P U P P E R A Z Z I
Notable Canadians barking praise for their dogs
(Online edition with bonus content and pictures)
SLOAN'S Andrew Scott & Tommy
Over the course of their 20 years together, Sloan has established themselves as one of the most successful groups in the history of Canadian music. An amalgamation of four distinct songwriting entities – Jay Ferguson (guitar), Chris Murphy (bass), Patrick Pentland (guitar) and Andrew Scott (drums) – the Toronto-based band has released ten albums, two EPs, and an incredible string of instantly recognizable singles, including ‘Coax Me’, ‘The Good in Everyone’ and ‘The Rest of My Life.’ Twice Removed, the band’s sophomore album, was named Best Canadian Album of All Time – ahead of more celebrated Classic Rock standbys like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Rush, no less – in a 1996 Chart! magazine readers’ poll. Sloan is, quite simply, one of the greatest bands to emerge from this country.
It seems only fitting that when Dogs Dogs Dogs called Andrew Scott – the man who penned ‘The Dogs’ on the band’s fine 2008 album Parallel Play – he was not only out for a walk with his dog, Tommy, he was also engaged in an outdoor activity that’s all too familiar to dog owners (“I’m picking up some dog shit as we speak”). This information was aurally confirmed by the telltale sound of a plastic bag being deployed.
While Andrew is primarily known for his role as a songwriter and drummer, he is also an accomplished painter. His works can be viewed online at www.andrewscottwork.com. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the sub-headings under which his art is organized is also called ‘The Dogs.’
Q. How did you come up with the name “Tommy”?
A. Oh, we’ve got a cat named Poppy, a cat named Penny, and we figured it’s got to end with an “e” sound.
Q. What breed of dog is she?
A. She’s a rescue, so she’s a mix. She’s a Shepherd-Collie, I would guess.
Q. How did you come across her?
A. My wife and I, we weren’t actively on the market for a dog at all. But friends of ours had sent us a link to this site called A.R.F. Animal Rescue Foundation (www.arfontario.com). So we saw couple of relatively cute pictures of these little puppies. As we scrolled through we saw a picture of Tommy, who was known as “Clementine” at the time.
Q. [Laughs]
A. Definitely needed a name change.
Q. “The dog previously known as Clementine.”
A. The dog previously known as Clementine. So yeah, this was a Sunday night we were looking at a picture of her online and Monday morning we were on the phone for two and a half hours with the adoption agency, answering some ridiculous hypothetical questions to try and make sure we weren’t, you know, dog skinners. And then Tuesday evening we drove to London and picked her up. And that was that.
Q. How long have you had her?
A. We’ve had her since she was 11 weeks, so we got her two Julys ago.
Q. So she was a brand-new puppy when you got her?
A. Yeah, very small. And just very un-puppy-like, in terms of her temperament.
Q. What’s Tommy’s daily routine?
A. She gets up probably when my wife gets up, between 5:30 and 6:00. We all walk our kids to school, which is a few minutes away from our house. Then we go to Trinity-Bellwoods Park if it’s a nice day and just throw a ball around. She’s kind of an OCD ball retriever…which we didn’t realize until we tripped over it one day.
Q. Have you always been a dog guy?
A. Yeah, I grew up with two Boxers when I was kid in my immediate family.
Q. What about your wife? Did it take some convincing?
A. No, she was a dog person too. She always had a big shepherd-something cross when she was a kid too. Yeah, we’re both very much dog people.
Q. You have a couple of kids?
A. I have two kids, a girl who’s ten and a boy who’s eight.
Q. Do they chip in with the care and feeding?
A. Oh yeah, as much as they are willing. But they were instrumental in us getting another dog. Our son Alistair had always begged for another dog after our first dog (Grizzle) had to be put down. And we said “We’ll get one when you’re in Grade 1.” And he held us to our word.
Q. Did it hit him hard when the first dog passed away?
A. Not really. He was a little too young to really get it.
Q. What about you?
A. Sure. Yeah, it was a bad day. There’s a really cool story, actually, around the day that (Grizzle) had to be put down. I went and I played hockey at McCormick Arena and I had a game at 10:30 to 12:00 there every Tuesday. And it was a Tuesday morning when my wife – she wanted to take her in. She was kind of her dog before she and I got together. Anyway, she decided she was the one to take her to the vet.
It was the strangest thing. Playing hockey in a brightly lit arena and then all of a sudden at about a quarter to 11:00 the lights in the arena completely went out, just for no reason. I’ve never experienced it before or since, and they just popped back on about five minutes later. And all you could see was this tiny square of light at the front doors of this rink.
I, being one to read into strange occurrences like that, felt it was right around the time they injected her.
Q. I have to ask because I’m a fan. ‘The Dogs’ from Parallel Play (Sloan’s Juno-nominated 2008 album): how did that come about?
A. Well, I’m a painter too, and I have a lot of dog paintings that I’ve done over the years. I don’t know if you were aware of that.
Q. I didn’t know that, no.
A. Well, I have a website, it’s called AndrewScottWork (www.andrewscottwork.com). There’s a whole selection of dogs, among other things. Dogs have always featured heavily in my imaginary world and my real world.
Q. Where does Tommy sleep?
A. Wherever she wants. We don’t have any “No dogs on the couch” rules in our house. It’s very much a free-for-all.
Q. Is she trained?
A. Yeah, I mean we took her to puppy school right out of the gate, which we’ve never done with our other dogs. Just based on her kind of crossbreed, she’s hard-wired to want to work. She’s just so smart and so cut out for full-on training. Like we could take her to agility school…or get her to jump out of planes if we wanted.
Special thanks to Andrew Scott
It seems only fitting that when Dogs Dogs Dogs called Andrew Scott – the man who penned ‘The Dogs’ on the band’s fine 2008 album Parallel Play – he was not only out for a walk with his dog, Tommy, he was also engaged in an outdoor activity that’s all too familiar to dog owners (“I’m picking up some dog shit as we speak”). This information was aurally confirmed by the telltale sound of a plastic bag being deployed.
While Andrew is primarily known for his role as a songwriter and drummer, he is also an accomplished painter. His works can be viewed online at www.andrewscottwork.com. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the sub-headings under which his art is organized is also called ‘The Dogs.’
Q. How did you come up with the name “Tommy”?
A. Oh, we’ve got a cat named Poppy, a cat named Penny, and we figured it’s got to end with an “e” sound.
Q. What breed of dog is she?
A. She’s a rescue, so she’s a mix. She’s a Shepherd-Collie, I would guess.
Q. How did you come across her?
A. My wife and I, we weren’t actively on the market for a dog at all. But friends of ours had sent us a link to this site called A.R.F. Animal Rescue Foundation (www.arfontario.com). So we saw couple of relatively cute pictures of these little puppies. As we scrolled through we saw a picture of Tommy, who was known as “Clementine” at the time.
Q. [Laughs]
A. Definitely needed a name change.
Q. “The dog previously known as Clementine.”
A. The dog previously known as Clementine. So yeah, this was a Sunday night we were looking at a picture of her online and Monday morning we were on the phone for two and a half hours with the adoption agency, answering some ridiculous hypothetical questions to try and make sure we weren’t, you know, dog skinners. And then Tuesday evening we drove to London and picked her up. And that was that.
Q. How long have you had her?
A. We’ve had her since she was 11 weeks, so we got her two Julys ago.
Q. So she was a brand-new puppy when you got her?
A. Yeah, very small. And just very un-puppy-like, in terms of her temperament.
Q. What’s Tommy’s daily routine?
A. She gets up probably when my wife gets up, between 5:30 and 6:00. We all walk our kids to school, which is a few minutes away from our house. Then we go to Trinity-Bellwoods Park if it’s a nice day and just throw a ball around. She’s kind of an OCD ball retriever…which we didn’t realize until we tripped over it one day.
Q. Have you always been a dog guy?
A. Yeah, I grew up with two Boxers when I was kid in my immediate family.
Q. What about your wife? Did it take some convincing?
A. No, she was a dog person too. She always had a big shepherd-something cross when she was a kid too. Yeah, we’re both very much dog people.
Q. You have a couple of kids?
A. I have two kids, a girl who’s ten and a boy who’s eight.
Q. Do they chip in with the care and feeding?
A. Oh yeah, as much as they are willing. But they were instrumental in us getting another dog. Our son Alistair had always begged for another dog after our first dog (Grizzle) had to be put down. And we said “We’ll get one when you’re in Grade 1.” And he held us to our word.
Q. Did it hit him hard when the first dog passed away?
A. Not really. He was a little too young to really get it.
Q. What about you?
A. Sure. Yeah, it was a bad day. There’s a really cool story, actually, around the day that (Grizzle) had to be put down. I went and I played hockey at McCormick Arena and I had a game at 10:30 to 12:00 there every Tuesday. And it was a Tuesday morning when my wife – she wanted to take her in. She was kind of her dog before she and I got together. Anyway, she decided she was the one to take her to the vet.
It was the strangest thing. Playing hockey in a brightly lit arena and then all of a sudden at about a quarter to 11:00 the lights in the arena completely went out, just for no reason. I’ve never experienced it before or since, and they just popped back on about five minutes later. And all you could see was this tiny square of light at the front doors of this rink.
I, being one to read into strange occurrences like that, felt it was right around the time they injected her.
Q. I have to ask because I’m a fan. ‘The Dogs’ from Parallel Play (Sloan’s Juno-nominated 2008 album): how did that come about?
A. Well, I’m a painter too, and I have a lot of dog paintings that I’ve done over the years. I don’t know if you were aware of that.
Q. I didn’t know that, no.
A. Well, I have a website, it’s called AndrewScottWork (www.andrewscottwork.com). There’s a whole selection of dogs, among other things. Dogs have always featured heavily in my imaginary world and my real world.
Q. Where does Tommy sleep?
A. Wherever she wants. We don’t have any “No dogs on the couch” rules in our house. It’s very much a free-for-all.
Q. Is she trained?
A. Yeah, I mean we took her to puppy school right out of the gate, which we’ve never done with our other dogs. Just based on her kind of crossbreed, she’s hard-wired to want to work. She’s just so smart and so cut out for full-on training. Like we could take her to agility school…or get her to jump out of planes if we wanted.
Special thanks to Andrew Scott
Above: Couch-bound hound: Tommy chillin'.
Above right: One of Andrew Scott's paintings, "Untitled #2" Right: Coax me outside: Tommy keeping an eye on things. |
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Anthony Farnell, Chief Meteorologist, Global News Toronto
Taking the world by Storm
Usually reliable Global TV meteorologist Anthony Farnell failed to predict the storm system gathering around his Golden Doodle…and the media tsunami that followed
Left: Anthony Farnell, Global News Meteorologist, with fiancee Samantha and & Storm the Weather Dog (Born May 25, 2011)
“He tries not to let it get to his head,” says Global TV meteorologist Anthony Farnell, referring to the torrential flood of worldwide notoriety that followed his little Golden Doodle’s now-famous (albeit unscheduled) appearance as Leslie Roberts’ co-anchor on Global TV News, back in April 2012.
In the brief but hilarious video (easily found online) Storm the Weather Dog pops up into the lower left frame just as Leslie Roberts launches into a story about double-lung transplant recipient Helene Campbell. Storm appears, checks out Roberts, quickly surveys the scene and then disappears (As seen on his Facebook page, Storm & Anthony recently met Campbell in person).
“He was in my office and it was kind of accidental that he kind of snuck out,” says Farnell, explaining how the plucky little dog got his big break in television. While the incident is now regarded as comical by all concerned, Anthony admits that in the immediate wake of the incident he felt a little nervous about how Storm’s appearance would sit with his producer.
“Initially I was a bit concerned or scared because I thought that it was not going to go over well with my boss,” he confides. “But the next morning it had already been picked up by a couple of other networks and it was on YouTube. It took off from there. I got email from all over: CNN wanted it, Fox, ABC – all the big networks.”
In a bid to give provide fans both near and far (including Australia, China and Japan) regularly updated forecasts on upcoming Storm activity, Anthony and fiancée Samantha set up a Facebook page filled with pictures and anecdotes about the mischievous tyke (At the time of writing, Storm’s page had 1,713 likes.)
Asked if he’s been a “dog guy” all his life, Antony quickly responds in the affirmative. “I grew up with Golden Retrievers,” he says. “I’ve had a couple of Goldens over my life with my parents. But Storm is the first dog that I’ve had on my own with my fiancée.”
If he had been a Golden guy all his life, what was it about a Golden Doodle that attracted him?
“We live in a condo, so we didn’t want a dog that shed. That factored into why we picked him. We were also looking for something a bit smaller, so we went with a mini Golden Doodle. It’s just a bit more accommodating when it’s only 650 square feet that you live in.”
While it’s not surprising that a television meteorologist would have a dog by the name of “Storm,” it turns out neither Anthony nor his fiancée had a hand in his handle.
“When we got him I had the idea of him being a weather type dog, kind of accompanying me to school visits and just hanging out,” he says. “Then we thought, let’s see if the viewers maybe can have a say in naming him, and that took off. That was one of the best days our website has had when it came to hits. Everybody had a name idea. The viewers decided on Storm.”
Some dogs, like DDD’s very own staff writer Sierra (“Shopping with Sierra”) become fearful and anxious during inclement weather, especially when high winds and thunder are involved. A logical question then is: how does Storm handle storms?
“He’s good [with extreme weather],” says Anthony. “I guess living downtown he’s used to loud noises, construction, sirens. Thunderstorms he’s fine with. He’s out there on the balcony watching the storm come in with me.”
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Carla CollinsCarla Collins is an actress, standup comedian, author and TV host who has been lauded as “Canada’s Tina Fey.” She has starred in TV comedy specials, her own mock-reality TV program (“Carlawood”), and written “the world’s first comedic motivational tome” (Angels, Vampires and Douchebags).
Fondly remembered from her days at Toronto's Mix 99, Carla holds the distinction of being the first woman in Canada to anchor a major-market morning radio show. Carla was gracious and, as you’ll read below, hilarious. Her commitment to rescue animals, on the other hand, is quite serious. She took time out of her busy schedule to speak with Dogs Dogs Dogs by phone from the home in Malibu that she shares with husband Tyrone Power Jr. and her two dogs. Carla’s beloved Buster, whom you’ll hear lots about, passed away a couple of years ago, but his memory remains very much alive for her; hence his inclusion in the list below. |
Above: Glamour gals. Carla Collins with the inimitable Dr. Zira.
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Carla’s little darlings:
Buster (Black Lab-Bouvier mix, who, sadly, has crossed the Rainbow Bridge): “I got Buster’s paw tattooed onto my left rib cage before he died. He was a big fella, so Ty shrunk it down and made it different colours, so it kinda looks like a cat’s paw on Pride Day! But I know it’s Buster’s and he’s always close to my heart.” Dr. Zira (Chihuahua-Miniature Pinscher mix) Age: “We’re not sure; I’m going to say she’s about 5. Zira is so ugly she’s cute. I won’t lie to you. She looks like she belongs in the bar scene of Star Wars.” Miles (Chihuahua-Great Dane mix) Age: 3 “I’m fond of saying Buster was the angel dog and oddly enough, we got Miles two weeks before Buster passed, not knowing he was sick. And Miles stayed with him on the floor with his arm around him. He’s a lot like Buster. He’s a big softie. "Zira is so ugly she’s cute. I won’t lie to you. She looks like she belongs in the bar scene of Star Wars.”
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Q. So you’ve always been a dog gal?
Carla Collins: Always. Since I was a little peanut. My first dog, we got him at the Humane Society. I picked out a zaftig collie called Tubby. So, always a rescue. I really encourage people to rescue. They’re the best. I love mutts.
Q. Do you have a preference for any specific breed?
A. They’re always mutts, pretty much. Zira is a Chihuahua mixed with a miniature pinscher – we think. And Miles, who was born in a shelter – he’s lying next to me here – we got his DNA done. I don’t know if it’s accurate, but it’s a great story.
He is 35% Great Dane and 35% Chihuahua, and then there are a few other breeds in there. So I’m fond of calling him a Chihuahua-Great Dane mix. Your next question is “How big is he?” And the answer is medium!
Q. How did you come up with the names?
A. Well, like, Buster – who I still talk about; he’s still alive in my book – he and Miles were already named. Buster, I got when he was six months and he knew his name, so I was like, “Well, I’m not going to mess around.” It’s such a great old school dog name.
Miles, who was born at the Bark Avenue shelter [www.barkavenuefoundation.org] we got him at four months. He knew his name as well. I really dig when dogs have people names.
Dr. Zira, the poor thing, they were going to put her down the next day. I scooped her up. They didn’t even know her name. She was in awful shape. She had mange and barely weighed anything. When you see how trusting and loving she is now, it’s great. I’m very proud of that. I hope she doesn’t remember whatever happened to her.
At first I wanted to call her Shemp – after my favourite Stooge – but you know, she’s a chick; she just didn’t look like a Shemp. Shemp will come next. Shemp is going to be my next dog.
And I remembered Dr. Zaius because of that musical on The Simpsons. I said, “Who was the female doctor from Planet of the Apes?” and my husband said, “Dr. Zira,” and I’m like “We have a winner!” I had never had such a tiny dog, I wanted to give her some street cred, so I made her a doctor.
Q. Are they picky eaters?
A. No, they’re low maintenance.
Q. So they have no bad habits?
A. Well, I’m not going to say that. These two are the most affectionate, loving dogs – and the least independent. For example, I’m lying outside because I [was getting] ready for your call, and Miles is often on top of me – which makes for weird tan lines. They’re always no further than a foot away from me.
Miles has this ritual that when we put him in the car to take him to the beach, he makes sounds that I’ve never heard before on earth. Really, I mean, it’s out of a cartoon.
Miles and I are having a little issue lately that he’s refusing to drop the ball when we’re playing catch – only with me. He listens to my husband. And I try to make my voice go lower because I think he knows I’m a softie.
Miles is totally ripped. He can leap; he does all the tricks at the park. None of the dogs in him are supposed to fetch, but he will fetch for seven hours.”
Miles always stays really close by. Zira sometimes likes to wander off and explore a little bit when we’re on the beach. I have no trouble with him not on a leash, but I’m careful with her. She’s just a little thing.
Zira is a bit of a dick – I say that in the most loving way. She’s a brat. I feel like if she could talk she’d sound like a 1940s femme fatale. She’s cute and she gets away with it.
Q. So has the instinct to help rescue dogs been with you since day one?
A. Yeah, always. First of all, I like dogs better than people, so there’s that.
Q. That makes two of us.
A. I do a whole [comedy routine] on dogs and I say I like them better than people. And sure, I have to pick up after them when I take them for a walk, but they’ll never shit all over my dreams. That always gets a huge response. The PG version is “dump all over my dreams,” for the purposes of what you’re doing.
Since I was a kid – and I have no idea where it comes from – I’ve always wanted to adopt, as opposed to having a child. And I’ve always wanted to rescue. It just makes sense to me. There’s so many dogs who need homes and I don’t know why people… I’ve never understood insisting on a designer dog. I do a lot of work to stop the puppy mills.
Q. Tell me about that.
A. Pretty much all my charity work is for dogs. I’ve spoken here at Puppy Mill Awareness Day, trying to put a stop to that. I’ve done a lot of things for Bark Avenue, for the SPCA, for the Humane Society. A lot of times if I’m playing somewhere I’ll give a portions to the Humane Society. I sell T-shirts at my shows and the money from the T-shirts goes to the Humane Society.
Q. Why are dogs so funny?
A. I think because they are not malicious, they’re just innocent and they’re goofy. Dogs are goofy. There’s no guile, they’re just being dogs. You know, I do yoga every day and I wish I was as zen as my dogs. They don’t mean to, but they’re a riot. This morning Miles farted out loud and I laughed for ten minutes because it seemed to startle him. One of my dogs was my ex’s Big Red, and he’d fart himself awake and then start barking – and I thought, “It’s you, ya dummy!”
They’re just so adorable, for starters. They’re likeable. Being funny will take you quite far if you’re likeable. They’re used in humour all the time.
I will tell you that Buster was a one-in-a-million dog. He sat on my feet the entire time I wrote my book, Angels Devils and Douchebags, and have been touring with that. He’s on the back cover and so he’s still alive in the book and in my act. He was way more mature than me. I remember one time, somebody was hurt and one of my friends said “Could Buster drive?” Because you just think that.
They’re all unique. Every dog, in every home or every pound around the world has his or her own personality. You’re never going to find two that are alike.
With many thanks to Carla Collins. For details on upcoming performances, consult www.carlacollins.com.
Carla Collins: Always. Since I was a little peanut. My first dog, we got him at the Humane Society. I picked out a zaftig collie called Tubby. So, always a rescue. I really encourage people to rescue. They’re the best. I love mutts.
Q. Do you have a preference for any specific breed?
A. They’re always mutts, pretty much. Zira is a Chihuahua mixed with a miniature pinscher – we think. And Miles, who was born in a shelter – he’s lying next to me here – we got his DNA done. I don’t know if it’s accurate, but it’s a great story.
He is 35% Great Dane and 35% Chihuahua, and then there are a few other breeds in there. So I’m fond of calling him a Chihuahua-Great Dane mix. Your next question is “How big is he?” And the answer is medium!
Q. How did you come up with the names?
A. Well, like, Buster – who I still talk about; he’s still alive in my book – he and Miles were already named. Buster, I got when he was six months and he knew his name, so I was like, “Well, I’m not going to mess around.” It’s such a great old school dog name.
Miles, who was born at the Bark Avenue shelter [www.barkavenuefoundation.org] we got him at four months. He knew his name as well. I really dig when dogs have people names.
Dr. Zira, the poor thing, they were going to put her down the next day. I scooped her up. They didn’t even know her name. She was in awful shape. She had mange and barely weighed anything. When you see how trusting and loving she is now, it’s great. I’m very proud of that. I hope she doesn’t remember whatever happened to her.
At first I wanted to call her Shemp – after my favourite Stooge – but you know, she’s a chick; she just didn’t look like a Shemp. Shemp will come next. Shemp is going to be my next dog.
And I remembered Dr. Zaius because of that musical on The Simpsons. I said, “Who was the female doctor from Planet of the Apes?” and my husband said, “Dr. Zira,” and I’m like “We have a winner!” I had never had such a tiny dog, I wanted to give her some street cred, so I made her a doctor.
Q. Are they picky eaters?
A. No, they’re low maintenance.
Q. So they have no bad habits?
A. Well, I’m not going to say that. These two are the most affectionate, loving dogs – and the least independent. For example, I’m lying outside because I [was getting] ready for your call, and Miles is often on top of me – which makes for weird tan lines. They’re always no further than a foot away from me.
Miles has this ritual that when we put him in the car to take him to the beach, he makes sounds that I’ve never heard before on earth. Really, I mean, it’s out of a cartoon.
Miles and I are having a little issue lately that he’s refusing to drop the ball when we’re playing catch – only with me. He listens to my husband. And I try to make my voice go lower because I think he knows I’m a softie.
Miles is totally ripped. He can leap; he does all the tricks at the park. None of the dogs in him are supposed to fetch, but he will fetch for seven hours.”
Miles always stays really close by. Zira sometimes likes to wander off and explore a little bit when we’re on the beach. I have no trouble with him not on a leash, but I’m careful with her. She’s just a little thing.
Zira is a bit of a dick – I say that in the most loving way. She’s a brat. I feel like if she could talk she’d sound like a 1940s femme fatale. She’s cute and she gets away with it.
Q. So has the instinct to help rescue dogs been with you since day one?
A. Yeah, always. First of all, I like dogs better than people, so there’s that.
Q. That makes two of us.
A. I do a whole [comedy routine] on dogs and I say I like them better than people. And sure, I have to pick up after them when I take them for a walk, but they’ll never shit all over my dreams. That always gets a huge response. The PG version is “dump all over my dreams,” for the purposes of what you’re doing.
Since I was a kid – and I have no idea where it comes from – I’ve always wanted to adopt, as opposed to having a child. And I’ve always wanted to rescue. It just makes sense to me. There’s so many dogs who need homes and I don’t know why people… I’ve never understood insisting on a designer dog. I do a lot of work to stop the puppy mills.
Q. Tell me about that.
A. Pretty much all my charity work is for dogs. I’ve spoken here at Puppy Mill Awareness Day, trying to put a stop to that. I’ve done a lot of things for Bark Avenue, for the SPCA, for the Humane Society. A lot of times if I’m playing somewhere I’ll give a portions to the Humane Society. I sell T-shirts at my shows and the money from the T-shirts goes to the Humane Society.
Q. Why are dogs so funny?
A. I think because they are not malicious, they’re just innocent and they’re goofy. Dogs are goofy. There’s no guile, they’re just being dogs. You know, I do yoga every day and I wish I was as zen as my dogs. They don’t mean to, but they’re a riot. This morning Miles farted out loud and I laughed for ten minutes because it seemed to startle him. One of my dogs was my ex’s Big Red, and he’d fart himself awake and then start barking – and I thought, “It’s you, ya dummy!”
They’re just so adorable, for starters. They’re likeable. Being funny will take you quite far if you’re likeable. They’re used in humour all the time.
I will tell you that Buster was a one-in-a-million dog. He sat on my feet the entire time I wrote my book, Angels Devils and Douchebags, and have been touring with that. He’s on the back cover and so he’s still alive in the book and in my act. He was way more mature than me. I remember one time, somebody was hurt and one of my friends said “Could Buster drive?” Because you just think that.
They’re all unique. Every dog, in every home or every pound around the world has his or her own personality. You’re never going to find two that are alike.
With many thanks to Carla Collins. For details on upcoming performances, consult www.carlacollins.com.
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Dr. Coren having a friendly chat with Ripley.
TV's top dog doc, Dr. Stanley Coren |
Dr. Coren with his beloved Dancer.
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"I talk to my dogs all the time when I have important decisions. I have a rule in my head, which is you don’t lie to the dog."
Dr. Stanley Coren
Dr. Coren with Dancer and Darby.
Over the course his distinguished 40-year career, psychologist, scientist, author and professor Dr. Stanley Coren has been a ubiquitous presence on TV, with an impressive list of guest appearances that include NBC’s Dateline and Today Show, CNN, Oprah Winfrey, CTV’s Canada AM, CBC's The Fifth Estate and, of course, Good Dog! on the Pet Network, which he hosted.
Much of Dr. Coren’s work focuses on the establishment of a deeper connection with dogs through understanding of their motivations and modes of communication. By interpreting for us the actual meaning of canine behaviour (like sniffing at crotches, digging, etc.) Dr. Stan bridges the dog-human communication gap and effectively demystifies conduct that humans may find cursorily puzzling, frustrating and occasionally bizarre – but which makes unimpeachable sense for a dog.
Dr. Stan is a compassionate, sagacious man, whose love of dogs is both palpable and inspiring.
On Dr. Stan’s couch:
DANCER: 14-year-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
DARBY: Eight-year-old beagle
RIPLY: 1 ½ year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Q. We often see you on TV speaking in a professional capacity, and rarely do we get a chance to hear you speak in a private, personal way about your dogs.
SC. You have to understand that they are very much my dogs, in the sense that my wife does not have a whole lot of tolerance for dogs. My most recent book, Born to Bark, is about a 13-year war she had with one of my dogs. You know, she loves me, so she tolerates it as though I had a drug habit or something.
My dogs serve a number of purposes. I teach dog obedience classes with a non-profit dog obedience club (vancouverdogobedience.com). It’s a bit of my public service, if you will. We’re the second-oldest dog obedience club in Canada. My dogs have to be demonstrator dogs, so they have to be able to get out there and pretend that they’re better trained than the other dogs that we’re teaching.
The second thing which they have is dog competitions, mostly obedience and rally competitions. I don’t slide down mountains with sticks tied to my feet [laughs]; dog obedience is my sport. When I’m in a competitive mood it’s go to a dog show and compete with my dogs.
The other thing is they are also my exercise. I am a retired emeritus professor of psychology at UBC, just about pushing 70. If it wasn’t for the fact I have to get my dogs out and move them around – I spend most of my time chained to a keyboard, so they basically require me to move.
They also impose upon you a schedule. It’s not the case that well, now I’m retired so I’m going to sleep in till noon. When Dancer, the older dog, decides that it is breakfast time, he will march over and if my hand is draped over the bed, he will nose it until I get up. And if it’s not, he will sit over there and whimper with this high-pitched whimper – which is much more effective than an alarm clock – and gets me up and gets me moving.
The final thing which dogs provide me is they are a continual comfort; they are my therapy. When things get rough, my response is I sit with the dogs. I run my hands through them. I talk to my dogs all the time when I have important decisions. I have a rule in my head, which is you don’t lie to the dog.
And, by the way, there are three ways that people talk to dogs. The first is where you just make statements, like “Well, Lassie, it’s raining. I think I’m going to take my umbrella”; something like that. The other one is like a telephone conversation, where you talk to the dog and it’s almost like you’re hearing one side of a telephone [conversation] and it goes something like “Well, Lassie, Aunt Sylvia’s birthday is coming up, what do you think I should get her for a gift?” Then there’s a pause, and you say something like, “No, not chocolate!”
The third form of dog conversation -- and if you want to see samples of this you can see it in my book or in John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie, because he was traveling around the world with his black poodle and talking to the dog about social issues – that’s where you talk to the dog and you actually provide the answers in another voice. People, by the way, do this with kids all the time. They’ll say, “Do you want your rattle, Tommy?” [switches to high-pitched child’s voice] “Yes, Daddy, I want my rattle!”
And I do that with my dogs. You know, like “Riply, do you want to go out for a walk?” [switches to cartoonish, high-pitched voice] “What are you talkin’ about? I always want to go out for a walk!”
Q. [laughing] My wife does that all the time.
SC. The telephone conversation and this sort of reciprocal conversation – which looks like a bad movie director’s version of schizophrenia -- psychologists have actually found out that these things are actually quite useful, because saying things out loud when you’re dealing with issues – especially if it’s personal problems and that kind of thing – has a different effect than just thinking about it yourself.
In fact, if you think about it, many therapists are quiet most of the time and only insert things when it’s absolutely necessary. Then you’re basically getting the benefit of that.
And the advantage of these reciprocal conversations is that you usually do it at times either when you’re feeling playful or particularly tense, because you recognize when you’re doing it that it’s absolutely stupid and it does in fact raise the mood level in people so you don’t feel as depressed and down.
So I do that all the time to my dogs. They provide me with this kind of companionship. They are always there to discuss whatever it is which I’m discussing. My wife is not always here. She’s very busy. So she’s not always here if I want to ask a question or I need a sounding board, but the dogs are always here.
So that’s where the dogs fit in my life. They’ve got a lot of functions.
Q. Have you had to deal with the loss of a dog?
SC. So many times. I mean, right now, my Dancer is 14. That’s an old dog for a retriever. He’s half-deaf. And Dancer is blind in one eye because had a TIA (transient ischemic attack), one of those mini-strokes. But he looks beautiful, he still moves around. I still use him as my demo dog because he insists on it. He doesn’t want the other guys to get the treats and the attention.
You know, if you have a life full of dogs you have a life full of loss. I’m always comforted by [a quotation by] Sir Walter Scott. He wrote at one point -- and I’m probably not quoting it properly – but something like he had often thought that the fact that dogs had such a short life was actually a blessing, because given the way that we grieve after living with them for ten years, imagine how much more we would grieve for them if they had lived twice that long.
I’ve had people say to me, “I really can’t deal with this grief so I’m not going to get another dog.” And I tell them to go read The Last Will and Testament Blemie O’Neill
(You can read O’Neill’s entire piece here: www.eoneill.com/texts/blemie/contents.htm). This is Eugene O’Neill’s Dalmatian. He wrote it just to convince his wife that he was dealing with the fact that Blemie was getting old and was about to die, he wrote the last will and testament of the dog. One of the lines which he wrote in there has always stuck with me, and it goes something like “Do not say that because you have always loved me so much that you cannot get another dog, but rather say that because you have loved me so much that you have learned that you cannot live without another dog.”
That’s very much how I feel.
With thanks to Dr. Coren
Much of Dr. Coren’s work focuses on the establishment of a deeper connection with dogs through understanding of their motivations and modes of communication. By interpreting for us the actual meaning of canine behaviour (like sniffing at crotches, digging, etc.) Dr. Stan bridges the dog-human communication gap and effectively demystifies conduct that humans may find cursorily puzzling, frustrating and occasionally bizarre – but which makes unimpeachable sense for a dog.
Dr. Stan is a compassionate, sagacious man, whose love of dogs is both palpable and inspiring.
On Dr. Stan’s couch:
DANCER: 14-year-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
DARBY: Eight-year-old beagle
RIPLY: 1 ½ year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Q. We often see you on TV speaking in a professional capacity, and rarely do we get a chance to hear you speak in a private, personal way about your dogs.
SC. You have to understand that they are very much my dogs, in the sense that my wife does not have a whole lot of tolerance for dogs. My most recent book, Born to Bark, is about a 13-year war she had with one of my dogs. You know, she loves me, so she tolerates it as though I had a drug habit or something.
My dogs serve a number of purposes. I teach dog obedience classes with a non-profit dog obedience club (vancouverdogobedience.com). It’s a bit of my public service, if you will. We’re the second-oldest dog obedience club in Canada. My dogs have to be demonstrator dogs, so they have to be able to get out there and pretend that they’re better trained than the other dogs that we’re teaching.
The second thing which they have is dog competitions, mostly obedience and rally competitions. I don’t slide down mountains with sticks tied to my feet [laughs]; dog obedience is my sport. When I’m in a competitive mood it’s go to a dog show and compete with my dogs.
The other thing is they are also my exercise. I am a retired emeritus professor of psychology at UBC, just about pushing 70. If it wasn’t for the fact I have to get my dogs out and move them around – I spend most of my time chained to a keyboard, so they basically require me to move.
They also impose upon you a schedule. It’s not the case that well, now I’m retired so I’m going to sleep in till noon. When Dancer, the older dog, decides that it is breakfast time, he will march over and if my hand is draped over the bed, he will nose it until I get up. And if it’s not, he will sit over there and whimper with this high-pitched whimper – which is much more effective than an alarm clock – and gets me up and gets me moving.
The final thing which dogs provide me is they are a continual comfort; they are my therapy. When things get rough, my response is I sit with the dogs. I run my hands through them. I talk to my dogs all the time when I have important decisions. I have a rule in my head, which is you don’t lie to the dog.
And, by the way, there are three ways that people talk to dogs. The first is where you just make statements, like “Well, Lassie, it’s raining. I think I’m going to take my umbrella”; something like that. The other one is like a telephone conversation, where you talk to the dog and it’s almost like you’re hearing one side of a telephone [conversation] and it goes something like “Well, Lassie, Aunt Sylvia’s birthday is coming up, what do you think I should get her for a gift?” Then there’s a pause, and you say something like, “No, not chocolate!”
The third form of dog conversation -- and if you want to see samples of this you can see it in my book or in John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie, because he was traveling around the world with his black poodle and talking to the dog about social issues – that’s where you talk to the dog and you actually provide the answers in another voice. People, by the way, do this with kids all the time. They’ll say, “Do you want your rattle, Tommy?” [switches to high-pitched child’s voice] “Yes, Daddy, I want my rattle!”
And I do that with my dogs. You know, like “Riply, do you want to go out for a walk?” [switches to cartoonish, high-pitched voice] “What are you talkin’ about? I always want to go out for a walk!”
Q. [laughing] My wife does that all the time.
SC. The telephone conversation and this sort of reciprocal conversation – which looks like a bad movie director’s version of schizophrenia -- psychologists have actually found out that these things are actually quite useful, because saying things out loud when you’re dealing with issues – especially if it’s personal problems and that kind of thing – has a different effect than just thinking about it yourself.
In fact, if you think about it, many therapists are quiet most of the time and only insert things when it’s absolutely necessary. Then you’re basically getting the benefit of that.
And the advantage of these reciprocal conversations is that you usually do it at times either when you’re feeling playful or particularly tense, because you recognize when you’re doing it that it’s absolutely stupid and it does in fact raise the mood level in people so you don’t feel as depressed and down.
So I do that all the time to my dogs. They provide me with this kind of companionship. They are always there to discuss whatever it is which I’m discussing. My wife is not always here. She’s very busy. So she’s not always here if I want to ask a question or I need a sounding board, but the dogs are always here.
So that’s where the dogs fit in my life. They’ve got a lot of functions.
Q. Have you had to deal with the loss of a dog?
SC. So many times. I mean, right now, my Dancer is 14. That’s an old dog for a retriever. He’s half-deaf. And Dancer is blind in one eye because had a TIA (transient ischemic attack), one of those mini-strokes. But he looks beautiful, he still moves around. I still use him as my demo dog because he insists on it. He doesn’t want the other guys to get the treats and the attention.
You know, if you have a life full of dogs you have a life full of loss. I’m always comforted by [a quotation by] Sir Walter Scott. He wrote at one point -- and I’m probably not quoting it properly – but something like he had often thought that the fact that dogs had such a short life was actually a blessing, because given the way that we grieve after living with them for ten years, imagine how much more we would grieve for them if they had lived twice that long.
I’ve had people say to me, “I really can’t deal with this grief so I’m not going to get another dog.” And I tell them to go read The Last Will and Testament Blemie O’Neill
(You can read O’Neill’s entire piece here: www.eoneill.com/texts/blemie/contents.htm). This is Eugene O’Neill’s Dalmatian. He wrote it just to convince his wife that he was dealing with the fact that Blemie was getting old and was about to die, he wrote the last will and testament of the dog. One of the lines which he wrote in there has always stuck with me, and it goes something like “Do not say that because you have always loved me so much that you cannot get another dog, but rather say that because you have loved me so much that you have learned that you cannot live without another dog.”
That’s very much how I feel.
With thanks to Dr. Coren
“I just realized I couldn’t live without a dog.”
FashionTV icon Jeanne Beker talks about grief, growth…and Gus
By Tom Sandford
Photo by Tom Sandler
As a respected producer, TV host, fashion icon, editor and the author of five books, Jeanne Beker has been a fixture in Canadian media for more than 30 years. From her unforgettable interviews with the likes of The Ramones and the (then baby-faced) members of U2 during her tenure as co-host (with John “J.D.” Roberts) of The New Music, to her role as producer/host at FashionTelevision, Jeanne has distinguished herself as THE face and voice of Canadian entertainment and fashion reportage.
In January 2012, the Toronto Star published an article penned by Jeanne, but it had nothing to do with celebrities, designers or haute couture. It was a moving elegy for her beloved Golden Retriever, Beau, who had recently died at the age of 13.
Like the best elegies, it was a dignified, eloquent, loving tribute that captured the beauty of dogs as cherished, irreplaceable participants in our innocuous, everyday family moments – moments that only seem poignant in hindsight. Jeanne’s words managed to translate her private reminiscences and personal loss into a profound expression of sorrow that was instantly relatable and universally understood.
It seems fitting then that, in early spring of 2012, a season that promises new life and renewed growth, the Star published another column by Jeanne, a kind of follow-up to her piece on Beau. It was entitled “Jeanne Beker welcomes a golden doodle puppy into her life.”
Gus, the six-month-old puppy in question, is, according Jeanne, blessed with “extraordinary intelligence.” Jeanne’s adoration for her new “sweetheart” is palpable, and yet there were moments during our conversation when discussing her new puppy that she slipped and unwittingly referred to him as Beau. Whether taken as a manifestation of subconscious grief or simply the force of habit, Jeanne’s slip indicates the depth to which dogs can infiltrate our minds and hearts.
Q: Tell me a little bit about Gus.
Jeanne Beker: He’s from a breeder called Doodle Treasures (www.doodletreasures.com). He’s just a sweetheart. He’s almost six months old and he was three months when I got him. He just melted my heart. I didn’t think I was ready for another dog that soon, but I just realized I couldn’t live without a dog.
We didn’t want to get another Golden Retriever – at least one of my daughters in particular was dead set against that; she thought it would remind us too much of Beau. But I love the temperament of a Golden. I found out about the dogs that are half-Golden and half-poodle, and make them less likely to shed, and maybe not as stinky…there’s a couple of down sides to Goldens.
Q: How does Gus’ personality compare with Beau’s?
JB: It’s hard to tell because when I had Beau at (six months old) I was raising my two young daughters as well, so they were my babies first and foremost, and the dog was just, sort of, the dog. Now this dog feels a little more like my baby.
I think there’s an incredible kind of intelligence here – not that Beau wasn’t intelligent -- but this is extraordinary. It’s almost like I am dealing with a small child. He really has an extraordinary intelligence. He’s just a great little guy.
Beau would be a big barker and I sort of liked it to some degree, because I had the farmhouse and everything…but so much so that I couldn’t really take him to a Starbucks and tie him up outside without him barking and barking, demanding attention. Whereas this little guy, Gus, I mean I can tie him up and he’ll be just good as gold till I come back out.
Q: What would a typical day in the life of Gus be like?
JB: Every day is different for Gus because every day is different for me. I take him to the park quite often. I go to a beautiful neighbourhood dog park that’s not even a ten-minute walk from my house. He runs around with the other dogs. He loves that. We try to do that twice a day. On weekends I try to get him up to my farm, which he adores.
He loves others dogs, [but] terrorizes the cat [named Moggie] to some degree, although not in a bad way; he’s getting a lot more used to it now.
He wants to play with her and he doesn’t know his own strength kind of thing. He’s quite heavy if he puts his paw on her, so she’s not too happy about that.
Q. Do other members of your family assist in the care of Gus?
JB: My eldest daughter [Bekky] has a studio in Chinatown and she often takes Gus to the studio where Gus just hangs out. It’s a studio that she shares with about a half dozen other young artists. They all absolutely love him, so he gets his hit of the artsy scene and gets to wander around Chinatown with her smelling up the delights of Kensington Market.
Q: How did you come up with the name? Is there any significance to it?
JB: I think it was one of my daughters -- I don’t know which one -- that actually said “Why don’t we call him Gus, like that mouse from Cinderella?” We loved the animated version of Cinderella when she goes “Oh, I’ll call you Octavius – Gus.” When he gets older we’ll call him Gustav. I wanted a fancy name for him. I wanted to name him Linus or Schroeder – I don’t know why I was thinking of Peanuts characters. He seemed to be that kind of dog. I like those monosyllabic names for dogs. But then, of course, Gus becomes “Gussie” and “Gustopher” and whatever crazy things we call him.
Gus just seems to suit him. It’s a good boy-dog name.
Many thanks to Jeanne Beker & Amanda Rinaldo. Special thanks to Tom Sandler for use of his photograph of Jeanne and Gus (tomsandlerphoto.com)
Photo by Tom Sandler
As a respected producer, TV host, fashion icon, editor and the author of five books, Jeanne Beker has been a fixture in Canadian media for more than 30 years. From her unforgettable interviews with the likes of The Ramones and the (then baby-faced) members of U2 during her tenure as co-host (with John “J.D.” Roberts) of The New Music, to her role as producer/host at FashionTelevision, Jeanne has distinguished herself as THE face and voice of Canadian entertainment and fashion reportage.
In January 2012, the Toronto Star published an article penned by Jeanne, but it had nothing to do with celebrities, designers or haute couture. It was a moving elegy for her beloved Golden Retriever, Beau, who had recently died at the age of 13.
Like the best elegies, it was a dignified, eloquent, loving tribute that captured the beauty of dogs as cherished, irreplaceable participants in our innocuous, everyday family moments – moments that only seem poignant in hindsight. Jeanne’s words managed to translate her private reminiscences and personal loss into a profound expression of sorrow that was instantly relatable and universally understood.
It seems fitting then that, in early spring of 2012, a season that promises new life and renewed growth, the Star published another column by Jeanne, a kind of follow-up to her piece on Beau. It was entitled “Jeanne Beker welcomes a golden doodle puppy into her life.”
Gus, the six-month-old puppy in question, is, according Jeanne, blessed with “extraordinary intelligence.” Jeanne’s adoration for her new “sweetheart” is palpable, and yet there were moments during our conversation when discussing her new puppy that she slipped and unwittingly referred to him as Beau. Whether taken as a manifestation of subconscious grief or simply the force of habit, Jeanne’s slip indicates the depth to which dogs can infiltrate our minds and hearts.
Q: Tell me a little bit about Gus.
Jeanne Beker: He’s from a breeder called Doodle Treasures (www.doodletreasures.com). He’s just a sweetheart. He’s almost six months old and he was three months when I got him. He just melted my heart. I didn’t think I was ready for another dog that soon, but I just realized I couldn’t live without a dog.
We didn’t want to get another Golden Retriever – at least one of my daughters in particular was dead set against that; she thought it would remind us too much of Beau. But I love the temperament of a Golden. I found out about the dogs that are half-Golden and half-poodle, and make them less likely to shed, and maybe not as stinky…there’s a couple of down sides to Goldens.
Q: How does Gus’ personality compare with Beau’s?
JB: It’s hard to tell because when I had Beau at (six months old) I was raising my two young daughters as well, so they were my babies first and foremost, and the dog was just, sort of, the dog. Now this dog feels a little more like my baby.
I think there’s an incredible kind of intelligence here – not that Beau wasn’t intelligent -- but this is extraordinary. It’s almost like I am dealing with a small child. He really has an extraordinary intelligence. He’s just a great little guy.
Beau would be a big barker and I sort of liked it to some degree, because I had the farmhouse and everything…but so much so that I couldn’t really take him to a Starbucks and tie him up outside without him barking and barking, demanding attention. Whereas this little guy, Gus, I mean I can tie him up and he’ll be just good as gold till I come back out.
Q: What would a typical day in the life of Gus be like?
JB: Every day is different for Gus because every day is different for me. I take him to the park quite often. I go to a beautiful neighbourhood dog park that’s not even a ten-minute walk from my house. He runs around with the other dogs. He loves that. We try to do that twice a day. On weekends I try to get him up to my farm, which he adores.
He loves others dogs, [but] terrorizes the cat [named Moggie] to some degree, although not in a bad way; he’s getting a lot more used to it now.
He wants to play with her and he doesn’t know his own strength kind of thing. He’s quite heavy if he puts his paw on her, so she’s not too happy about that.
Q. Do other members of your family assist in the care of Gus?
JB: My eldest daughter [Bekky] has a studio in Chinatown and she often takes Gus to the studio where Gus just hangs out. It’s a studio that she shares with about a half dozen other young artists. They all absolutely love him, so he gets his hit of the artsy scene and gets to wander around Chinatown with her smelling up the delights of Kensington Market.
Q: How did you come up with the name? Is there any significance to it?
JB: I think it was one of my daughters -- I don’t know which one -- that actually said “Why don’t we call him Gus, like that mouse from Cinderella?” We loved the animated version of Cinderella when she goes “Oh, I’ll call you Octavius – Gus.” When he gets older we’ll call him Gustav. I wanted a fancy name for him. I wanted to name him Linus or Schroeder – I don’t know why I was thinking of Peanuts characters. He seemed to be that kind of dog. I like those monosyllabic names for dogs. But then, of course, Gus becomes “Gussie” and “Gustopher” and whatever crazy things we call him.
Gus just seems to suit him. It’s a good boy-dog name.
Many thanks to Jeanne Beker & Amanda Rinaldo. Special thanks to Tom Sandler for use of his photograph of Jeanne and Gus (tomsandlerphoto.com)
Yannick Bisson's Mack just keeps on truckin'
Yannick & the boys: Duke, Mack & Kuda
Murdoch Mysteries’ Yannick Bisson talks to us about his three dogs, one of whom fought cancer… and defied the odds Detective William Murdoch, the fictional character portrayed by actor Yannick Bisson in the long-running TV series Murdoch Mysteries (recently picked up for a new season by CBC) is renowned for using nascent, unconventional forensic methods, like fingerprints, to solve crimes in Turn-of-the-Century Toronto. Often scorned by his peers for espousing and implementing such innovations (his hero is Nikola Tesla, inventor of AC power), Murdoch firmly believes that science provides all the answers.
But on Monday, August 8th, 2011 at 4:15 p.m., the gulf between the uncanny problem-solving abilities of a fictional character and those of a real-life pet owner became painfully apparent when Mack, the family’s beloved six-year-old Boxer, was diagnosed with stage 4 mast cell tumour.
According to PetMD.com, stage 4 is the final, most serious stage of the disease: “Stage 4 is characterized by the presence of a tumor, with metastasis to an organ or widespread mast cell presence in the blood.”
The prognosis was grim. Mack was given just six to eight months.
Ironically, it was Yannick’s wife, actress and inveterate dog lover Chantal Craig, who, in a sense, pulled a reverse-Murdoch by seeking unconventional, non-scientific answers to the problem.
“My wife really took it on, and went the holistic route with him,” says Yannick. Chantal contacted Dr. Victoria Dale-Harris (www.holisticvetmed.ca).
On August 14, 2011, six days after receiving word of the diagnosis, Chantal began to write a personal blog about Mack’s holistic-based cancer fight (www.canceradogsjourney.com). And while Chantal begins her story with the words, “This is [Mack’s] story. I’m just helping him type it out,” one also learns a great deal about the emotional toll taken by canine cancer upon a dog’s loving family.
Funny, ruminative, candid, often gut-wrenchingly poignant (early on, Yannick and Chantal held differing views as to when to inform their youngest daughter, Mikaela, about Mack’s condition) it’s an emotional rollercoaster, to be sure. But for anyone who has ever cared for a seriously ill dog – a dog who cannot tell you how he’s feeling other than by what is inferred from his eyes – it’s well understood how an endless series of ups and downs becomes one’s way of life. For the duration.
“We’re not putting him through any sort of chemical treatments,” writes Chantal. “Never. What we are doing is giving him high doses of Vitamin C. He’s up to 6000mgs a day. Which is funny since he was our one dog that we couldn’t even trick into eating Vitamin C when he was well. Now that he has cancer, he looks up at the counter almost as if he’s asking us to give him some. It’s totally bizarre.”
Along with the vitamins, Chantal writes that early in his treatment Mack was being fed meats like organic turkey and lamb livers, along with vegetables such as shitake mushrooms. More recently, she reported in March 2012 that Mack’s holistic vet had started him on a new regimen of vitamins and “holistic tinctures.”
Astonishingly, to the chagrin of his more conventional science-based vet, Dr. Matt Croskery, and the delight of his family, Mack has defied the odds. As of late April 2012 – a full eight months after he was given a prognosis of six to eight months to live – Mack is doing better than ever.
“Mack is doing quite well, actually,” reports Yannick. “His vet was unable to tell the difference between his and his healthy brother Kuda's scans. With fingers crossed he declared him cancer-free; full remission to be considered after a year. Dr. Matt is baffled.
“[Mack] sleeps a bit more sometimes, but on the whole, [he is] full of life. He's even gained a few pounds (don't tell him I said that). His nub wags the fastest.”
----------------------------------
Yan’s Dog Clan
Mack & Kuda – Boxers, 7 years old
Duke – English bulldog, 2
Q: Have you always been a dog guy?
Yannick Bisson: “(I have had dogs) ever since I met my wife. So 24 years now.
We inherited her tri-Collie; his name was Taurus. Sometime after he passed away we got a Dalmatian. He was a handful. He was a naughty dog – but we were also terrible owners. We’ve only really been half decent owners in the past few years. We’ve learned a lot. A lot of dogs have come through our lives since then.”
Q: Can you tell me a bit about your three dogs?
YB: Mack is man’s best friend. He’s quite an incredible dog. He knows silent commands, walks off-leash well.
Kuda loves his mom. He’s a big tuxedo boxer and he actually talks. He says “Mom” a lot. He talks a lot. We have to keep him on a tight leash because he’s very prey-driven, he’s very curious, always got his nose to the air.
Duke has mangled a few pieces of furniture. He’ll steal some of the girls’ things and he’ll hide them and chew on them and stuff. [Editor’s note: On her blog, Chantal sums up the pup in a mere three words: “Cheeky, bossy, snorty.”]
Q: What are the sleeping arrangements for the dogs?
YB: Well, the hard-and-fast rule has always been that the dogs have their own beds. We have some regular dog beds and they’ve always just slept by the front window of the house. You start them in their crates and eventually they have their dog beds. But, for some reason, Duke is just so cute that my wife lets him fall asleep in our room but then he leaves anyway. Or she kicks him out because he snores.”
Q. What is the daily routine for the dogs?
Sometimes if it’s too cold or if it’s raining they don’t want to go outside. So they‘ll just do a little fly-by around the yard. They’ve always exercised each other. So they fight and wrestle when it’s nice out. And they get a lot of energy out that way. And Duke has added a whole new element to that because he takes them both on, which is bizarre because he’s half the size.
We live near Taylor Creek so we walk them down by the ravine.
Q: Have the dogs made any cameos on Murdoch Mysteries?
YB: So far, Mack has had a walk-on in Season 5, and it happened around the time we were a little bit worried about him with cancer. He gave us a bucket list of things that he wanted to do and he said he wanted to be on dad’s show. So we have him there as a spectator of a street hockey game. He did a great job too. He nailed his close-up.
With sincere thanks to Yannick Bisson and Paul Aitken
With Yannick, left to right: Duke, Kuda & Mack
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MIDI!
...AND JANN ARDEN
By Tom Sandford
Jann Arden is an eight-time Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter who has scored a remarkable 17 top-10 singles over the course of ten albums since her debut in 1993. At turns, she’s also been a music producer (SHeDAISY), the host of Being Jann on CBC Radio One,co-host of TV’s Canada Sings, and author of three books (the latest of which is a memoir entitled Falling Backwards, released in November 2011).
Additionally, Jann is the recipient of various honours and accolades from the MuchMusic Video Awards, the Prairie Music Awards, the Western Canadian Music Awards and the Alberta Recording Industry Association.
She’s got a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, too.
Jann is also a good sport with an instinctive grasp of comic pathos. She recently partook in any self-respecting acrophobe’s ultimate nightmare – the Edge Walk – atop and outside of the CN Tower, for a memorable segment of CBC’s Rick Mercer Report.
“He told me I wouldn’t have to do it!” she says of Mercer. “He said, ‘Let’s just go through the training and, you know, we’ll just go up there, and if you say no …’
At this moment Jann interrupts herself, just as she doubtless interrupted Mercer.
‘I said no! You heard me say I don’t want to go!’ And he’s just like, ‘You’re letting down the women of Canada.’ And I’m like, ‘The women of Canada don’t care!’”
Notwithstanding these considerable accolades and achievements, Jann freely admits she plays second fiddle to the real star of the family, her adorable five-pound Morkie, Midi.
She’s got a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, too.
Jann is also a good sport with an instinctive grasp of comic pathos. She recently partook in any self-respecting acrophobe’s ultimate nightmare – the Edge Walk – atop and outside of the CN Tower, for a memorable segment of CBC’s Rick Mercer Report.
“He told me I wouldn’t have to do it!” she says of Mercer. “He said, ‘Let’s just go through the training and, you know, we’ll just go up there, and if you say no …’
At this moment Jann interrupts herself, just as she doubtless interrupted Mercer.
‘I said no! You heard me say I don’t want to go!’ And he’s just like, ‘You’re letting down the women of Canada.’ And I’m like, ‘The women of Canada don’t care!’”
Notwithstanding these considerable accolades and achievements, Jann freely admits she plays second fiddle to the real star of the family, her adorable five-pound Morkie, Midi.
I’ve always had dogs – big dogs – big farm dogs that are outside all the time. Not a five-pound dog that travels in a bag.
“I get nothing from my fans anymore,” Jann says, sipping iced Diet Coke, occasionally munching on a sweet-potato chip. “Zero, nada, zilch. I don’t get pot pourri, I don’t get a coffee mug. She gets everything! When [fans] hand me a bag? ‘Here’s something for Midi.’ It used to be me. I used to get paperbacks or some dark chocolate. She gets outfits, raincoats, rock t-shirts, glasses, goggles, hats, blankets, shoes…”
Engaging, witty, informal, unpretentious, folksy, charmingly chatty…Jann Arden is all of these things. One might also add she’s a caring and considerate mom, madly in love with her five-pound furry companion.
Breed: Morkie
Age: 3
Birthday: November 18
Colour: Brown
Weight: 5 lbs, 2 ounces
Meet Midi
Jann Arden: She’s an awesome dog. She doesn’t sit, or come when she’s called or anything like that. She just sleeps. But she’s an amazing traveler. She likes squirrels. She’ll let me dress her in whatever I want. She will bite me, on occasion, if she really hates the outfit. She doesn’t like the unicorn outfit at all. She hates the bunny outfit because the hood goes too far over her eyes.
Q: What kind of snacks does she like, if any?
JA: She’s not a good eater. She doesn’t like people food. It could be bacon, it could be chicken, it could be beef: she doesn’t eat it. She’s so not a dogdog. I don’t know what to make of it. She likes duck jerky. She’ll eat that once in a while. I boil chicken for her or I grill steak.
There’s one kind of dog food I have to get from the States called Chef Michael’s Rotisserie Chicken dinner (www.chef-michaels.com). I was just in Nashville and I bought two cases of it for the road and I lie, bringing it over the border: “Do you have any dog food?” “Yeah…a little bit.”
She’ll eat that but I have to hand-feed her – and I get criticized all the time [for doing that].
Chicken she will eat on her own. But she does this thing with her little head. She’ll wipe it on the ground – I don’t know why. It’s like she’s got a tic, and she’s done it since she was eight weeks old.
She doesn’t eat crunchies. She’ll eat it if I [act like] it’s a toy and I take the time to play with it for a long time. And then she’ll finally just give up and swallow it.
She gets cream every day. The vet told me that it was okay. I want her to have some fat and some carbohydrates. So she likes cream and she always has a little milk moustache. She’s spoiled rotten!
Jann Arden On Tour – with Special Guest, Midi
JA: Oh, she comes. She loves it. She loves the attention, she loves the crew, she loves running around the arenas, she loves the dressing rooms and the candles and flowers and the meet-and-greet. And [audiences] want to see her, they don’t want to see me. So she steals my thunder a little bit.
Do you ever have problems getting Midi into hotels while on tour?
JA: I’m like, “You want me in your hotel, you get my dog. You don’t want me in your hotel, we’ll see you later. I’ll take all 25 of my crew with me.”
Plus they never know I have her! She lays so low in her bag. And the bag looks like a black purse, but it really is a dog kennel; like, it’s got ventilation and pockets for the treats. She’s over my shoulder and she doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t do anything. She’s like, “I need to lay low. Once we get in the room, it’ll all be good.”
How did you come to acquire Midi?
JA: My friend [Kristyn Osborn, member of SHeDAISY] lives in Nashville and I was actually working with her and her sisters. I was producing a record for them. She wanted a dog. I never thought about having a [lap]dog. I basically live on a farm, and I’ve always had dogs – big dogs – big farm dogs that are outside all the time. Not a five-pound dog that travels in a bag. To me, that was a ridiculous thing to even consider. I was always one of those people rolling my eyeballs, going “Oh, my god. Are they serious? That is pathetic.”
So my friend buys this dog. She has it four or five days. I’m in Calgary. She’s like “I’m in a panic. I’ve got the dog and we’ve got to go out; I’ve got these gigs to do! Can you look after the dog?” Her family is not in Nashville, so I flew down there, got the dog, and came back with her. Because it turns out they were going to be gone three weeks. And I said, “I can’t stay here for three weeks. I’ve got to go home.”
So I put her in a bag on the plane. I’ve never done anything like that. She was as good as gold. She’s just in this little bag looking out. She didn’t say a peep. Didn’t pee, didn’t anything.
I loved her 24 hours after I had her. I’m just thinking she’s the cutest little thing ever. She learned how to pee on the little pads right away.
Engaging, witty, informal, unpretentious, folksy, charmingly chatty…Jann Arden is all of these things. One might also add she’s a caring and considerate mom, madly in love with her five-pound furry companion.
Breed: Morkie
Age: 3
Birthday: November 18
Colour: Brown
Weight: 5 lbs, 2 ounces
Meet Midi
Jann Arden: She’s an awesome dog. She doesn’t sit, or come when she’s called or anything like that. She just sleeps. But she’s an amazing traveler. She likes squirrels. She’ll let me dress her in whatever I want. She will bite me, on occasion, if she really hates the outfit. She doesn’t like the unicorn outfit at all. She hates the bunny outfit because the hood goes too far over her eyes.
Q: What kind of snacks does she like, if any?
JA: She’s not a good eater. She doesn’t like people food. It could be bacon, it could be chicken, it could be beef: she doesn’t eat it. She’s so not a dogdog. I don’t know what to make of it. She likes duck jerky. She’ll eat that once in a while. I boil chicken for her or I grill steak.
There’s one kind of dog food I have to get from the States called Chef Michael’s Rotisserie Chicken dinner (www.chef-michaels.com). I was just in Nashville and I bought two cases of it for the road and I lie, bringing it over the border: “Do you have any dog food?” “Yeah…a little bit.”
She’ll eat that but I have to hand-feed her – and I get criticized all the time [for doing that].
Chicken she will eat on her own. But she does this thing with her little head. She’ll wipe it on the ground – I don’t know why. It’s like she’s got a tic, and she’s done it since she was eight weeks old.
She doesn’t eat crunchies. She’ll eat it if I [act like] it’s a toy and I take the time to play with it for a long time. And then she’ll finally just give up and swallow it.
She gets cream every day. The vet told me that it was okay. I want her to have some fat and some carbohydrates. So she likes cream and she always has a little milk moustache. She’s spoiled rotten!
Jann Arden On Tour – with Special Guest, Midi
JA: Oh, she comes. She loves it. She loves the attention, she loves the crew, she loves running around the arenas, she loves the dressing rooms and the candles and flowers and the meet-and-greet. And [audiences] want to see her, they don’t want to see me. So she steals my thunder a little bit.
Do you ever have problems getting Midi into hotels while on tour?
JA: I’m like, “You want me in your hotel, you get my dog. You don’t want me in your hotel, we’ll see you later. I’ll take all 25 of my crew with me.”
Plus they never know I have her! She lays so low in her bag. And the bag looks like a black purse, but it really is a dog kennel; like, it’s got ventilation and pockets for the treats. She’s over my shoulder and she doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t do anything. She’s like, “I need to lay low. Once we get in the room, it’ll all be good.”
How did you come to acquire Midi?
JA: My friend [Kristyn Osborn, member of SHeDAISY] lives in Nashville and I was actually working with her and her sisters. I was producing a record for them. She wanted a dog. I never thought about having a [lap]dog. I basically live on a farm, and I’ve always had dogs – big dogs – big farm dogs that are outside all the time. Not a five-pound dog that travels in a bag. To me, that was a ridiculous thing to even consider. I was always one of those people rolling my eyeballs, going “Oh, my god. Are they serious? That is pathetic.”
So my friend buys this dog. She has it four or five days. I’m in Calgary. She’s like “I’m in a panic. I’ve got the dog and we’ve got to go out; I’ve got these gigs to do! Can you look after the dog?” Her family is not in Nashville, so I flew down there, got the dog, and came back with her. Because it turns out they were going to be gone three weeks. And I said, “I can’t stay here for three weeks. I’ve got to go home.”
So I put her in a bag on the plane. I’ve never done anything like that. She was as good as gold. She’s just in this little bag looking out. She didn’t say a peep. Didn’t pee, didn’t anything.
I loved her 24 hours after I had her. I’m just thinking she’s the cutest little thing ever. She learned how to pee on the little pads right away.
|
"She will bite me, on occasion, if she really hates the outfit.
She doesn’t like the unicorn outfit at all." |
My friend got back, so I flew back to Nashville with her. She’s looking at me and… I dropped her off. I said, “This is so sad. She is such a cute little dog. You’re so lucky.”
I remember leaving out the door and I could hear her crying, and I just felt sick. I got my suitcase and I’m going down the sidewalk. She is going nuts! She’s like eleven weeks old. And I just felt like crying.
I just got in the cab and went to the airport.
I got home and [asked Kristyn] “How’s the dog doing?”
She says, “Just terrible! She hasn’t stopped crying! She won’t eat, I can’t get her in her kennel.” I said, “Dogs move on. She will be fine” – not that I know anything about dogs; I’m just trying to reassure her.
My friend says, “I don’t know what to do. I think you’re going to have to take this dog.”
So I went back and Midi and I have been together ever since. It was like a romantic movie where two people are running towards each other through a field of daisies in slow motion and there’s bombs going off behind us. And we’re just locked [in each other’s] eyes, running towards each other … very cinematic.
With sincere thanks to Jann Arden.
I remember leaving out the door and I could hear her crying, and I just felt sick. I got my suitcase and I’m going down the sidewalk. She is going nuts! She’s like eleven weeks old. And I just felt like crying.
I just got in the cab and went to the airport.
I got home and [asked Kristyn] “How’s the dog doing?”
She says, “Just terrible! She hasn’t stopped crying! She won’t eat, I can’t get her in her kennel.” I said, “Dogs move on. She will be fine” – not that I know anything about dogs; I’m just trying to reassure her.
My friend says, “I don’t know what to do. I think you’re going to have to take this dog.”
So I went back and Midi and I have been together ever since. It was like a romantic movie where two people are running towards each other through a field of daisies in slow motion and there’s bombs going off behind us. And we’re just locked [in each other’s] eyes, running towards each other … very cinematic.
With sincere thanks to Jann Arden.
