We went to a local breeder in 1964, and we were told by Father that he had paid $5 for this chihuahua-terrier that was considered the female runt of the bunch. She was named by me as we felt we got gipped as that was about $1 for each leg and tail, ala Cheater/"Cheatie."
She was so small that I held her on the way back home, and I put her into the arm sleeve of my coat and she fell asleep in her little coccoon.
Cheatie was a very learned and upper crust female. She absolutely resented it when we put here with our kennel hunting beagles, seeing if we could house break our beagles. In another instance with getting a female German Shepherd in the house, there was absolutely no friendship with the new arrival, and it was seen as a total downcasting as this would be the new beta female of the house (mother being the alpha, me being "her" alpha male pairing).
Her own attitude was that she wasn't a dog, but that she was a sub-species of human- with a tail!
She was very alert, and trained to yip (no barking, no scratching!) to be let out and laying in the sun/doing her business, and yipping to be let back in. She was trained to attend to any door bell and knock, and bark-bark-bark to notify the house of an unknown person at the door.
She was always friendly with people, and she was bred two times (the second time the bosses' french poodle across the street gave her an unwelcomed whirl, ahem!). Her puppies grew up to be as smart and trained as she was, not taking any guff from anybody as well.
She was protective of her family, and when in the presence of other dogs, even larger dogs she stood her ground and demanded that they obey her, as a sub-human. Her protective manner got her in trouble one time on a local creek walk, when a mother cat with kittens in the area was seen, and there was the most howling/hissing fit as each tore into each other. Cheatie got in some good licks, but the mother jumped on her back and clawed and bit her a good bite, that festered later and I had to do some medical treatment.
We grew up with hunting beagles, and venison/ rabbit/pheasant was our meat, not beef. One time while on an outing, Cheatie saw a deer come into our presence, and I have never seen such a fast dog, screaming across the ground, (faster than any greyhouse/whippet), going to tackle this deer and bring it back to eat, or chase it away. She ran so fast and low that you would almost believe that she scraped her nipples on the ground, and there were rocks and dust flying from her speed! We once had beef burgers and she smelled it, and then looked at us in perplexion. What is this? In another time, she went rabbit hunting with the other 3 beagles, and became so exhausted and run down, that she was brought home shivering and whining in pain.
Once on a very hot trip she needed some water, but all I had was a coke. She took a drink and then shook her head with her tongue hanging out. Ever after that, when given any water, she would look at me, smell the water, and then drink it, like I was trying (and I tried to do it again a couple of times with a soda) to trick her.
Cheatie lived for 14 years (1964-1978), and becoming glaucomic, when mother mercifully put her down. This is all now 30 years later in my adult life remembering this special pet of ours. Cheatie will forever be in our hearts and memories. Live long and propser Cheatie!
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