Meet Kona

My wife and I have always adopted our dogs from an animal shelter. Walker-girl was found on the side of the road by Louisville animal control. When she came to us, she was 15 weeks old. Her predecessor, Gracie-dog, came to my beloved spouse from California’s Marin Humane. She had been returned to the shelter three times before my wife adopted her.

After Walker died, it was a few months before we were ready for another dog. In fact, we waited to visit our local shelters until we returned home from a trip to New York City. The day after we were home, we planned to take a 45 minute drive to a shelter we were very impressed with. But that day it stormed. The next day, we were concerned about more storms and decided to stay closer to home. We visited a shelter “just to look” and get ourselves ready for the other shelter.

You know, of course, we never made it to the other shelter.

We had wanted to get a young puppy, no more than 15 weeks old. A dog that didn’t come with a lot of baggage.

However, there was this goofy-looking dog that my wife and I both noticed on our separate walks through the adoption area. The shelter staff estimated the dog to be around 11 months old. She was quiet and attentive in her pen. She hadn’t been in the shelter very long and we thought that a plus. We took her out to the yard. She asked us to throw a ball and we did. Many times. When we talked to her, she listened, tilting her head, trying to figure us out. While all the dogs around her barked, she didn’t. Again, attributes we admired.

We discussed how puppies are easily adopted, and once dogs reach a year old, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to find a home. So we adopted her that day. No regrets. We are madly in love with this new member of our family. We’ve named her Kona–as in Kona coffee.

Kona is a dog who wasn’t trained but was left to her own devices. She only knew SIT when we brought her home. But in a short time, she has learned her new name and a few other of basics. She’s eager to understand what we ask. We are eager to understand her too.

Kona is the most intelligent dog we’ve ever met. Thus, she presents challenges. She needs mental games much more than athletic ones.

When we left her alone to run errands, Kona didn’t like being crated. Walker’s old crate, a sturdy metal one, did not hold her. So we have been using our bedroom as her crate. When she easily opened the bedroom door one day, I reinstalled the door knob (the lever kind) so that it could be locked from the outside. This morning, I swear to God, she picked the lock of the bedroom door and opened it.

Kona has a history, but no one knows what it may be. She was picked up by animal control, dirty and full of bugs, and brought to the shelter. We suspect she was a backyard dog who ran away. Or, she was dumped because her humans didn’t understand what she needed. She does have a bite scar on her snout, and a bit of a front leg limp.

Because she’s untrained, Kona will try to boss and herd visitors. That’s both unacceptable and almost to be expected, ay? We’re working on that. The surprise with our dog is that she’s afraid, sometimes of people, but mostly of other dogs. Yet, she’s unafraid of the world itself: wind, hail, thunder, loud booms, you name it. She’s cool. We are committed to helping her learn to navigate the world we live in. We have high hopes for her. She’s an awesome dog.

Since shelter dogs have a history, it takes them some time to adjust to a new home. We were given a flyer with the 3-3-3 “Rules.” These rules are important, but they didn’t prepare us. Not at all.

The shelter gave us a coupon for online training services. The online trainer helped us through the first few weeks after bringing Kona home. But we knew we needed more help. We finally found a local, well-regarded trainer who was willing to take us on. The trainer came to our home to evaluate our dog and, most likely, us. She recognized immediately how bright Kona was and what we were dealing with. Kona is a sweet, loving, teachable dog, don’t get me wrong. But she deserves more than the few tricks we know. Training begins next week. Hallelujah.

The shelter listed Kona as a mixed Australian Shepherd. Her long nose reminded me of the collies I grew up with. Truthfully, not even our veterinarian knew what kind of mix she was. We decided to have Kona’s DNA tested. The results were beneficial. To us, but not to you, so I won’t delineate her DNA results. So, okay, she is a sliver Australian Shepherd, but she’s also four other kinds of working dogs. Kona is ALL working dog. That’s valuable information, and in fact, it was what prompted us to find a local trainer.

When people ask what kind of dog Kona is, we say, “She’s mixed nuts.”

featured photo: Kona, my writer’s room, New Mexico