“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: RORY CAUGHT UP IN A STICKY SITUATION REQUIRING EMERGENCY “SURGERY”

RORY CAUGHT UP IN A STICKY SITUATION REQUIRING EMERGENCY “SURGERY”

I am perpetually curious having nothing to do with the film “I Am Curious Yellow”. Open door I’ll investigate or closed door I will try and push it open to investigate. Loose toilet paper hanging like a fish lure I will grab it and run. A log ready to go in the fireplace I will peel off the bark. An unattended shoe is chew time. You get the picture.

You are familiar with the expression curiosity killed the cat. Bob often says this is his 4th dog and when I do something like an investigative reporter on “60 Minutes” he gasps, “Never seen any of my dogs do that!” I guess I am extra special. Right? A gifted Westie?

Bob was watching a film the other night and I admit I interrupted him 12 times halfway through the film and being somewhat excessively curious I snatched a crumbled ball of duct tape Bob had placed in the garbage can and it stuck to my paw and wrapped around one of my nails. Bob tried to gently pull it off but this tape is so sticky it hurt and I squealed in pain. I had the impression Bob was ready to squeal with anxiety. He grabbed a bowl, filled it with warm water and soaked my tape entangled paw in the water to soften the glue periodically cutting pieces of the tape with a scissor until I was tape free. Bob said, “I feel like a bloody surgeon!”

Just another day of puppydom!

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: RORY’S REALLY REALLY BAD DAY

I am almost 4 months of age and I experienced my first really really bad day. Bob and A (his son) took me to the veterinarian. At my last visit I received a sharp needle in my flank and yelped in pain. Bob tells me it is all for my own good as it prevents diseases dogs’ contract. I felt crappy after for a day and required more sleep than my puppy naps afforded me.

Bob had difficulty finding parking and arrived in the examining room after my first needle which hurt very much. Then another one. Dr. K is a nice woman and speaks to me so gently but the needles! She gave me a prickly tray with wet food smeared all over it to divert my attention for the second needle which didn’t hurt as bad as the first one. Tricky lady but I still love her. Then some medicine up my nose! I sneezed and sneezed. Then a nail clipping which I have never had before. And in the evening my poop was watery and some stuck to my nice clean bum hair. Bob had given me a bath just prior to visiting the vet. I do not like baths “just like Dylan the Westie” Bob said. AND I HAD TO HAVE ANOTHER BATH TO CLEAN THE POOP OFF! Bob’s sweet talking made me feel just a wee bit better. I felt groggy after my bath and had no energy to cause my usual mayhem.

And Bob and Dr. K had conversed about me losing my manhood at 6 months of age. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???!!!

And you thought being a puppy was all about gambolling about, doing puppy twirls and giving kisses all day long…..

RKS Literature: The Party’s View of Its Ideal Society and Reality (George Orwell)

“The ideal set up by the Party was something huge, terrible and glittering-a world of steel and concrete, monstrous machines and terrifying weapons-a nation of warriors and fanatics, marching forward in perfect unity, all thinking the same thoughts and shouting the same slogans, perpetually working, fighting, triumphing, persecuting-three hundred million people all with the  same face. The reality was decaying, dingy cities where underfed people shuffled to and fro in leaky shoes, in patched up nineteenth century houses that smelt always of cabbage and bad lavatories.”

George Orwell, “1984”, 1949.

RKS CANADIAN Television: “Animal Nation” Premiers 8January2026 on APTN With “BEAR”

2Ducks Media and APTN announced on 17December2025 the launch of the sweeping docuseries Animal Nation, premiering January 8, 2026 on APTN (in English) and streaming on APTN+. This groundbreaking project, created in collaboration with Indigenous communities across Canada and the U.S., takes viewers deep into the heart of some of the continent’s most beautiful wild spaces and tells the stories of seven iconic animals, guided by the people who have co-existed and protected their shared territories for generations. From incredible animal behaviour to on-the-ground conservation efforts, each of the seven episodes highlights a keystone species: Bear, Beaver, Bison, Caribou, Eagle, Salmon and Wolf.

Created by Ojibway producer Jesse Bochner and Moroccan-born producer Ari A. Cohen, and a talented team of Indigenous key creatives — writers, directors, editors, composers and acclaimed narrator Tantoo Cardinal — the series blends everything audiences love in wildlife storytelling with the depth, insight, and relationships that come from Indigenous knowledge and culture. 

Episode 1 on 8January2026 focuses on the Grizzly bear and is filmed in various Indigenous nations in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Viewers will enjoy dramatically compelling cinematography. Indigenous educators, land stewards, land guardians, hunting guides and biologists explain the importance of the Grizzly from a cultural and socio-economic perspective.

The behaviours, threats, migratory patterns, diet and Grizzly sanctuaries are discussed. The episode is not so much about the Grizzly but its importance in Indigenous culture and the ecosystem.

Laura Grizzlypaws, an Indigenous educator and knowledge keeper, explains the Grizzly is symbolic of many Indigenous cultures in which it can be found. The Grizzly is seen as a first teacher of hunting and foraging techniques and shelter construction.

RKS Literature: The Lottery and the Proles (George Orwell)

“The Lottery with its weekly payout of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that were some million of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was concerned even people who could barely read and write seemed capable of intricate calculation and staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe of men who made a living simply by selling systems, forecasts and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to do with the running of the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the Party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes being non-existent persons.”

George Orwell, “1984”, 1949.

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: RORY AIN’T NO HOWLING WOLF: HE HAS A MISSION: The Puppy Potty Saga Continues

RORY AIN’T NO HOWLING WOLF: HE HAS A MISSION: The Puppy Potty Saga Continues

Since we were just discussing Kurt Cobain let me continue this musical interface by stating I am no Howling Wolf, that legendary blues singer, nor a wolf with rabies.

If I bark up a storm by the sliding door leading to the backyard Bob and Fay initially thought I saw a squirrel and am clamouring to get to it. That’s true I bark in preparation for a squirrel attack but this barking somehow is rewarded with a treat if I do my “business outside”. It also works with a gentle bark. I am making THE CONNECTION finally. Puppy owners please realize puppy potty training is a mutual affair. You train me. I train you. I am not “howling” to satisfy a primitive instinct…at least this time. Although face it potty training is rather instinctual. You gotta go. You gotta go. The trick is location. Location. Location!

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: DYLAN THE WESTIE, RORY AND KURT KOBAIN: Smelling Like Puppy Spirit”

DYLAN THE WESTIE, RORY AND KURT KOBAIN: Smelling Like Puppy Spirit”

Bob and Fay are experiencing difficulties in remembering me, Dylan the Westie, as a pup. I can’t remember much but watching Rory from here in the Land Beyond some memories are flooding back.

We might want to refer to music now. Rory loves jazz. He likes to listen to jazz before his naps. I preferred classical and absolutely loved “Saturday Afternoon at the Opera” on CBC. I never liked that screeching, shouting, yelling cacophony of rock n roll. Beastie Boys drove me mad and if less sophisticated I would have howled to drown their racket out.

Bob did like a Nirvana song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” which was was barely acceptable to me. If you observe Rory he is go go go. Running around the backyard, snowplowing, puppy twirls, chewing, giving wet kisses and playing with his toys. Then suddenly he is out of gas and groggy which is code for nap time. After his nap, a trip outside for his “business” and perhaps a nibble or two and a slurp of water his energy kicks in until it is nap time. Remembering the Kurt Cobain song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” it is incumbent on me to say Rory “Smells Like Puppy Spirit”.

RKS CANADIAN Wine: Reif Estate’s 2020 Niagara River Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

 Ontario Cabernet Franc offers wine drinkers excellent results but with Ontario Cabernet Sauvignon it is “Brave New World”. It seldom impresses.

What about the REIF Estate 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve from Ontario’s Niagara River appellation?

Aroma: Blueberry, black cherry, licorice and charcoal.

Palate: Diffuse and moderate tannins. The intriguing aromas do not migrate to the palate in great intensity. Do we politely call this a “cold climate” Cabernet Sauvignon instead of labelling it weak kneed?

Personality: I am a Niagara Cabernet Sauvignon. I am lean and tough if you prefer that style.

Food Match: The label suggests a roasted leg of lamb but much depends on how that leg is seasoned. I think a duck roasted with Port, chicken broth, celery, carrots and freshly squeezed orange juice might work well.

Cellarbility: Some vague hope the wine might improve into 2029 .

Price: $35 CDN. You can fare much better with a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon at $25.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 84/100.Matt Steeves 93.

(Reif Estate Winery 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, VQA Niagara River, Reif Winery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, 750 mL,13.5%).

RKS Literature: Pornography for the Proles (George Orwell)

“There was a whole chain of separate departments dealing with proletarian literature, music, drama and entertainment generally. Here were produced rubbishy newspapers containing almost nothing but sport, crime, astrology, sensational five cent novelettes, films oozing with sex, and sentimental songs which were composed entirely by mechanical means on a special kind of kaleidoscope known as a versificator. There was even a whole subsection-Pornosec, it was called in Newspeak-engaged in producing the lowest kind of pornography, which was sent out in sealed packets and which no Party member, other those that worked on it, was permitted to look at.”

George Orwell, “1984”, 1949.

RKS CANADIAN WINE: Akimbo but Not Forgotten Viewpointe 2012 Ontario Cabernet Franc

I am uncertain if this Viewpointe Estate Winery 2012 Cabernet Franc from Ontario’s Lake Erie North Shore was a sample provided by the winery or I purchased it at a hurried trip to the winery some years ago. It was at the low far bottom rack of the wine cellar and was “discovered” in a reorganization attempt.  I did have a label indicating consume in 2024 so I suppose I wasn’t that far off opening it on 9December2025. I must have found some quality in the wine that justified some ageing bearing in mind I stretch drink dates dates beyond my initial cellarbility for experimentation purposes and for a $20 purchase price the financial risk is minimal.

Aroma: Big blackberry, blueberry, cassis, dark chocolate with a subtle vanilla core. Some percolated coffee is creeping in. Coffee aromas in red wine, according to my experience, are indicative of a wine on the decline.

Palate: Smooth with relaxed tannins. Full of black fruit. Medium length somewhat juicy finish. Stable acids.

Personality: I represent Ontario’s great red wine strength, Cabernet Franc. Quite an achievement I say flourishing after 13 years in the bottle.

Original Purchase Price: $20 CDN.

RKS CANADIAN Wine Rating: 88/100.

(Viewpointe Estate Winery, Cabernet Franc 2012 VQA Lake Erie North Shore, Viewpointe Estate Winery, Harrow, Ontario, 750 mL, 14%).