Cherry’s Resilience

We kept Cherry on a long rope in our tiny side yard. She had a nice little dog house to protect her from rain and wind. In Miyazaki the winters are mild, so I felt this arrangement was at least satisfactory. Our landlord lived directly behind us after all, so disobeying the contract and having a dog in the house wasn’t really an option.

We walked with cherry several times a day as I trained her in basic obedience. The kids played with her often – she was a regular member of the neighborhood gang. Though sweet and very friendly, she had wild eyes that reflected her desire to run at every opportunity. She never did learn to come when her name was called, so we weren’t able to let her run freely very often. It would have been difficult in a small, crowded Japanese neighborhood anyway. We tried it at the beach, but always had to sit for hours, long after we were ready to go home, waiting for her return. She had a great sense of direction and a wonderful memory, so without fail, she did always return to us.

In those early years we went hiking nearly every Saturday with a group of my students from the college. Cherry went with us on every adventure, of course. Once we had to climb steep rocks to get across a small gorge. Each of my children rode on the backs of one of the students, but Cherry managed to climb very well on her own. Then suddenly she slipped. Her rope was jerked out of my hand and I screamed. We all froze, eyes and mouths wide open, as we watcher her fall several hundred feet. Stunned by the fall, she lay limp at the bottom of the ravine.

Jin-kun scampered down the rocks to rescue her. When he got to her, she licked him relentlessly. “I think she’s OK!” he yelled up to us. Then Cherry sprang to her feet and sprinted back up the rocks. Someone grabbed her rope as she ran past because we all knew that if she got past us, she would take off on her own and none of us could chase her on that terrain.

That was my first indication of just how resilient that little dog could be!