A Waimanalo woman is grateful in the aftermath of a roller-coaster ride of emotions after losing her longtime companion, Ginger, a 26-pound cocker spaniel.

Naomi Ravelo has had Ginger at her side for 17 years.

"She has been the most wonderful dog," the 59-year-old Ravelo said. "All my kids loved her."

Ravelo was devastated when Ginger disappeared Nov. 8 during a heavy rainstorm with flash flood warnings.

Ginger has had some vision and hearing problems, moves slowly, usually padding around the farm where they live, visiting the pig and the peacock, but had never wandered far before.

After four days of searching, Ravelo had come to terms with losing Ginger.

"As farm life is, I was advised by the owner, ‘If it’s their time, they just blend into nature,’" Ravelo said. "I said, ‘OK,’ after four days. I was in grief."

But on the fifth day a farmhand heard a bark down a 30-foot cliff, about 40 feet from the house.

He showed her where. Then she got her gloves and boots and went down the cliff, thick with tall California grass and trees, calling Ginger’s name.

"I could hear her barking," she said. "I was Godzilla unchained, ripping through that forest. She was covered (by the grass). Maybe that’s how she kept alive."

The white of her eyes had turned black, possibly from dehydration, and her legs were stiff, Ravelo said.

"The body starts shutting down nearing death," she said. "She was alive after all that time with no food. After five days in the rain and cold, one more night and I don’t know if she would have made it."

Ravelo rushed her to a veterinary clinic, Feather and Fur, where she stayed four days in "doggy ICU." She was fed intravenously.

Ginger was treated for liver and kidney problems, and began physical therapy because "her legs are like noodles," Ravelo said.

She returned home Nov. 16, walking and eating for the first time in more than a week.

"She is old, but she is just a miracle dog!" Ravelo said.