Nyshia: A Few Last Memories
Every dog owner has lots of stories about their dog. After my last story I felt the need, at least for myself, to recall a few of mine about Nyshia. I had Nyshia for almost 7 years. I got her when I was a college student at the University of Oregon in Eugene. After graduation we moved down to San Francisco, then later up to Sacramento and then back to the Bay Area, Sunnyvale, and finally the last few months, Los Gatos. She'd seen me through girlfriend breakups and my divorce with Kathy. She had been the constant in my life. Losing a dog is always hard. Heck, I am still getting over losing our dog Fudge but losing Nyshia the way that I did is the worst. While it was a rough ending, I have many fond memories of our time together and I still think of her frequently. So, given my last story ended on such a down note I decided to do one final follow up with some of my memories of Nyshia.
Nyshia was friendly, gentle, and mild mannered. She could also be bold. She would stand her ground. but she was never aggressive. She obeyed commands. She had a very strong recall, did not jump on people, and did not demand attention. She was loved by many. I had many offers to take her off my hands and of course in the end someone finally did.
Over the years Nyshia and I did many things together. We went hiking, back packing, snow shoeing, and, I think her favorite, cross country skiing. We always went cross country skiing with a group. I wasn't the best skier and as such I would be behind the leaders. Nyshia liked to lead so she would head off to the front coming back periodically to check on me and when I got to the destination she would be there to greet me.
I rarely had to put Nyshia on leash. She would heel on command. Even walking in San Francisco I could walk her off leash and she would stay right by my side. I used to go to a bagel shop on Noriega on Sunday mornings. I would bring Nyshia with me but have her sit and stay outside the shop when I went in. The shop owner, a rather gruff woman, a former New Yorker, was so impressed (she could see Nyshia waiting out front through the shop window) that she would give me an extra bagel for my dog. Much to Nyshia's dismay, I ate most of it and only gave her a bite or two.
Once when I was at Alton Baker Park in Eugene where dogs were required to be on leash, I saw an officer ticketing everyone with a dog off leash. I didn't have a leash with me so I had Nyshia heel right next to me as we turned and slowly started to walk back to my car. The officer looked over and after a few moments he began heading in our direction, moving quickly. He caught up and stopped us. He said it took him some time to realize Nyshia was off leash. I explained I did not have Nyshia's leash with me and that we were trying to leave the park. He complimented me how well Nyshia stayed right by my side. He gave Nyshia a pet and said he wasn't going to ticket us since we were leaving and parted saying he wished everyone in the park behaved as well as Nyshia.
Nyshia once got picked up by the local dog-catcher. I got home and realized Nyshia was missing. I realized she must have dug out under our back fence. It was late in the afternoon. I called the pound and was able to get a hold of the dog catcher. He told me if my dog was there it was too late to get her. He said I'd have wait until the next day when I could come down, pay the fine, and retrieve my dog. I asked him if he could at least let me know if my dog was there. He had me describe my dog after which he was exuberant about what a good dog Nyshia was. He told me that when he saw her loose by the sidewalk he called her and she came right to him. (Maybe I trained her too good.) He then said “OK, come on down to the pound, I'll wait for you if you come right away”. When I got there he let me in and led me to the pen where Nyshia was. She was sharing a cell with 4 or 5 other dogs. He unlocked the gate and I stepped in but all of the dogs ran up to me. I shouted “No, stay!”. Of course only Nyshia stopped and stayed. All the other dogs were all over me. So I went back out and tried it a second time. This time I called Nyshia to me. She pushed her way to the front where I could grab her and the dog-catcher pushed the other dogs away so Nyshia and I could make our escape. I got to take Nyshia home that evening and he waved my fine once he finished petting her.
In Eugene I played on a co-ed baseball team and I used to bring Nyshia with me to practice. One of the guys at the bike shop and his wife, who were both on the team, had a baby. They would usually place the kid on a blanket and one would watch and make sure she didn't move off it. She was not quite old enough to crawl but was able to move around enough to get herself off her blanket. They took turns participating in practice. Nyshia watched with great interest. Soon she began to move to the edge of the blanket where the baby was to block her from getting off the blanket and when the baby moved elsewhere she would move with her. Nyshia was very gentle with her. She did this enough so that at times both parents would join the practice for a bit while letting Nyshia watch over the baby. Of course the baby was never out of sight from all of us but still Nyshia acted as a kind of babysitter during practice. I don't remember any time that Nyshia failed to keep the baby on the blanket. That was a long time ago and now when I tell that story I find myself thinking how could that be true. But it was, and I recently found a picture of her doing the same thing with someone's child at a company picnic. It was a few years later and I can recall the child's mother pointing out to me that my dog was watching over her daughter.
Nyshia befriended a young kitten that belonged to the woman who rented the garage apartment that was part of the house I was living in. We shared a large yard. Her new kitten started following Nyshia around. Soon they were pals and they would take naps together. I came home one day and there was Nyshia holding the kitty in her mouth. At first I was startled. I though she might have killed it. But then I noticed the kitty was alive and not unhappy about the situation. After Nyshia greeted me she calmly walked out to the back yard and gently put the kitten down. Nyshia laid down on her side and the kitty curled up and snuggled up beside Nyshia. They hung out together all the time and Nyshia would frequently carry the kitten from place to place.
When I was living in Sunnyvale with my brother, I had a tee-shirt with the Chinese Character for ichiban on it. I wore it frequently and when my brother asked me what the symbol meant I said it meant something like #1 or the best. Nyshia then walked by and my brother said Nyshia was an ichiban. As a result we all started calling her ichiban. Maybe this next part would be considered inappropriate but then I said she's my ichiban dogsan thinking of the word mamasan which I thought referred to a woman of authority but really it's more a woman who runs a brothel or a bar. Anyway the full name did not last long as we just called her ichiban which soon became just Ichi. Nyshia learned to respond to Ichi as well as her name. So Nyshia ended up having two names.
I could write dozens more but I think this is enough and I suspect you have heard enough already. Hey, at least you didn't have to read a bunch of stories about my grand kids....
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