The Dogs

Mana - she was the first dog we got here in Hawaii.  We got her at the Humane Society, she was 4 months old at the time - that was April 1991. For 2-3 years she was our only dog and went everywhere with us.  She was a great dog, smart, well behaved, and loving.  Towards the end of her life she went deaf and then blind. She passed away on Memorial Day 2006 at the age of 15 after suffering some seizures during the night. 

Kea - she was the 2nd dog we got.  We got her when we moved to the ranch when Mana was about 3 years old. Kea had been seized in a raid of a "rescue" group where the animals had been found living in deplorable conditions.  Kea appeared to be a german shepard/shar pei mix of about 5 years old.  She was a scaredy dog for most of her life. She lived with us for 5 years and we tried to make her life as happy as possible given the start it had.  In Dec, 1999 she was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma and by the end of January 2000 she was gone.

Rocco - we got him in 1995, and he was a poi dog that looked like a yellow lab.  Charlie was working in the flower fields at the ranch and found a puppy.  At the time we had 2 dogs and I said no way. We went to take the puppy back only to find some fairly horrible conditions.  This puppy was in a litter of 7, all males, all identical.  The people had about 30 dogs and they were not well taken care of.  We decided to keep the puppy.  When he was found he weighed 4 lbs and fit in the palm of my hand.  Once we had him he grew at a rapid rate.  At his peak he weighed over 100 lbs (that was when he was overweight).  Rocco lived a good life and passed away in 2009 at the age of 14.  The last year of his life was difficult. He developed spondyliosis in his spine and had trouble getting up and walking.  At the very end his lymph glands swelled up with what we assumed was lymphoma. 

Nala - One night a friend shows up at our door with a little pit bull puppy.  She needed to get rid of it right then. At the time we had 3 dogs and I said no way. Then Charlie walked out and picked it up - I knew it was over. At the time I bought in to all that nonsense about pit bulls and I swore right then Nala was going to be the nicest pit bull ever.  She grew up to be the greatest dog in the world.  People who met her thought she was awesome.  In September of 2008 she started having seizures.  Through a process of elimination we determined it was probably brain cancer.  She lived until April, 2009.  She was without a doubt the best dog ever.  Because of her I became a huge fan of the pit bull breed.  I now think they are the greatest dogs on the planet and plan to always have one in my life.  That's quite a legacy for a 60 lb dog.

Axl and Lola - After Nala passed away Rocco was all alone and he had never been alone his entire life.  He was not taking it well.  I knew we would get more dogs so I decided to foster some rescue dogs. Hoping that it would help Rocco not feel so alone. Wow, was I wrong!!!  We brought home Axl and Lola on May 8, 2009.  They were brother and sister, pit bull/shar pei mixes,  and approximately 10 months old at the time. Rocco hated them with a passion.  For a dog that could hardly walk, he sure made lots of attempts to chase them.  Luckily Axl and Lola were young and fast.  It gave him a reason to live for a few more weeks.  After Rocco passed away we decided to keep them.  I calculated a birthday for them - July 4, 2008. They have issues, especially Axl, but they are turning out to be awesome dogs and will hopefully be around for a long, long time.

Bella - the newest member of the pack.   Bella's story started long before she was born.  One day in 1996 or 1997, I was watching a program on Animal Planet about dogs.  They discussed the different breeds of dogs and their strengths and weaknesses.  One day they did a story on the Greater Swiss Mountain breed. I had never heard of this breed and was fascinated.  They gave the history of the breed, which you can read here, and it really fascinated me.  But what really attracted me was the look of the breed. They are large and tri-color - awesome.  I fell in love.  Over the years I looked around but found there were none in Hawaii.  I kept checking though just in case. Then one day I was looking on Craigslist and saw an ad for a Swissy.  I checked the ad and read that it was someone looking to buy one.  I emailed him and told him how I had been looking and there were none in Hawaii and we took up an email friendship.  About a year or so later I heard from him and he had found a breeder in Oklahoma who would work with the Hawaii rules to get him a puppy.  He got Bella (not my Bella). After he had her about a year I ran into them at the Pet Expo and met Bella. She was everything I expected the breed to be and I fell in love.  Turns out they were thinking of bringing in a male and breeding them.  Fast forward a couple more years and I see another ad on Craigslist.  Bella's owner was looking for me.  I emailed him and it turns out he had brought a male in, they bred Bella and Duke and puppies were on the way. That was in October, 2010.  I heard from Bella's dad again in January of 2011.  Puppies were almost ready to go and did I want one?   Did I want one?? Yeah, I wanted on more than anything else, but because of our financial situation there was no way we could afford $1500 for a puppy.  I regretfully told him we would have to pass and maybe next time if he bred them again.  It was sad because I had to say no to a dog I have wanted for 15 years.  Very sad. Then in early February I get another email from Bella's dad.  Him and his wife had talked and they wanted to give me a puppy!!! What?!?!?!  Give me a puppy?!?!?!? OMG!!! I was beside myself.  Yes, I wanted one, yes, yes, yes......  But we had Axl and Lola and I didn't know how that would work with them.  After talking about it, we realized if we did it carefully we could do it, so we accepted the puppy.  We picked her up on February 11, 2011 and have never looked back. Introducing her into the family took some time, you can read about it here. We ended up naming her Bella because it just seemed to fit her.  It's her mother's name but it seemed perfect for her, so she is Bella Jr.   Or more formally, Bella Donna - her cuteness will kill you :)