a slow and gentle temperament. Robo hated swimming, and could not understand why anyone else would get in the water.

While we were swimming, he would run back and forth along the shore, seemingly trying to warn us about how dangerous it was. When we got out, you could feel how relieved he was. “You guys don’t know how lucky you are … that stuff was all over you!” No matter how much time we spent at the lake, he never got used to it. 

Was it kinda nice not knowing how old he was, so wouldn’t constantly think of how many years you probably had left with him?

It was pretty clear that Robo was youngish but not a puppy when he came to live with me. I would guess not older than 3. He retained a youthful energy long into his teens. He was able to transition from a dog left behind under a shed behind a trailer; to a show house mascot; to a faithful companion; to a guardian of our kids (as unscary as he was, he would get in there if he had to); to a deaf old grandpa dog with rheumy eyes.

He died in 2019 and is a legend in our family. Our kids will ask us to tell the story about when Robo ran away but only went to my old house, or when he ran across four lanes of traffic to chase a cat (who terrified him inside the house) up a tree, or how our daughter used to dress him up in costume clothes.

The moral of the story is: Say yes to every dog.

Check out the Pet Sounds archive here; past participants have included Osees, Deerhoof, Sleigh Bells, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, NORMANS, Dandy Warhols and loads more. Go to Tiger Bear Wolf’s Bandcamp page, Instagram account and artist page on Ernest Jenning Record Co. (one of The Bad Penny‘s favorite labels) to learn more about the multi-hyphenate solo musician, longtime music supervisor and veteran DJ/author.

This entry was posted on 09/15/2026 at 6:32 am and is filed under Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags Ernest Jenning, Health, Pet Sounds, Tiger Bear Wolf. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.