Cochise “Mochise” Cherokawa de Santa Barbara passed away peacefully in one of his favorite blankets on February 2nd, 2010. He was surrounded by his family and was chewing on dog treats.
Cochise was born in Arroyo Grande, the largest member of a litter of five purebred miniature dachshunds. His parents were Lil’ Wee Rusty and Heidi. The Dorfmans, along with Noah Bryant, went to visit the puppies just a couple of weeks after they were born and pick one out, and found themselves in a disagreement. Glenn, Cochise’s daddy, wanted to have the biggest and sturdiest-looking of the bunch. Everyone else, however, wanted to take the smaller, cuter of the two males.
Just a few weeks later, the family brought the big guy home to Santa Barbara.
“What a fresser!” shouted Glenn as Cochise devoured his first meal in record time. “Fressing” is the Yiddish word for eating, and Cochise could certainly do that.
First day home, 1995
If there were a competitive eating circuit for K-9s, Cochise would have been able to compete with a Great Dane.
His passion for the culinary arts led to a substantial weight problem, and as a young pup he was actually voted as the “Fattest Wiener Dog in Santa Barbara.” His ideal weight was right around 16 pounds, but he reached as high as 29.
Despite his size, he still enjoyed a fairly successful athletic career. You see, the “Fattest Wiener” competition was held as a side event at Mackenzie Park during the Santa Barbara Dachshund Races. The dachshunds would line up and sprint a certain distance, with the top three finishers from each heat advancing to the next round. Cochise finished third in his heat and advanced before being knocked out of the competition. Up until he developed arthritis in his later days, he was an agile and strong dog.
Cochise was an aggressive big-game hunter. One day, a large buck with majestic antlers wandered on the hill behind the house. Glenn decided to put Cochise on the back hill, and the little guy rocketed after the buck like a lion after a wounded zebra. The buck was startled and darted off, but Cochise kept running all the way up the hill and had to be picked up on the road up above the property.
The elements were also something that Cochise could adapt to. He braved the snow of the Sierra Nevadas during a trip to Yosemite and multiple more to June Lake.
Cochise and Tetsu (in jacket) in their heavy days.
His brother Tetsu, the smaller pup which the family almost picked, accompanied Cochise on some of these trips and they wore matching snow jackets. Tetsu was owned by Rikio and Kazuko Takasaki, who owned and operated “Ten Riki” Japanese restaurant in Montecito. Their work schedule was long and Tetsu had to spend too much time in their van in the parking lot, so the Dorfmans offered to take care of him many days a week. The brothers got to spend many happy times together.
The Sierras weren’t the only area of exploration in nature for Cochise. As a sailor, he navigated the Santa Barbara Channel wearing his infamous bright yellow “AquaDog” life vest. The family camped on the boat in Ladies Cove at Santa Cruz Island. He tried to swim in his life jacket about 300 yards to shore and made it about halfway before needing help. When small mackerel was pulled on board by one of the boys, Cochise instinctively went to sniff it, but became so startled when it started flapping around on the deck that he almost jumped overboard.
He also travelled to Las Vegas to visit Tetsu when both were in their senior years, as well as making trips to Oakland, San Francisco and USC.
Cochise didn’t surf like his older brothers and daddy (he tried to body surf but his legs were so short everyone worried he would drown), but in his younger years he ruled La Conchita Beach. On summer days spent there with the family, he would run until exhaustion, chasing around rocks and digging holes. He played so aggressively with the rocks that they started to wear his teeth down.
Blake and Cochise at Red Rock, 1996
His favorite places to visit on a day-to-day basis were Cold Spring School, Montecito Covenant Church, Westmont College, Manning Park and Miramar Beach. Pine cones were by far his favorite thing to play with outdoors, but in the house he had a stuffed dachshund that looked just like him. The family called it his “girlfriend” because he would hump her throughout his life.
His favorite people were his family members, but he also became uncontrollably excited when he would see Noah or Lii “Auntie Ish” Penner, his mama’s sister. When he would see either of them, he would whimper and roll over, peeing all over himself. He stayed with Ish and the Penners most of the time while his family was on vacation, and was very attached to them as well.
If he could choose, Cochise would have eaten Rusty’s pepperoni pizza every day. His favorite dog treats, however, were pig’s ears and Pup-Peroni. Whenever Blake was home, he would wake up and bring his blanket out to the living room and watch TV with Cochise. Blake would lay on the floor and Cochise would lay on his legs. When mama came into the room he would raise his head up and stiffen like a statue, posing to show how handsome he was. He knew this would lead to a treat.
Sleeping with daddy on the couch.
He slept in the bed between his parents every night, and had numerous locations around the house to relax. One of his favorites when he was a pup was under Blake’s bed.
Cochise was usually stoic and noble — as dachshunds are. He was picky about which dogs and people he would get along with and pay attention to. He had a goofy side, however, and was also very affectionate when it came to his family.
He was the family’s first dog, and his love for them also led to Blake and Irene volunteering at the dog shelter in 2002. That, in turn, led to the rescue of two new dogs. First, the family adopted a shaky, old-looking chihuahua named Pancho Villa, who would be Cochise’s best canine friend for about five years before passing away in 2008. After that the family adopted Maya, who was scheduled to be put down until being rescued at the last minute. She was sad when her big brother left but looks forward to a new sibling.
Cochise will be remembered as one of the most handsome, adventurous, hungriest and greatest dachshunds in the history of the breed.
He is currently in doggie heaven chewing on a 64 oz. steak.
