In The Beginning . . .

He is a Shih Tzu, like any other Shih Tzu, only more so . . .

Wicket came to us with a dark, storied, and shadowy past. Like most extraordinary characters, he was greatly loved, but oft misunderstood. One sunny summer day in 2005, the call came. He was being retired from her Majesty's service, his future bleak and uncertain. That's where Wicket met fate's adoring gaze and came into our lives. The pasture this "Lion Dog" was put out to was to become the greatest adventure of his life.

The arrangements were hastily negotiated. The drop was made. It was with calm trepidation that Wicket made the journey by wheel to Gladstone. With open arms he (and his lone remaining possession) was welcomed to his new assignment.

Our lives, not to mention the Northland, would never be the same. This former Mandarin warrior, former defender of the palace and guardian of the realm would now take on the mantle of suburban operative disguised as a canine of leisure, worthy of his pedigree.