Give Gift of Safety — Not Gravy at Holiday Time

Give animals the gift of safety, not gravy — Keep the holidays safe for your pets by keeping them away from table scraps and Christmas decorations
By Roberto Santiago, The Miami Herald

Cooper, a 2-year-old golden retriever from Fort Lauderdale, loves twinkling Christmas lights — perhaps too much. He once tried to munch on a string of multicolored lights, much to the horror of his owner.

”It could have led to something tragic,” said owner Dan Idzinga, 36, who now sprays his Christmas lights with a product called Bitter Apple, available in all pet stores, which instantly stops any pet from chewing.

”It works — oh, boy! Cooper tasted it and made a sour face like a little kid,” said Idzinga, who also replaced the glass Christmas bulbs on his tree with plastic ones.

”He would come in wagging his big tail and they would come crashing down,” said Idzinga, who said the broken glass would have posed a hazard to his four cats and Cooper.

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Whoaaaaa!

Smile for the camera
By Leah Etling, The Tribune

Kioni, a golden retriever owned by John and Andrea Euphrat of Atascadero, can get five tennis balls in his mouth, but four is his usual habit. Kioni the ball catching wonder dog may very well be Atascadero’s biggest pet celebrity of 2006.

In November, while his owners were away on vacation, Kioni made news in a big way. A photo of the cheery 6-year-old golden retriever was published in Parade, a magazine supplement that reaches nearly 33 million newspaper readers every Sunday.

In the photo, which the dog’s owner Andrea Euphrat took several months ago, Kioni’s smile is four tennis balls wide. That’s not an estimate. Kioni can actually fit five standard size tennis balls in his mouth, on occasion — but four is his usual habit.

John and Andrea Euphrat raised two boys and one girl and now are also proud parents to Kioni and his younger companion, Treavor, a mutt. The couple has received calls from around the state and beyond for the photograph, which Andrea Euphrat snapped with her digital camera.

The homemaker is Kioni’s favorite playmate. In the morning, while she blow-dries her hair, she kicks balls down the hall for Kioni to fetch. “As soon as he hears that blow-dryer, he’s at the bathroom door,” she said.

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