Bill the Wonder Puppy has gone to live on a remote Island with his new parents, who are lighthouse keepers. We are certain Bill will enjoy his new wilderness retreat!

Well we wanted to wait a short while before writing to you about Billy so that we would have a little better idea as to who he really is. Charlotte picked Billy up from Cheryl on the 11th of January and he met the whole family on that day. There was a small fight as to whether we would get to keep him or one of the others would kid /dog nap him. . . . . fortunately we won. Billy spent the next four weeks learning how to operate in the city, and Charlotte learned to wear a plastic bag on her hand, both performed well. He had a small problem with seperation anxiety, but is a quick learner and now is quite independant as long as you don't go away for more than 10 minutes, further improvements expected.
Billy learned how to run a BC Ferry from the car deck, how to demand piddle breaks on the 5 hour ride to Port Hardy and finally he learned what it is that Vets do that dogs aren't particularly happy about. Billy is now qualified as a helicopter back seat driver as he flew from Port Hardy to Cape Scott Lighthouse in an S61 Sikorsky helicopter.

He has claimed the majority of the lighthouse, and three local beaches as his. If anyone knows how to train a border collie cross to search for glass fishing floats we would be most grateful for the information. He goes on long (3 to 10 KM) walks once or twice a week, with us or our neighbours. He also greets all our hiker visitors. He has discovered that sand beaches are perfect places to dig, much nicer than the lawn he tried on two occasions. Sand fleas, sandpipers and one sea lion make great diversions and give good practice in increasing his barking skills. He has yet to meet the local black bear, the wolves have left for the year and no cougars have been spotted so far this year, so we have lots of time left to teach him about Billy eating predators.

Finally Billy is working on his lighthouse keeping apprenticeship. He goes out for all weather observations, assists in painting, mows (ok digs) the lawn, greets visitors and allows (insists) his photo to be taken with them. We love him.

Charlotte and Mike Higgins Cape Scott Lighthouse