Jil McIntosh: Rude, Lewd & Tattooed

Pens: What do women want?

I have a story on women and pens in the June issue of Pen World -- yes, there really are magazines devoted to writing instruments! You can find it by clicking here.

And the Nobel prize goes to ...

... Greenies, the company that makes Pill Pockets. I'm serious. These folks deserve the Oscar, the Grammy, the Pulitzer, and whatever other prizes are available.

Some background: Puccini, that adorable little waif in the photo, is getting older, and her thyroid is starting to present some problems. The vet has prescribed pills. Now, getting Puccini to take a pill the conventional way would involve my local hospital, where I'd be going to get sewn up after she finally spit out the pill for the 15th time. When the vet said she's going to be on pills twice a day for the next month at least, my heart sank ... and I checked how much medical coverage I have.

Enter Pill Pockets. These are soft little chewy treats with a hole in the middle. You put the pill in, glump the treat around it, and present it to the pet. Puccini's sharp as a whip and can usually figure out if you're trying to pull a fast one, but the taste buds prevailed: Pill Pocket and pill disappeared in the blink of an eye, and she was begging for more.

Pill Pocket People, I can't thank you enough.

No designer dogs!

I have a letter to the editor published in the July 2009 issue of Toronto Life. The magazine had a story on Toronto parks and mentioned people walking their Labradoodles. My response:

Please, no more references to Labradoodles or whatever the latest ridiculous designer dog name is. Listen up, trophy dog owners: you do not have a schnoodle, a cockapoo, a goldendoodle or a shih-poo, no matter how special you think it sounds. You simply own a mutt of known parentage.