Samantha
The 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.
The archly ladylike Samantha truly suits her somewhat sophisticated name.
Here since her nuzzled-in puppy days, Samantha has grown the same way she gambols the boardwalk, in delighted leaps and bounds.
All outsized paws and thumping tail in her gangly puppyhood, it didn't take Samantha long to claim young ladyship. Although she hasn't yet moved to pearls and perfume, almost overnight, the somersaults of a clumsy pup were replaced by a sleek, sophisticated Queen of the Prom.
At our house, watching from the windows, we call Samantha the "Princess of the Point". Everyone who comes her way out on the boardwalk, falls in love with this big-eyed miss.
Samantha, who triples Canada Free Press mascot, Prince Kiko, weighing in at all of 14 pounds, seems to know she must be gentle with playful smaller dogs.
Samantha's human companions, Bruce and Stacey take their growing girl for plenty of long walks. On those occasions when Kiko is out and Samantha is not, the retriever renders heartbreaking calls from her window sentry.
So patient is she for a glimpse of Kiko, she's often still there when he comes prancing back past Samantha's from his two-mile jaunts.
In any season and on special occasions like Halloween or Christmas, Bruce and Stacey decorate the lawn in front of their house.
A huge blow-up plastic bubble with an interior storm of broom-riding witches, ghosts and flying bats, didn't rate much of Samantha's attention. But when it was replaced with tiny trains on a track, perpetually on the move and lighted with miniature white lights, Samantha was as enrapt as any five-year-old girl dreaming of Christmas.
Kiko, who regularly had to be pulled away from the house of a white Coton de Tulear named Kylie, seems to have replaced the now missing Kylie with Samantha. He often has to be dragged away from the house whether Samantha's calling from the window or not.
The only wrinkle in Samantha's transition from puppyhood to princesshood was when the Point's popular canine, brought to the animal hospital for an ear infection, came down with a worrying kennel cough.
The landscape was bleak sans Samantha and we began to worry that her human companions had moved away.
The day she appeared gamboling once again along the boardwalk made for the most welcome of sights.
It was akin to coming across an old friend thought to be gone away never to return.
Samantha's favourite girl, Stacey is a favourite of Kiko's too. It's almost as if Kiko understood when Stacey one day announced, "Kiko has plenty of personality."
Stacey was walking the princess when she made the comment. Anything that would make Kiko look the hero within Samantha's earshot would be bound to endear Kiko to Stacey forever.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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