Cinnamon the dog

This is the noble Cinnamon. (She was formerly the symbol of this web site). 'Nimmers' was a Maltese / Poodle cross breed dog. She was originally given to my sister while I was still living at home in Vancouver. She ended living with me for many years while I was making an attempt to be a responsible young adult.

Cinnamon was a true friend. There were many times traveling in the seventies when I would have liked to take a bus and stay in a cheap hotel. But with a dog this was difficult to do. We hitchhiked across BC and Alberta many times. There were many nights that she kept my feet warm inside my sleeping bag. I was always afraid that a bear would come along and try to quiet a yapping dog. It was sometimes hard to keep her quiet when she was being protective. 

I have never had children so there have been questions about my ability to handle responsibility; but taking care of a small dog for several years while in my twenties took a lot of commitment. Cinnamon made friends easily. There were many people over the years who told just how much they disliked small yappy dogs. Cinnamon melted hearts though. Some of those same people ask me decades later about her fate. She learned few of the tricks that most people would recognize as such. 

She was smart and was quite capable of thinking on her own. One time in Dome Creek we were crossing the Fraser River railway bridge when a slow moving train snuck up behind us. I had plenty of time to jump off to the side platforms. But I had no time to return for my dog. She was frozen in the middle of the tracks as the train approached. She froze as I yelled at her to get off the tracks. It looked like she was going to be yet another of the many animals that had been killed on that span. At the last moment though, she figured it out and stepped to the side of the tracks and lay down until the train passed. Good old dog! 

She was also great on city streets. I would walk her down the sidewalks of Robson Street in Vancouver without a leash. She would rush back and forth but never cross the street until told. Cinnamon lived a long life and eventually ended her final few years living with my sister in Ontario.