The Best Therapist Has Four Legs, Fur, and a Wagging Tail

About four months ago, on November 1st, we welcomed a new member to our family. She’s a blonde Lab/Husky/Shepherd mix, or that’s our best guess. We named her Kona.

After T-Bone died in April, I didn’t want another dog. We aren’t getting any younger. We’d gone through losing two dogs and both times it broke my heart. John’s only comment was one sentence, a quiet, “I just can’t picture living the rest of my life without a dog.”

One of our top reasons why we had dogs was for security. T-Bone had a big bark. Whenever John traveled, I felt safe with T-Bone (and before him, Lucky) in the house. Suzie the dachshund, who we pet sit during the week, keeps an eye on things when she’s here, and she’s a fierce little barker, but as much as we love her, she’s not our dog.

So, we got a security system installed, with sensors and motion detectors everywhere, codes that need to be entered, remote access, the works.  We know it works because we regularly set it off. But, a security system isn’t dog, and it was pretty lonely around here without T-Bone.

In August and September, I flew to Hawaii to help my family who were having some serious health issues. It was a sad time.

My parents’ next door neighbors have the cutest black Miniature Poodle. She reminded me of Kimo, the Poodle I grew up with. Every time Sophie saw me go in or out of the house, she bounced up on her hind legs at the chain link fence between our yards wagging her tail like crazy to greet me. I couldn’t resist reaching over the fence to pet her. She cheered me up.

Her owners, or at least the husband, had told my sister a few times that they didn’t want their Poodle. They were more into their Labs. I was looking for some happiness and figured what the heck. I asked the wife if they had been joking before or if they’d let me take her back to Washington. Absolutely not. She was insulted that I’d asked. Her husband slunk back into the house without saying a word.

When my daughter heard the story, she teased me and gave me the nick name Cruella DeVil, the dognapping villainess in 101 Dalmatians. The whole thing made me realize how much I missed having a dog.

Back in Washington, at night while everyone else watched TV, I’d be online looking for Lab/Shepherd or poodle mixes at rescue shelters. I would read descriptions of dog after dog, watch videos of them, and find out how close they were. I kept an eye on shelters from the Washington/Canada border down to the Oregon/California border. I bugged John, “Look at this one. What do you think?”

He ribbed me a few times, “I thought you said you didn’t want another dog.”

It didn’t stop me. I was shopping for a mid-sized dog, who was no more than 3 years old. After about a month of looking at PetFinder, I found Hadu. The pictures of her were a little fuzzy, but she looked like she’d be a good fit. She was white and gold with a happy looking face. 

The description said:  

ABOUT HADU

I am about 9 months old.

I currently weigh about 58 pounds.

I came to the Grant County Shelter as a stray

I get along with other dogs, cats & Kids

And, she was right here in our town! I emailed Puyallup Animal Rescue and said that I was interested in Hadu. Sally answered that they would be showing Hadu and some of their other adoptable dogs on Saturday at a Petsmart near us. There was a pending adoption for Hadu, but if they didn’t claim her by 11:00, Hadu would be available.

Even though she was promised to someone else, we decided to go and check her out.  Maybe Hadu’s other possibility would fall through. Maybe we wouldn’t like her when we met her. Maybe there would be another dog there that we’d like. The new dog would have to get along with two cats and a dachsund. This was kind of a big order. It was all up in the air.

When we first saw her, she was calmly lying down between two crates.

A high energy Chesapeake Bay Retriever was on her right and a loud barking Lab/Pitbull mix was on her left. They didn’t faze her. That was a good sign. She barked once and it was a big, deep bark. That was a plus.

Sally let us take her out of the crate and walk her outside. She looked great! Her hips looked strong and sturdy—a good indication that she won’t have hip dysplasia which shows up sometimes in German Shepherds. She had a spring in her step. I was worried about the pink on top of her nose. Was it a scar? No, it’s pretty common with huskies and it’s called a snow nose.

The 11:00 deadline came and went. Now she was available if we wanted her. We went home and thought about it. We called Suzie’s owner and asked if she could bring Suzie over to see how they’d get along. We also called daughter Sarah who was on her way home from visiting her boyfriend 1-1/2 hours away to see if they were close enough to come and meet Hadu.

We all met. Hadu actually pranced and frolicked on the leash when we took her out again. Suzie was just fine with her. Hadu had plenty of love to go around to all of us. We unanimously approved of Hadu. The shelter approved us. After a flurry of filling out forms, buying a crate, food, toys, etc., we took Hadu home and renamed her Kona which means Lady in Hawaiian.

"Hadu" in the PetSmart parking lot.

When I looked over her paperwork, she was 9 months old in September when she was found in Grant County which is in central Washington. (That paperwork lists her as a Greyhound/Lab mix.) Later in September she was taken to WSU in Pullman (Whitman County). Their veterinary school spayed her. I like to think that even though she’s listed as part Husky (UW’s mascot), she’s part Cougar (WSU’s mascot) because they took care of her for a little while.

In October she got more vaccinations in Moses Lake (Grant County again). Then she came to Western Washington (Pierce County) and was fostered by Sally. A vet in Eatonville listed her as a Shepherd mix. She had hundreds of traveling miles under her collar for such a young pup.

It showed one morning when John took Kona with him on a quick trip to the grocery store. When he loaded her into the truck, she seemed dejected like “oh, this again,” and laid down on the floor in the backseat of his truck with a heavy head. Later when he pulled back into our driveway and led her back into the house, she was elated. We think that’s when it clicked with her that she was finally home.

Kona is still very puppy-like and learning how things work around here. She is eager to please so she’s easy to train.

She is finding out what is acceptable to chew—her ample supply of toys, and what’s NOT--our shoes, which I’m pretty sure she considers fragrant delicacies, or the vinyl tablecloth that I put under the Christmas tree skirt.

Uh oh. I wasn't supposed to shred this?

She started out not barking at all, but is barking more now that she knows this is her territory and she follows Suzie’s barking cues. She got out of the yard twice but didn’t go far, and we fixed the fence immediately. She gets along well with Suzie and one of the cats. The other one tolerates her.

"The girls" relaxing together.

She has not had a single potty accident in the house, which is good, but makes me wonder. Sometimes she’s flinchy around people who come to visit us, but we think she will become more confident as she matures. She may have been treated roughly before the shelter took her in. 

While out on a walk one day, a former democratic state representive who lives in our neighborhood tried to pet her and she shied away. I joked to John that maybe Kona is a republican.

She is a proud graduate of PetSmart’s beginner obedience class and is now enrolled in the Intermediate class. 

Her biggest obstacle in class is that she also goes to play in doggie day camp there once or twice a week so she spends the first 5-10 minutes of obedience class trying to get into doggie day camp to see her friends.

Kona hauling it in Doggie Day Camp. 

Kona romping with her friends in Doggie Day Camp.  

 It was kind of embarrassing when we called her to come and she ran right past us, and through the aisles of the store to get to doggie day camp, but we had to laugh. Everyone else sure was.

Her personality is exuberant and a little kooky. She’s learning how to hold that 60 pounds of enthusiasm in check a little more when she greets you instead of jumping on you like you’re a swimming pool she’s diving into. She’s gangly, but a good athlete and shockingly fast. Maybe she IS part greyhound. We are really glad that she’s part of our family, and she makes no secret of letting us know that she is very happy to be here with us.

Laura Keolanui Stark is smiling at another wagging tail in the house. She can be reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.