Hail Cezar!

            (Cezar and his owner Tom Gammerath help form the tunnel for the Wixom Wildcats. Photo by Joe Schiavi.)

            Cezar may have a few issues, but loving his family is not one of them.

            The two-year-old Alaskan Malamute has practically eaten through the inside of a truck door and crashed through a glass house window to get to his family, Tom and Bonnie Gammerath of Commerce Township, and their sons Zachery, 11, and Luke, 8.

            Cezar is also the No. 1 canine fan of Zachery’s and Luke’s soccer teams, the U-11 and U-9 Wixom Wildcats. After every game, Wildcat parents form a tunnel that team members run through. Cezar hikes up on his hind legs and becomes one with the tunnel. The Wildcats have even included Cezar in their team photos.

            “Cezar loves all the kids,” said Bonnie. “My two-year-old niece can take food right out of his mouth. But he has terrible separation anxiety.”

             Marley, the Golden Retriever in John Grogan’s best-selling book “Marley & Me,” has nothing on Cezar, said Bonnie.

            “One day I stopped at an estate sale and left Cezar in my Ford Expedition – a truck,” said Bonnie. “I stayed on the grass, in his sight. You could hear him screaming in the truck. I asked my son to run to the car to get my purse, and he came back and said, ‘Mom, you’re not going to like what you see.’ Cezar ate a huge hole in the door. In 15 minutes!”

            Another time, the family left Cezar home, in his crate. When they returned, they found that he had dragged the crate 15 feet, rolled it over, and shattered its bottom – all while he was still in the crate. Once, he ate an entire lasagna, and half the glass pan. What followed was an expensive trip to the vet.

            Recently, Bonnie pretended to leave Cezar, but she actually spied on him to discover exactly what he went through when he was left alone. First he began to tremble and then drool poured from his mouth

             “Dripping and shaking,” said Bonnie. “He just wants to be with his human pack.”

            Now, Connie takes him where she can. He’s a favorite at Luke’s elementary school bus stop. Cezar walks up the steps into the bus, trots down the aisle, turns around, and comes back. The kids pet him as he passes. Zachery’s middle school bus driver always has treats ready for Cezar.

             Cezar may be the king of half-eaten doors, broken glass, and drool. But he’s also a goodwill ambassador to his subjects –the soccer players, school kids, and tunnel builders -- who make up his empire.