Winnipeggers rally behind local business owner whose dog has terminal cancer

Five days a week, you’ll find Leo the Great Dane behind the counter at Leo & Co. Pet Shop. Don’t let his size fool you — the pooch is a gentle giant and loves to interact with customers.

Owner Stacey Standrick opened up the pet shop on Gateway Road five months ago and said Leo was her inspiration.

“There is a saying called ‘heart dog.’ A heart dog is your canine soulmate,” Standrick explained.

“You have dogs come and go, but your heart dog is the one dog that comes into your life that is just your canine soulmate; they’re just your dog. And Leo is my heart dog.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "You have dogs come and go, but your heart dog is the one dog that comes into your life that is just your canine soulmate; they're just your dog. And Leo is my heart dog."

Knowing that Great Danes don’t have a long life expectancy, Standrick said her goal was to keep her furry best friend as happy and healthy as possible.

“I was always very careful, very in tune with what I did with him, what I gave him, things like that. So kind of everything in here has been done with that in mind, for other people’s dogs, too,” Standrick said.

But last week, she noticed Leo wasn’t finishing his meals and wasn’t acting like his usual self. After taking him to the vet, Standrick learned he had cancer.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“We had the ultrasound and it showed his lymph nodes and his abdomen were huge, and the blood work came back showing he had cancer. His lymph nodes in his neck overnight just exploded; they’re huge.”

Standrick said Leo probably won’t make it to his sixth birthday later this month.

“Chemo is not an option; it’s not going to change anything. It’s just going to stress him out and make him uncomfortable so we chose to just treat him palliatively and do a high dose of steroids to kind of perk him up and keep him comfortable.”

Devastated, she shared the news on social media. Winnipeggers are now rallying behind the local business owner, sending her messages of support. One person even knitted a little Leo.

“It’s been the only thing that’s made me smile since I found out, seeing that people love him and they get it,” said Standrick.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's been the only thing that's made me smile since I found out, seeing that people love him and they get it," said Standrick.

“He is just the gentlest giant. He is so sweet. He’s always here and just sitting behind the desk, and it’s really sad to hear that he has cancer now,” customer Stacie Allard said.

Allard said she understands what Standrick is going through. Allard and her boyfriend lost their dog suddenly last week.

“It was just devastating. They’re really your best friends and the sweetest souls and they don’t understand what’s going on, and you just want to do the best that you can for them,” Allard explained.

Standrick decided to start a bucket list for Leo, and the community is helping her cross things off.

“I had a customer bring him in chicken McNuggets from McDonald’s. He loves ice cream. He’s only ever had vanilla ice cream so I had a customer bring him pumpkin ice cream,” Standrick said.

“I think it’s so sweet and I love it,” customer Rhiannon Smith said. “You might as well spoil him and let him live out his last bit of time as he pleases.”

Standrick said she doesn’t know how long she has with Leo but adds the pet store will be his legacy.