Meiken Cheese, also known as Cheese the wise dog or Cheese the super watchdog, is a recurring character rescued as a puppy by Anpanman during Anpanman's first patrol. Found alone and starving in the forest, Cheese now lives in the bakery.

His small, light brown body features distinctive rabbit-shaped ears and a dark brown tail tip. Early manga and picture books depicted his ears a darker brown than his body. Originally walking mostly on four legs, his later design shifted to primarily bipedal movement while retaining canine sitting and sleeping postures. He resides in an outdoor loaf-shaped doghouse equipped with food and water bowls.

Cheese exhibits over-dramatic and silly traits, often providing comic relief. He possesses a notably large appetite, consuming food eagerly and sometimes hastily. Despite occasional laziness with chores, he demonstrates bravery by charging into dangerous situations to assist Anpanman and frequently handles transporting Anpanman’s replacement heads. He maintains a close friendship with Butterko and participates actively in bakery tasks, though his reliability varies. His heightened senses allow him to detect distant SOS signals earlier than others.

His abilities include advanced olfactory tracking to locate individuals by scent alone. As a "wise dog," he fully comprehends human language but communicates exclusively through barks across most media. An exception occurs in the first chapter of the "Tobe! Anpanman" manga, where he speaks in sentences ending with "woof." Other characters consistently understand his vocalizations through mutual familiarity.

His first manga appearance was in the second Anpanman volume, where Baikinman exploited him against Anpanman’s fear of dogs until Butterko intervened to tame him. Batako at the bakery named him following his rescue. He maintains a romantic relationship with Rare Cheese.