Back in 1990 my husband and I had separated for a short period of time and I was desolate and needed a friend and companion. Since I was not interested in another man I choose to get myself a puppy. At the time we lived in an hotel because we had just recently moved into town and were looking for a place to live. I asked permission to have a puppy in the hotel and because they were friends of mine, permission was given. So, I went hunting for just the right pup. What I found was the runt of the litter of pups that was supposed to be German Shepherd and Akita mix. I named this puppy CHEEMO.

Cheemo was 6 weeks old when I brought him home and the cutest thing I had ever seen. He was to become my greatest friend. As a puppy when he had done something wrong he would run into the bathroom and try and hide behind the base of the toilet (probably thinking, "If I can’t see her she can’t see me"). This behavior continued up till the time that his short life ended. It was really very funny seeing a dog of his size at 6 – 10 months old trying to hide in that manner. He got so big he could only get his head in there. Cheemo loved to play and loved his food too. When he was around ten weeks old my husband and I got back together again but by this time Cheemo had decided that I was his and his alone. On the first night that hubby tried to come to bed with me Cheemo was on the bed and would not let hubby into bed. He growled and snapped at him. Gerry was a little afraid and wanted me to put Cheemo in the next room. I told Gerry that if he would have to teach Cheemo who was boss and that he would have to make the dog go himself. Reluctantly Gerry did so. Cheemo whined and cried to get back into the room but for the first night we would not let him back in. He learned that first time that Gerry was allowed to sleep in the bed as well.

I trained Cheemo myself and could take him for a walk down the busiest street and Cheemo would walk carrying his leash in his mouth without me ever touching it. He would bring his leash to me or Gerry when he wanted to go out. When Gerry took him for a walk Cheemo walked him instead. Gerry could hardly hang on to him and I never was able to teach him to walk in the same manner with Gerry as he walked with me. (Chuckle Chuckle)!!! It is awful to say this but my special friend did not like Native people and this group of people soon learned to cross the street when they saw us coming. I don’t know why Cheemo was like this but I was constantly apologizing for this behavior. Cheemo was also an excellent guard dog. One day someone had gotten the key for our room somehow and around 3 a.m. this person tried to come in. Not knowing we had a dog he was very surprised to find himself on the floor with a 60 pound dog (puppy really) on top of him with bared teeth and growling too! I heard nothing until the guy started to scream. Cheemo had been so quiet and not let out a sound until the person was actually in the other room.

When Cheemo was around 7 months old I noticed that he was having some trouble walking and climbing the stairs but he never whined about it. He would just go a little slower. I took him to the vet and had him checked out and the vet told us he may have Hip Dysplasia, and possibly something could be done when he was a little older but not then. He continued over the next couple of months to get progressively worse. He continued to want to play and have fun but I noticed that it got harder and harder for him and still never a sound of complaint. Finally it got to the point that I demanded special testing to find out what exactly was happening with him. The tests showed that he had Bone Cancer as well. There was nothing that could be done for him. It was at this time that Gerry and I took Cheemo to all the places that he loved to go and let him do whatever he wanted to do especially run around the Provincial Parks without a leash. We got caught by one of the Park Rangers on the day we took Cheemo to the park he loved the most. We explained to the Ranger what was happening and that we were going to put Cheemo down due to the problems he was having with the Dysplasia and Cancer! The Ranger agreed to look the other way for an hour while Cheemo had his fun (he was a dog lover too). The next day I took Cheemo to the Vet and stayed with him until it was over and he was finally out of his pain. God Bless you Cheemo and we will meet again.