How It Got Started

A dog called "Cheese".

We've all had it.

Some people would call her a heart dog, soul mate or best friend..

I  simply called her “Cheese.” In the shelter they called her "Mabel", I named her Mackenzie. My husband nicknamed her after she hopped onto the table and ate an entire mac'n'cheese casserole. I don’t think there would ever be a more appropriate name for a hungry dachshund who loved people food just a little too much.

Cheese and I spent a lifetime together and I can say from the bottom of my heart 15 years wasn't enough. Over the many adventures we shared this silly little dog taught me so much about grace, forgiveness and living in the moment. She came into my life on her own terms as a puppy mill rescue and left equally on those terms when she passed away in my arms hours before her 16th birthday on December 20th, 2020. I never expected to be so broken, but I came to realize the very tall shadow Cheese cast in our lives as the “the Queen” of our home.

Neurotic, demanding, very bossy and a true trash hound, Cheese taught me to love the dachshund breed for all of its nobility, courage and quirks. I can’t count how many times she outwitted me to knock over the trash and spread her bountiful buffet all over the kitchen floor. Outside of her foraging antics she was patient and kind with my children, a great cuddle buddy and a solid guard dog against the pesky squirrels in our yard.

She is and will always be the heart behind Coeur d'Alene Dachshunds and light that guides us as we step into the show ring and the beginning of our breeding program to preserve all the best traits that make Dachshunds the soul of our home. As we move into showing our newest prospect we know that the good name of Cheese The Great will carry on with distinction.

Thank you Cheese, my great trash marauder, without you this dream would not be coming to be. You were my best friend and there is not a moment I don’t miss you. Love you lots until we meet again on the other side of the road!