Toast visits Toast

Although Toast wasn’t quite cut out to be a trickster show dog like his siblings, he has still managed to become a local celebrity in North Melbourne where he struts his stuff.

words by Spencer Fowler Steen

Owner Anna said she purchased him in regional Victoria in 2015 after visiting a dog show.

“We were looking to get a dog and we were trying to find a breed that would work for us, because back then I worked outside of home,” she said.

“So, we needed a dog that was okay being left alone and was smart and trainable. We went to the dog show back in 2015 and that’s where I found out about this breed, and his mother was at the show and pregnant and that’s how we got him!”

Toast is a Keeshond, a breed of dog also known as a “Dutch barge dog” after they were frequently seen on barges traveling the canals and rivers of the Netherlands, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

They are known for their intelligence and obedience, making them naturally brilliant show dogs.

Coincidentally speaking to North West City News outside of Toast Kitchen Café in North Melbourne, Anna said her Toast was “very silly” with “lots of personality”.

“He’s a little local celebrity! He’ll walk by and people will say, ‘there’s toast!’ she said.

When it comes to Toast’s diet, it remains unclear if he enjoys eating his namesake, but Anna did say that he ate pretty much anything.

“He’s an omnivore and eats cucumbers and tomatoes and loves cheese,” she said.

Always keeping a vacuum cleaner at the ready due to how much hair Toast sheds, Anna said she liked to take her companion for walks around Melbourne, the longest clocking in at 20 kilometres across two days.

“He also likes to go to the beach,” she said. “He doesn’t know how to swim, but he loves to splash around.”

“There’s not much else to say, we love him, and he loves us.” •