The Night of Remembrance of Family Pets
Oct. 31st, 2010 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stitchwhichI've written about Gimli and Cindy in the past and don't really want to write about them more... I thought I wouldn't have an entry for tonight - but then remembered Saruchan.
She was a little pomeranian dog that, technically, wasn't ours. We were living in Navy housing in Yokosuka, Japan, and our next-building neighbors, a couple with a teenaged daughter, owned the dog. The couple were having marital problems, as one might expect with a second marriage that combined a teenaged daughter (his) and a new wife who was not a US native, now stuck in Japan with the daughter while hubby was out to sea for 10 months out of every year. So the daughter acted out, didn't bathe, stayed out late, and 'forgot' to take care of her dog. On various evenings, we'd end up bringing the dog into our house after getting tired of hearing it barking at the neighbor's door for hours. Poor little thing.
Finally, one night there was a horrendous storm and in the midst of it we heard frantic barking. It was Saru-chan ("little monkey face"), locked out of a house that appeared abandoned. We brought her in and took care of her and in the morning I went over to give the two women a piece of my mind. Which was undelivered - the wife had packed up and left and the daughter was staying with a school friend until her father could be reached and return to deal with the shambles of his family life. In the meantime, the dog had been left outside in the unfenced yard to fend for itself.
So we took it in. Saruchan was terribly spoiled - it was certainly an 'all about me' train she was on. Look at the ground for even a second and you'd find her down there, in your sight range, her whole body shaking as she wagged her tail and angled herself for the scritches she just knew you were dying to give her. Take her outside to play 'fetch' and you could throw the ball, watch it land, and then find the dog at your feet looking at you with happy anticipation that now that your hands were empty, you were ready to give her those overdue scritches. Sit on a chair or the couch and obviously you were there to make it easy for her to climb into your lap for petting and scritches.
Head to the kitchen and she would nearly vibrate with excitement - doggie treats AND scritches! Naturally. It's not as though you'd be going in there for any other reason, now is it? I mean really - she was right there, making it easy for you to worship her. Because she was adorable... and she just glowed with delight that the world knew it.
If she misbehaved, I would say, "Saruchan, bad dog!" and she'd run upstairs and hide under the bed in the master bedroom. Never any other bed. And she'd not come out until one of us would call her and tell her "It is okay, you can come out now." Then she come down with her head hanging low and her eyes drooping until you extended your hand and gave her some petting. At which point all was right in the world and she was back on her pedestal of perfection-deserves-scritches.
We had her for about two months before we found a home for her. With Arni out to sea so much and me working my watch shifts (called a "2/2/2/&80", it was 2 evening shifts, two day shifts, and two mid shifts, compressed into 5 days followed by 80 hours off) and four hours of travel time to the house from my duty station, we just couldn't keep a dog. Cats, yes. Dog - no. But we had loved that little thing and worried over her and I was very relieved that she went to a good home where her people would care for her much better than our neighbors ever did. Heck - I worked to try to find someone who'd care for that daughter as well... that didn't work out. She was shipped back to the US and her mother's custody, her mother who didn't want her in the first place. But "needs of the Navy" and all that.
Saruchan. Exasperating, demanding, adorable. We would have probably killed the little rat if we'd been forced to keep her but being able to be her fairy godparents gave us the chance to love her and then set her free.
She was a little pomeranian dog that, technically, wasn't ours. We were living in Navy housing in Yokosuka, Japan, and our next-building neighbors, a couple with a teenaged daughter, owned the dog. The couple were having marital problems, as one might expect with a second marriage that combined a teenaged daughter (his) and a new wife who was not a US native, now stuck in Japan with the daughter while hubby was out to sea for 10 months out of every year. So the daughter acted out, didn't bathe, stayed out late, and 'forgot' to take care of her dog. On various evenings, we'd end up bringing the dog into our house after getting tired of hearing it barking at the neighbor's door for hours. Poor little thing.
Finally, one night there was a horrendous storm and in the midst of it we heard frantic barking. It was Saru-chan ("little monkey face"), locked out of a house that appeared abandoned. We brought her in and took care of her and in the morning I went over to give the two women a piece of my mind. Which was undelivered - the wife had packed up and left and the daughter was staying with a school friend until her father could be reached and return to deal with the shambles of his family life. In the meantime, the dog had been left outside in the unfenced yard to fend for itself.
So we took it in. Saruchan was terribly spoiled - it was certainly an 'all about me' train she was on. Look at the ground for even a second and you'd find her down there, in your sight range, her whole body shaking as she wagged her tail and angled herself for the scritches she just knew you were dying to give her. Take her outside to play 'fetch' and you could throw the ball, watch it land, and then find the dog at your feet looking at you with happy anticipation that now that your hands were empty, you were ready to give her those overdue scritches. Sit on a chair or the couch and obviously you were there to make it easy for her to climb into your lap for petting and scritches.
Head to the kitchen and she would nearly vibrate with excitement - doggie treats AND scritches! Naturally. It's not as though you'd be going in there for any other reason, now is it? I mean really - she was right there, making it easy for you to worship her. Because she was adorable... and she just glowed with delight that the world knew it.
If she misbehaved, I would say, "Saruchan, bad dog!" and she'd run upstairs and hide under the bed in the master bedroom. Never any other bed. And she'd not come out until one of us would call her and tell her "It is okay, you can come out now." Then she come down with her head hanging low and her eyes drooping until you extended your hand and gave her some petting. At which point all was right in the world and she was back on her pedestal of perfection-deserves-scritches.
We had her for about two months before we found a home for her. With Arni out to sea so much and me working my watch shifts (called a "2/2/2/&80", it was 2 evening shifts, two day shifts, and two mid shifts, compressed into 5 days followed by 80 hours off) and four hours of travel time to the house from my duty station, we just couldn't keep a dog. Cats, yes. Dog - no. But we had loved that little thing and worried over her and I was very relieved that she went to a good home where her people would care for her much better than our neighbors ever did. Heck - I worked to try to find someone who'd care for that daughter as well... that didn't work out. She was shipped back to the US and her mother's custody, her mother who didn't want her in the first place. But "needs of the Navy" and all that.
Saruchan. Exasperating, demanding, adorable. We would have probably killed the little rat if we'd been forced to keep her but being able to be her fairy godparents gave us the chance to love her and then set her free.
