A Bit of Sibling Peace

It's been a long time since a post here! For one thing, Hoku has been doing a lot of growing up. We had some touchy moments here a few weeks back when he seemed to regress to the state he'd been in when we first brought him home.

But then we had house guests for the entire week of Thanksgiving! Did Hoku like that? NO!! In fact, each and every time one of our guests walked anew into a room he growled and went and tried to hide. I kid you not. And all of a sudden, Mom Robin and Dad Harry were once again his best friends. So for now, we seem to be back on track to gaining his trust fully.

Maybe even Cholla is warming up to him?

A Peaceful Evening

Usually, when Cholla is somewhere in the vicinity of Hoku, Hoku insists in trying to get her to play. The whole process is exhausting for both animals, perhaps mostly for the cat. Cholla is exhausted with all the hissing and swiping and running every which way but away (think she's playing?). Hoku bounces all over the place until he just plops down on the floor panting.

Here's how it all ended up one evening recently. No way either animal is going to look at the other! Harry's just enjoying the peace and quiet!

Um, any ideas on how to get the dog to pick up his toys?

Back on the Cat and Dog Watch

The cat and dog photographer has been out of commission for a few weeks. But the cat and dog are still "at it" with their attitudes (that would be cattitude in the case of Cholla the Cat).

One dominant dogma in Cholla's existence in our household, through two dogs, has been, "If there's a bowl of water on any horizontal surface, it's mine!" Thus, this picture. Morning routine is to wash and refill Hoku's water bowl, THEN fill the food dish. The time between placing the water dish on the floor and getting back with the food dish was just enough time for the water princess to take her rightful place in front of said water dish.

Hoku stood back for a few seconds. But then hunger overtook him. This picture was taken just an instant before Cholla took a swipe at a Hoku ear. Note Hoku's tail is between his legs as he is anticipating said swipe.

Hoku Wants to Play, Cholla Doesn't

Aloha, all!

This is just a grainy film taken with an old camera, but the camera was available at the time. This is very much like play time in the Messenheimer Hale every day! No, not old and grainy! Just fun.

He Really is a Puppy!

Aloha, all!

Oh how I wish I had a video of this! But I'll get one some morning when Hoku is frolicking around the living room. Boy, does he jump and play!

Whose Toy Is It?

Aloha, all!

Hoku the Dog and Cholla the Cat (their official names, of course) had a hard time staying out of each other's way last night and this morning. Hoku wants to play, but Cholla wants him gone. Oooooh, the hissing and clicking of extended claws! Of course, that makes Hoku think more and more that she wants to play. I don't think the claws have actually landed on his snout, yet. But it won't be long.

Off on a Morning Run

Aloha, all!

Harry's favorite activity with Hoku the Dog is his morning run. The run this morning was a bit on the muggy side--you can even see the moisture in the air as Harry and Hoku head out.

Wish we could have shared a video, with Hoku first being on Harry's left (leash was in Harry's right hand), then around in front over to Harry's right, then Harry deftly dancing in a circle to untangle them both. Hmmm. Hoku means Star in Hawaiian. So Harry was out there "Dancing with a Star"! Is that like "Dancing with the Stars"?

I'm Legal!!

Aloha, all!

Hoku the Dog is now sporting a brand new blue Hawaii County Dog Tag!! After his brief but traumatic (for all concerned) escape last week, it seemed the best thing to do quickly was get that tag.

Next step will be an identification chip, but we'll not be able to photograph that!

Turnabout Is Fair Play!

Aloha, all!

Sunday we reported that Hoku the Dog has become enamoured of the toys that were originally intended for Cholla the Cat.

While Cholla is indifferent to cat toys (how gauche to expect a cat to play with a toy!), today we learned that she is NOT indifferent to dog toys. Yes, her favorite of the day is the red rubber ball with the dog treat inside!

You may also be interested to know that Hoku is not indifferent to ANY toy. Today his favorites (not in any particular order) were: Robin's socks; Robin's plastic hair clip; and the paper used to stuff the Stampin' Up! supply boxes that are regularly delivered to Robin's Craft Room.

Lots of clean up to do after those escapades.

The Cat's Toys are Mine, All Mine!!

OK, Cholla the cat is not a "cat-toy" person, er, cat (don't tell her she's not a person). Nonetheless, her servants continue to make impulse purchases of this or that hoping that something might pique her interest. Even Harry's friend, Jim, who visited this past winter, was frustrated that Cholla wouldn't play with his carefully crafted cat string toy for more than 5 seconds (if that long).

Along comes Hoku the Dog, with the intention of playing with any and every toy in the house, whether or not it's a "dog" toy. This felt mouse has lasted pretty long considering Hoku has been batting it around for quite a while. Ya think he was a cat in an earlier life?

In Robin's Craft Room

Aloha, all!

Robin has been spending most of her time the last day or so in her Craft Room putting together some cards for a customer. Hoku has been at her side - oops, at her FEET! - most - oops, ALL! - of the time. And, as you can see, the rawhide bone is still the main activity (besides poking his nose at the back of Robin's leg when he starts getting bored while she's cutting and gluing).

But the instant Robin leaves the room for only an instant, Hoku is up and following her wither she travels. Sometimes it's just to go retrieve a piece of paper scrap that the Hawaiian wind has blown out of the room. Doesn't matter. Hoku is right there following (well, he is a "retriever" after all). Picture Robin stepping two steps out of the room, bending down to pick up the wayward scrap, and turning around as she straightens up only to run into Hoku the Dog, who is not spending an INSTANT in that room without her. Collisions have been the order of the day today.

As Robin took this photo, she was backing out of the room. Can't you just see that wary look?

Seems we need another focus

Aloha, all!

Hoku continues to focus on his rawhide bones. Yes, that's plural. You see, we bought some plain rawhide bones, but we also bought some with "chicken" flavor. The chicken variety was the first to which we introduced Hoku, but he poo-poo'd that in favor of trying to chew anything else in sight on the lanai the day we brought him home. Now, however, he's half finished with the plain variety (see bottom of photo) and has rediscovered his initial treat.

Oh, and there's the heavy rubber ball with treat inside (near back) and the rubber ball for throwing and retrieving (hidden in the background).

Meanwhile, Harry is having some trouble with the second stage of Hoku training. Yes, he sits! But "down," "stay," and "come" seem to be a bit of a challenge for Hoku's small brain!

Stay tuned. All those rawhide treats may disappear for awhile while we try a bit more training.

A Calm Morning Inside

Aloha, all!

While Harry is out working with a contractor, Hoku and "mom" are inside trying to get some work done. Hoku's job this morning is systematically to dismantle a rawhide bone. And he's taking his work seriously!!!

Last week we were in Northern Minnesota, finishing up a vacation at Bear Lake, when we realized that one of our pieces of luggage was just about empty. We had brought gifts for the grandchildren, and left them at the lake. It occurred to us that, as everything is Hawaii is VERY expensive, we might just fill up that empty bag with dog treats. And fill up we did, with all manner of toys for Hoku to chew, chomp, and chase. Wonder what the TSA person who went through THAT bag thought?! We do like to give TSA some fun things to do with their time, after all!

Good office skills are always a plus

Aloha, all!

Hoku was all over it when Harry needed to find something in his files this morning.

We're still having some issues getting him to go through the front door--in either direction! But Hoku did go on Harry's morning jog today, much to delight of both dog and master.

The guys are here for our weekly garden spruce up, and Hoku's not quite sure about what this means. I dare say the dog will be joining the cat in hiding somewhere when the lawn mower gets going!

Hoku's First Night in the House

Aloha, all!

We are not entirely sure if Hoku has ever lived in a human house. All day today, he expressed some reluctance to come indoors. Actually, once he was IN the house, he expressed equal reluctance to LEAVE the house. Hmmm. Maybe it's doors with which he has a problem?

Tonight, Hoku has discovered a chew bone we put next to his food and water dishes (see the photo of Cholla with one of said dishes earlier). Finally tonight he seems to be in a little bit of dog heaven.

Dog heaven is what we hope to provide for this gorgeous and so very personable animal!

Cholla and Cedro

Aloha, all!

Our late, loved, lab mix, Cedro, always seemed to be a thorn in the side of Cholla the Cat (named after the thorn in her namesake cactus). But when Cedro passed away lo these many months ago, we brought his ashes home in a lovely cedar box (Cedro means Cedar in Spanish), on which we wrapped his last collar.

It didn't take Cholla long to tell us just how much she missed Cedro. For several weeks after he left, Cholla frequently jumped up on the table that held that cedar box, and rubbed against Cedro's collar.

We are tending not to believe her demonstrative abject hatred of our new dog, Hoku.

How Cholla Feels

Aloha, all!

Hoku has arrived at our home, and we are all so very thrilled to have him home with us.

Well, maybe not "all." You see, we already have a 4-legged friend, a black cat named, "Cholla," who lives with us. To all observers, it would seem that Cholla does not like dogs. In fact, at first meetings with Hoku, Cholla let it be known in no uncertain hisses that she did NOT appreciate having Hoku's nose poked into a place where she felt it didn't belong. So far there has been no blood let. Cholla got her name honestly from the cactus that inhabited our garden in New Mexico when we first brought her to our household there. The spikes on a Cholla Cactus have nothing on Cholla the Cat's claws.

Now it appears that Cholla has decided to take over the spot where Hoku's food dish is to lie. Does she lie in wait to take on Hoku's sniffing nose? Or is she enjoying the scent of dog in our household once again?

We meet Hoku the Dog

Aloha, all!

Thus begins our life with our new rescue dog, Hoku.

One of our neighbors found Hoku for us at the Rainbow Friends Animal Sanctuary on the Big Island of Hawaii.

We have been without a dog for over a year, having spent most of the last year and more mourning the loss of our friend, Cedro, who died of an illness in 2008. Finally we have decided we are ready to try out another canine friend. When Trish told us about this gorgeous Golden mix who showed up at Rainbow Friends, we immediately went to check him out. He and Harry obviously were meant for each other.