Cheyenne

Today was supposed to be our happy post about all the great things that have been happening. Instead this will be about one of the great things that has happened to us and has now left our world for the Rainbow Bridge.

Cheyenne was born in 1998 and was sold as a puppy to a home in the US. A few years later the wife called to ask if Cheyenne could stay with us temporarily while she found a new home and got settled as she was getting a divorce. So, Cheyenne returned to us for a year. It became obvious after she returned to us that Cheyenne might have been a bit smarter than her owner - at the very least she had her owner very well trained and had no idea what the word NO meant. She challenged at every turn. If she didn't want to do something she wasn't afraid to show some big teeth. We worked hard on this as it's not something that is even slightly acceptable. When she went home it was with strict instructions on how to manage her behaviour.

Well, Cheyenne's owner's new home turned out to be in a busy suburb and Cheyenne quickly made a nuisance of herself with frequent escapes by jumping the fence and bursts of loud Siberian song. Personally, Siberian song is prettier than humpback whales singing as far as I am concerned but I admit that I hope our neighbours just write it off as the local coyote packs. Within a year she returned to us again.

By this point her behaviour had reached the point where I considered her unadoptable. I wouldn't risk her challenging an owner who didn't know what they were doing and have something truly tragic happen. So, left with a choice of euthanizing her or letting her spend the rest of her life here with us, she came home to stay.

Cheyenne was a very smart and pretty girl. She trained Grandma pretty quickly and I was always called to go get her from the pen because she would simply wait Grandma out until Grandma resorted to a bowl of soft food to catch her. Not too shabby, eh?

We had a love-hate relationship. While I had every respect for her teeth, I refused to let her have her way. So, you had to get creative to get her to do what you wanted and see the benefit in it for her. She was never a big treat fan and food was not successful unless you went whole hog and got a dish of soft food or a huge chunk of cheese. She also didn't care much for toys. She liked games though. Despite the fact that she would get all sullen if I won, we would find quiet moments to cuddle on the couch or have a good ear rub. We respected one another and for all our grumbling about each other, we both loved each other too.

Cheyenne continued her escaping ways every chance she could. If she managed to slip a leash or sneak around someone at the door, she was gone. Thankfully, she loved our neighbours place and their gatekeeper's lab. We're the poor neighbours in the area - the family in question was only in residence a few months a year but the gatekeeper is there full time.

She also continued to sing at the top of her lungs every chance she got. She was the opposite of her best buddy Michael. Michael is a quiet Siberian who is completely off leash trained. Mike turned 13 in February and is now the last remaining Siberian here.

Of course you know where this is going. We lost Cheyenne this morning. She passed in my arms on the way to the vet`s. Last night she was running and playing like there was nothing wrong and this morning she was gone.

It`s so quiet here. I wish Michael would sing for me.