P-Nut Loyalty

As I pull out of the driveway, I see P-Nut’s furry face watching me from the window. When I return, my little Shih Tzu is still at the window.

I travel quite a bit with my job. I’m now in Wimberley, TX and P-Nut is with me here. Unfortunately, I can’t take her to my appointments during the day and it’s too hot for her to wait in the car. So I tell her, “Stay in the air conditioning, P-Nut, and I’ll be back soon.”

I hope her entire day isn’t spent waiting for me to return and for that reason, I shouldn’t have watched “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale. It’s a Hallmark movie about Hachi, an Akita , a loyal companion to a professor, played by Richard Gere.

The professor finds an Akita puppy at a train station. He tries to locate the dog’s owner, but no one takes Hachi. So the professor brings him home to live with his family.

As Hachi grows up, he follows the professor to the train station every day and waits at the station for him to return in the evening. One day the professor has a heart attack and dies while teaching class.

Hachi waits and waits at the train station for his master to return. In fact, Hachi waits for years and years. Sadly, the dog dies waiting for his master to get off the train.

At the end of the movie, there’s a script telling us this is a true story about Hachiko, an Akita, who continued to return to the train station in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo where his master traveled to and from his job. An actual statue of Hachiko was erected at the station to celebrate his extreme loyalty.

Needless to say, I cried and felt sad for days. I wondered what P-Nut would do if anything happened to me, and then I remembered what she did the time my neighbor Joanne came to my door. “I want to show you the apple pie I made,” Joanne said. “Do you have a minute to walk with me to my house?”

I told P-Nut I’d be right back. Then I walked down the road with my neighbor. After I left, P-Nut ran upstairs to my husband. She barked and barked. He thought something horrible had happened. I didn’t tell him I was leaving, because I planned to return soon.

Larry followed the barking P-Nut to the front door. When he opened the door, P-Nut dashed out of sight. He had no idea that she was going to my neighbor’s house, where she ran up the stairs and pushed the door open.

My neighbor Joanne and I were shocked to see P-Nut in all of her doggy glory. Meanwhile, an upset Larry drove throughout the neighborhood looking for the wayward P-Nut.

When P-Nut and I got back home, Larry wasn’t there, but he eventually called my cell phone. “Sandy where are you?”

“I’m home,” I said.

“I can’t find P-Nut anywhere,” he said.

“She right here with me.”

“Oh, God, I thought we’d lost her.”

Later, he wondered why P-Nut has such separation anxiety.

I don’t know. Is it extreme loyalty? Is she like other dogs superior to most humans in that regard? I think so and I also think they deserve our love, kindness and loyalty in return, don’t you agree?