Kona's here!!! Well, after over 24 hours in a crate followed by an overnight at the temp quarantine facility at the Honolulu airport, we were finally able to pick up our poor confused mutt at 8am Christmas Eve morning. Unfortunately, there are strict rules about not taking your dog out of the crate on airport grounds so we had to drive him all the way back to Kailua before he was finally set free.
He wondered around the house and yard quickly smelling everything and looking entirely confused. We just followed him reassuring him that all was okay and petting him when he stopped long enough for us to catch up. It was one of these quick stops that he actually stopped long enough to relieve himself, unfortunately, it was the Christmas tree he decided to lift his leg to. :) Luckily he missed the few gifts that had made it under the tree and we all got a good laugh at his expense. Who could possibly be mad at him after that ordeal and how entirely confusing this all must be for him. That pine tree was probably the only thing that smelled remotely familiar.
Within another 20 minutes or so, we decided that HE smelled really bad and the only way to cure that, was a trip to the beach. It's amazing how strong the instinct of swimming is with these dogs. He was great. It was an abbreviated trip though once we learned the hard way just how badly the long trip had upset his stomach. Yuk. We spent the rest of the day laying low at home and doing a few chores. Kona took a much deserved rest and enjoyed LOTS of pets from his family that missed him so dearly.
Christmas Morning...
7am wake up. Could have been worse I guess. Tanner tore into the living room examining the booty. Alarm Clock (as requested - weird kid), Legos, Transformers, and SEVERAL wrapped gifts from family and friends. An elated Tanner opened gift after gift until finally, the pile was empty and all that remained was the familiar Christmas carnage of boxes, wrapping paper, and presents strewn about the living room. Loved it. About the time Daddy was hard at work loading batteries and reading directions, I managed to sneak back for an extra hour or so of sleep. :)
Following coffee, brunch, and a quick cleanup, it was off to the beach again. In the two months since we have lived here and the dozens of times we have now been to Kailua beach, I have yet to see even half this many people. Apparently, Christmas Day is a favorite for heading to the beach. Of course this time we had Kona with us too.
By day two of the beach and feeling noticeably better all around, Kona really found his sea legs. He was playing in the waves and making TONS of friends but my favorite was his lifeguarding skills. If he spotted someone he felt concerned about, he would swim out to check, do a lap around them, and satisfied, swim back towards shore. This was of course with Yooper close behind and only if the person "needing" rescue didn't seem to mind.
One interesting observation, the Hawaiian locals LOVE big dogs and were very impressed with his size and swimming ability, the Japanese tourists however, not so amused. 9 out of 10 people who seemed a little timid to very afraid around him were indeed Japanese tourists. I even one man sneaking in close to take a quick picture before backing away quickly. That guy was pretty funny actually. Most people though were great around him. One great thing about a dog his size and cuteness is that you meet a million people being with him.
The rest of Christmas 2006 was low key. Just playing with the new toys and relaxing around the house. I got what I wanted for Christmas, a new house and a day with all three of my boys at the beach :)
Life Guard Duty
2 comments:
If you really think on it poor Kona was in that carrier a total of 31 hours. That is figuring that he was finally let out about 8:30am HNL time and he entered at 6:30am DTW time.
Yep...that's a long time, but when he got out, he was in Hawaii. I would probably sit in a box for longer than that if some family would move me out there, feed me and bath me.
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