Chris had never had a dog and with her wildy-busy household’s two loud, active sons involved in multiple sports, the last thing she needed was a dog. 

Her husband insisted on a dog “being good for the boys”, but the last thing she needed was a big dog!  Enter, Cedar.  Now she can’t even imagine life BBD (Before Big Dog).

Cedar was born in California and found in an Oregon foster home on Craigslist.  They named her Cedar because her fur’s unique color matches a cedar tree.

“I wanted a well-mannered dog,” admitted Chris, “so we had a dog trainer teach us how to raise Cedar.  She taught me how to be ‘lovingly’ firm. 

Our younger son was submissive, so he had to learn how to be in charge and be a teacher to Cedar. 

Our older son played too rough, so he was taught a gentler form of play.  My husband’s discipline was strict, so he was taught to be gentler.  The results were worth the investment of time and money.  My husband now declares that Cedar is ‘The most perfect dog in the world’, and we all agree!

Cedar makes friends wherever she goes and everyone is impressed with her good manners.  She especially adores little girls and the feeling is mutual, the children are always asking to pet and cuddle her.

Cedar is an important part of our family so she’s involved in everything we do.  She loves joining us on hikes.  The boys run up ahead on the trails and hide behind tree stumps/bushes and call out, “Ceeedar heeereee”.  She races like a wild horse to them because she knows her favorite cheese treat is waiting.  Then one of us, behind them, hides and calls her back.  All five of us love this joy-filled game.

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, Cedar makes us laugh by going ‘crackers’, and running crazily in circles.  Paws-ibley the laughter is exactly what she is trying to create!  Also, she’s hiss-terical when she lies on her back and wiggles, wriggles and squiggles for a good back scratch.

All this activity contrasts to when Cedar is at home where she’s is a paw-fessional ‘napper’.  She curls up with whoever she can, wherever she can, for a nap.  Some mornings she gets out of bed, stretches, and then heads to her favorite chair to start her morning nap!

Our family loves creating a pretend ‘human voice’ for Cedar.  We use it to explain her purr-spective on how she’s feeling about things.  Like on a school morning, she ‘asks’ to go to school with the boys, ‘to learn her ABCs, so she can spell CAT’. 

We also do it when she stares at us in the kitchen letting us know that she’s there, asking us if we ‘need any help?’ making her dinner. 

She sometimes writes us letters with its letters all mixed up, remember she can’t go to school, asking us to “... please buy me a pet duck to play with.” 

Having Cedar in our life expands our imaginations, humor and bonds our family.

In our loud busy household, Cedar oddly brings a sense of calmness to it; whether for cuddles or quiet walks, her cuddles always make us feel better.  Everyone in our family has crazy quirks, including Cedar, so she fits in purr-fectly - and she loves us for who we are!

Cedar is a hoot!  She patiently lets the boys dress her up in wigs, hats and necklaces - all the time!  To date, she’s been Yoda, Superdog, and a cowgirl.  On Halloween she rocked a rainbow tutu!

Cedar is not ‘just a dog’.  The depth of love my boys have for her is a blessing.  Cedar is our boys’ best furry friend (BFF), who unconditionally loves them when they are having difficult days or when they’re sad.  She has a sense for when her comfort is needed.

She is clever beyond words and opens lever doors and lets herself outside if she sees one of her friends, so we are careful to keep our doors locked.

Once, at my sister’s Ontario farm, we tied Cedar to a tree outside the house while we made a quick trip to town. 

Cedar-Houdini escaped and we feared the worst. She was alone, thousands of miles from home. 

Before our devastation sank in too deep, we discovered that she had opened their back patio door, let herself inside, and was taking a nap in my bed!”

“Cedar is whistle trained,” said Chris.  “When she wanders off we blow her whistle and she comes racing back for a cheese treat.

We are very careful about leaving dangerous things out that Cedar might chew on. 

We’ve taught the boys that safe things for people are poisonous to dogs; like xylitol, onions, chocolate and grapes. 

We have also taught them the dangers of overfeeding a dog. 

Cedar is such a good dog, our investment of teaching her to have good manners pays off every day.  But in reality, it was us that were trained on how to live with a dog!”

Toxic food for dogs: 

Mary Ellen's Silver Persians swam their way into readers and viewer's hearts! They have appeared in International magazines and newspapers around the world. (France, England, Canada, China, Germany, USA, etc.)

Also, several National and International TV shows featured the swimming felines teaching pet-water-safety.