British Columbia

Dog with cancer gets bucket list for final days

When Riina Cooke learned her 9-year-old boxer had bone cancer, she was devastated. But that devastation gave way to determination, to let Romeo live his last few months to the fullest. She has created a "doggie bucket list" for her best friend, and they've been ticking off the adventures.

Owner Riina Cooke is making sure her boxer, Romeo, lives out his last days in style

Bucket list for her dying dog RAW

10 years ago
Duration 3:46
Riina Cooke is making most of 9-year-old boxer Romeo's last days

When Coquitlam's Riina Cooke learned her 9-year-old boxer Romeo had inoperable bone cancer, she was devastated. 

"I was just so upset for a day or two," said Cooke in an interview with CBC Radio's Rick Cluff on The Early Edition. "I wanted to snap out of it."

"I thought, 'Okay, let's make the last few days positive and an adventure,'" she said.

Cooke created a bucket list for her best friend, and has been filling his last days with adventures.

Some of the highlights so far have been meeting Bif Naked (an animal lover and cancer survivor), catching a ride in a police car (and howling along to the siren), and drinking beer in a pub.

On Thursday — Romeo's ninth birthday — he enjoyed a spa day complete with a paw-dicure.

Cooke says the bucket list is as much about showing Romeo a good time, as it is about dealing with her grief. 

"I think he's helped a lot of people in a similar position," said Cooke. "I'm hoping our situation will bring some light to other people who are going through the same thing."

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