A few stories here about Cleo. Whenever I remember something, I'll add it to this page.

Cats & Squirrels - If there was one thing Cleo loved, it was chasing these fellas--particularly squirrels. If she saw them in the yard, she'd go chasing them. One time, I think I was 13, and I'd just come home early from school because I was sick. All of a sudden, my dad and I heard a loud crash and when we looked, we saw that Cleo had jumped through the lower panel of the living room's plate-glass window. She barely got a scratch. After that, dad replaced the lower panels w/ fiberglass.

Cleo Versus The Fence - Our backyard is surrounded by a chainlink fence. We'd let the dogs out there to run around, only Cleo never stayed. She was quite the skilled-fence climber, and I spent many occasions chasing her around the neighborhood. Believe me, it wasn't fun. Usually we just let her run around because we knew she'd come back (tho I still worried about her). One time, she climbed the fence and got her collar caught on it. Luckily, she had slipped right out of it. I found the collar, hanging on the top of the fence. Unlucky for her, she busted out her two front teeth when she landed on the ground. I think that was the last time I ever made her wear that collar. It sits on my dresser as a reminder of her tho. Anyway, as she got older, she didn't have the strength to climb the fence anymore, so naturally, it was easier to keep her in the yard.

Oops - She was the first of the pups to learn how to climb up and down our basement stairs. I taught her by showing her how to go up and down them. The others were kind of afraid, but Cleo had no problem w/ it. Whenever someone went downstairs, she'd follow them, and sometimes she went by herself. That's how she got outside alot of times. Someone would mistakenly leave the backdoor open and out she'd trot. Again, as she got older, the stairs became harder for her to manage. She'd lose her breath trying to climb them, and lose her sense of direction climbing down them. She'd get down a few steps, and then tumble the rest of the way, unfortunately hitting her head at the bottom (but, surprisingly w/ no ill effects...she'd get up, and trot off again). We finally had to close off the basement to her, no matter how much she liked going down to it.

Rain - While she hated baths, she adored the rain. Nothing excited her more than being let outside when it was pouring. It didn't matter if it was too cold, or what have you. The rain was her best friend, especially as she got older. She was slow in her old age, but she came to life when it was raining. She'd run all over the yard (usually in circles, since her sense of direction was a little out of whack due to her hearing and vision loss), soaking up the water. I always used to joke that I should put shampoo on her when she went out, so then at least she'd wash herself clean as she ran around.

Snow - Like rain, Cleo loved snow. Wimpy and Clyde were afraid of it, and you could barely get them to go outside in it. But, not Cleo. She would jump in it and run all over. But, as she grew older, she didn't enjoy it so much. If she did go out, it was just long enough to do her business, then come right back in again.