Judi McLeod
Judi McLeod, Editor






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Kiko's Pet Page

Kiko, newspaper "printz"

Kiko

Canadafreepress.com office mascot Kiko is mighty miffed that Barney Bush, the irascible ink black Scottish terrier, who has the run of the White House, has his very own Web page.

Kiko may not have Barney's pedigree, but he is afterall, a "printz." Not a capital `P' printz, but a small `p printz'.

While our printz may not be able to run freely through the Oval Office, he's a fully-fledged newspaper mascot with the right amount of printer's ink running through his veins.

With a Mom who's a high-class bichon frisee and a pure Yorkshire terrier Dad, Kiko is only a halfbreed. But, hey in multiculturally driven Canada, it's not a bad thing to be.

There are no "crown jewels" to verify that Kiko is a full-blooded printz—a vet took them away a couple of years back when he was neutered.

But with or without his crown jewels, Kiko still attracts all of the foxiest girl dogs, including the lively and luscious Chiquita, a shiatsu with an absolutely adorable face. Chiquita is definitely the Nicole Kidman of the canine world.

No mere princess, Chiquita is queen of College Park, where she sniffs out all of the trees, constantly on the lookout for a tryst with her beloved. It's a relationship that's lasted more than four years, and next thing you know, Kiko will be writing poems to her.

The much bigger male dogs are on the watch for Kiko, the park printz. Only 12 lbs., he growls first and quickly jumps—even rotweillers—if only to prove his machochismo. Funny how he only attacks the canines who have somehow managed to keep their crown jewels away from the vets.

Kiko makes it clear that he regards politicians of all political stripes as so many trees.

Once the snow flies, Kiko too little for real winter boots, gets a paw smear from a jar of a product called Invisible Boots before his walks to the park.

Benny Bullies and Rollovers are Kiko's favourite store-bought treats. His favourite homemade treats are the cookies made from liver ground in the blender, mixed with a package of cornmeal, and plenty of garlic. This treat, shared with other College Park pals, is particularly useful in summer months as garlic is said to ward off fleas.

You can read some of Kiko's favourite animal stories on this web page. Other pet owners are invited to send in photos of their pets, which Kiko promises to have posted on the Canadafreepress.com site.

Kiko's Pals

David Dastych

izzy Izzy Everyone who knows canadafreepress.com Sports Editor and author Edward Zawadski knows he’s a big guy. Eddie would be the kind of guy you’d like beside you if you happened to find yourself having to travel down a dark alleyway.

But when it comes to "Izzy", his pet dog, Eddie is one big marshmallow.

Indeed, ever since the day Izzy came into his life, the two have been inseparable.

When Eddie took his Mom to Poland last year to reunite with a long lost sister, it was difficult to leave Izzy behind. Upon Eddie’s return, Izzy let him know he wasn’t too happy with the absence.

Izzy is a part Bichon, Yorkie and Jack Russell mix.

As you can see in his photo, not only one of Izzy’s white ears always seems to stand up, but Izzy is a stand-up kind of guy.

The CFP gang happen to agree with his proud master, who sent this accompanying note along with the picture: "Pretty cute, huh?"

Kibbi
Kibbi This cute schnoodle--part poodle, part schnauzer, part bundle-of-joy--helped ease Lauren into kindergarten.

Lyka: The highly-trained U.S. border patrol dog broke hearts when she went missing near Surrey, B.C. There was a happy ending in store when the seven-year-old Australian shepherd was found about five kilometres from where she went AWOL. Lyka and her worried handler became separated while searching for smugglers in heavy bush. There was no word about her for two days straight. Then, a farmer who read about Lyka in a local newspaper spotted the dog who came to him when he called out her name. In the sheer relief of finding her none the less for wear, Lyka was given one big bone and a two-week holiday from patrol duty.

Dolby
Oscar: There are thousands of things to make you sleepy. Boring speeches by local politicians sends us to la-la land all the time. Oscar, AKA Oscar Meyer is a dapple dachshund, just 12-weeks-old. No matter how frisky his mood, the sound of Country & Western music whenever Oscar hears it puts him to sleep. His owners say that Country & Western music was all that played at the breeders where they bought him. Oscar heard CW before he was even born when his pregnant Mom was carrying him.

Dolby
Dolby: This gorgeous 18-month-old schnauzer is the best-behaved dog CFP.com editor Judi McLeod has ever encountered. Owned by Vay-Chi, hairdresser at the avant guard salon liberte on Yonge Street, Dolby will `stay’ for hours at the command of his adored mistress. No matter what the provocation or distraction, he remains where he is until called by her. Patently independent, Dolby has a lot of cat in him. The schnauzer maintains a standoffish look no matter how lavish the affection being shown him. Dolby is a genuine character.

Dolby
Dolby: What every dog needs for Halloween! Dolby, Vay-Chi's schnauzer is the height of doggy fashion. Friends and families are just a-buzz at the cute Dolby Bumble Bee ensemble, repleat with fashionable antennas.

Pets Links

  • Caring Canines
  • Pets

    First it was the runaway bestseller now it’s “Nahgua the made-for-television movie

    By Judi McLeod

    Saturday, April 26, 2008

    It was against all odds when horseman,writer/artist Ron Hevener saved a proud Arabian stallion from certain death at the slaughterhouse.  Hevener is afterall an against-all-odds kind of guy.  And that’s just the beginning of the adventure-steeped story of “Nahgua”, a horse that will gallop across the human heart forever.

    Hevener tells Nahgua’s story in the novel Fate of the Stallion, which sold out in its first printing and at one point almost every school library had a copy.

    Raisin toxicity kills

    By OnTheWeb: Laurinda Morris, DVM

    Monday, November 12, 2007

    This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56-pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix that ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday.  He started with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking about 1AM on Wednesday but the owner didn’t call my emergency service until 7AM.

    Good Dog pups help kids learn to read

    By OnTheWeb: SHEILA CALLAHAN

    Saturday, November 10, 2007

    Justin Ortiz sits on a rug in Room 202, Christy Crawford’s third grade classroom. “It’s 6 o’clock in the morning,” the 8-year-old tells Bodhi. “It is time to wake up.”

    Actually, it’s 2:45 in the afternoon, and Bodhi, a 58-pound standard poodle, is awake and at work helping children improve their literacy. He’s listening to Justin read the children’s book “In the Morning.”

    Home Alone never again for Fido

    By Judi McLeod

    Thursday, November 8, 2007

    Dog gone good TV Have you ever rented the DVD Benji in a desperate attempt to keep your pooch entertained while you were out at the supermarket buying groceries?

    Do you worry about Fido who's been home alone all day when the boss tells you that you have to work overtime tonight?

    Ontario horse had to be put down following cougar attack

    By Judi McLeod

    Wednesday, October 24, 2007

    Rumours have been rife in the London Ontario area that a cougar was on the loose. People who fleetingly spotted the cougar were not always believed.

    Gift from the 'Angel of Doggies'

    By Judi McLeod

    Tuesday, October 16, 2007

    If there's such a thing as the 'Angel of Doggies' in a troubled world, his name must be Aza.

    When Aza, died at age 12 of leukemia last winter, his human companions David and Sophie Dastych were inconsolable without her.

    Pet Cemetery, the reality

    By Judi McLeod

    Saturday, August 25, 2007

    PetsLast March when thousands of pets sickened and died in the horrific poison pet food scandal, scores of people turned to www.itchmo.com.

    Worried pet owners, desperate for information that might help keep their pets alive, turned to Itchmo for any scrap of information.

    Keeping up with all the twists and turns on the poisoned pet food story was a full-time job.

    Even now, the mystery has never been resolved and the pet food manufacturer supplier most responsible for the tragedy had the gall to stage a seminar.

    Tinkerbell coming home is the only happy ending to 3-year-old's favourite fairytale

    By Judi McLeod

    Wednesday, August 22, 2007

    Tinkerbell Posters of lost pets can be found on the lampposts of every major city. When the same posters turn up in small towns, they're somehow not as sad. It's much easier to trace a pet in a small town where everyone seems to know each other.

    `Tinkerbell' is a tiny Chihuahua. Tinkerbell's favourite person is tiny, three-year-old Deanna Muir.

    Tiny Tinkerbell is out there somewhere in the metropolis known as Toronto, Ont. Tracing Tinkerbell in a city the size of Toronto is a big job.

    Paratrooper's girl proves love conquers all

    By Judi McLeod

    Friday, May 25, 2007

    Two months ago, Army Spc. Justin Rollins fell in love with a puppy that he found in Iraq. The dog was flown to his family in Newport.
    Brittney Murray, the girl Army Spc. Justin Rollins planned to propose to on his next visit home, is very special: Brittney of the broken heart, touched the hearts of Americans and she touched them on the eve of Memorial Day Weekend.

    Rollins, killed in Samarra on March 5, never made it home.

    When this inspirational story started out, all the family and girlfriend of the 22-year-old paratrooper had left of him was a picture taken the night before his death that they cherished. The picture showed Justin nuzzling a female pup, so full of life; so typical of him.

    Aza -- Faithful to the End of Her Life

    By David Dastych

    Sunday, April 15, 2007

    "The one best place to bury a good
    dog is in the heart of his master."
    Ben Hur Lampman, from the Portland Oregonian Sept. 11, 1925
     

    Aza receiving her dripIt was a very cold, frosty Winter day in February of 1996, when our neighbor Maria brought a dog to our apartment. "Keep her for a week or so, until I find a home for her. She's so beautiful. She's wandering in a snow blizzard and her paws are frozen." -- Maria told us. She had a small shop in front of our apartment building and she used to feed stray dogs and cats there. A good-hearted woman, indeed.

    The Dog Is Not For Sale

    By Dr. W. Gifford Jones

    March 18, 2007

    Why do I carry dog biscuits to work? I admit they're healthier than the occasional hamburger I have for lunch! But the biscuits are for a magnificent German Shepherd dog. He's always with his master, one of the many homeless people begging for money on the streets of Toronto. But why the dog, when his master is unable to feed himself?

    The princess of Lighthouse Point

    Samantha, Princess of Lighthouse Point

    By Judi McLeod

    Monday, January 8, 2007

    One of the joys of living in our new Collingwood digs is the splendid boardwalk that runs at the back of the house.

    The boardwalk, surrounded by trees, fields and marshland, more than two miles from start to finish, is a bonus for dog walkers at Lighthouse Point.

    There are dogs of all ages and breeds out on the boardwalk in rain or shine. There's Bear, whose sight and hearing are not the same now that he's in his dotage, but his human companion, Harold treats him like a beloved pup. There's the unbelievable cute and clever, Gracie, a Coton de Tulear taken for walks by the humorous Bob. But the one dog that seems to take most delight in daily gambols on the boardwalk is a heart fetching Golden Retriever, known to one and all as, Samantha.

    A fallen Budgie

    By William Bedford

    Monday, October 30, 2006

    Birds have always fascinated me. I remember, as a kid, lying on my back in the meadow, watching a hawk circle slowly in the blue sky until, spotting a field mouse, it would dive, lightning fast into the tall grass and reappear seconds later with its prey imprisoned in its deadly talons.

    The Blessing of Pets

    By Judi McLeod

    Sunday, October 8, 2006

    It was the postcard perfect, small town autumn day, the burnished leaves finally showing their colours, the air crisp with the sun shining.

    There were about 25 townsfolk gathered at the front steps of St. Mary's Church, "Our Lady of the Lake," in Collingwood, Ontario.

    A GIRL AND HER DOGS

    By William Bedford

    Saturday, September 30, 2006

    As told to me by my wife.

    While stories about boys and their dogs are commonplace, girls and their canine companions get short shrift in our culture. When was the last time you saw a movie or a TV show about a girl and her dog?

    Lovebug bites Kiko

    By Judi McLeod

    Saturday, September 16, 2006

    My little half-breed Kiko is a changed dog since moving with me to the beautiful shores of Georgian Bay.

    When we lived downtown, he was hyped by the "window monsters", the crew, who for months on end, were cleaning and repairing the windows in the downtown Toronto high-rise where we lived.

    Kiko, half Yorkie and half Bichon frise, never got used to the "window monsters" even though they passed by our 15th floor windows every day. No matter how I tried to calm him, he was convinced we were under attack.

    Sasha's Flexi Bites: A "Good dog!" is a healthy dog
    "Cupcake" reunited with owner who lost everything to Katrina
    Police puppies need names
    War Memorials with wagging tails
    Miss Beazley's first Christmas
    A puppy hero called Honey
    Tailwagging the streets of New Orleans
    Guide Dogs for the Blind
    Elephants can't fly but they sure can paint!
    The Ghost of Bobo
    Smokey the Life Saving Cat
    Winking Bobo lures pet owners to College Park Pet Boutique
    A place to spoil your pooch
    Tiny doggie heaven comes to Holt Renfrew
    Bountiful Love

    Other Pet Stories

  • Loyal to the end
  • 00-woof
  • Beautiful Joe Park
  • Pebbles comes home
  • Farmer's terrier belongs in same category as Greyfriar's Bobby
  • Of elevator angels and Greyfriar's Bobby

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