It's been a long time since there's been any news on the Kona front. Luckily, he's a patient puppy, a characteristic he shares with Labrador Retrievers around the globe. Lately he's been bustin' me to update his status, and since he's not on Facebook (yet) he's relying on me to put his story on the olde blog.
He just reached his one half year milestone. His health is great, his growth will within expectations, and his appetite monumental. He's a good boy (he paid me with moist kibble to say that) and he currently tips the scale at just over sixty pounds.
But let's go back in time, to the first month Kona was with us. Within a couple of weeks of his arrival, he was house trained. He probably did that so quickly to rub Ashley's hardcore untrainable Peek a Poo's nose in his superior intellect and abilities. Dogs do that, ya know. He immediately learned to wait for his meals and not knock down the human doing the feeding. He learned to keep "four on the floor" when visitors arrive, and to wait to go through the door to avoid knocking human's on their tail ends entering and leaving the house.
He started right out sleeping with the people he owns. He was small and compact and it didn't bother him any to nestle at their feet or slither up between them when it was time for a cuddle or let them know it's time to arise. By the time, he reached 50 pounds or so, Kona no longer wanted to be restricted by the constant rubbing of huge human beings all over the place. That was when he decided to find more room to stretch out his now longer legs and body. Kona's habit of guarding us by laying in front of the doors when we are in any room, began to carry over to sleep time. For the past month or more, he's been sleeping in front of the bedroom door so that nobody can go in or out without Kona being informed and actually moving to allow the entry or egress. He's polite, however, and never holds up one of his humans when they wish to use the door.
It was interesting when Ben, our Marine, came home to visit for my birthday a few weeks ago. Ben came home quietly in the middle of the night, and didn't wake even the doggies when he arrived. In the morning, when Kona came down the stairs, he must have realized that there was someone in the living room before the door at the bottom of the stairs even opened. He stood at the door, all attention and alertness until it opened. Then, with a friendly little "woof" he bounded over to the sofa and began giving Ben a quick awakening and immediate toung bath. Both Kona and Ben were instantly in love, and were inseparable the nearly 2 weeks that Ben was home. After Ben went back to his station, Kona looked for him, waited at the door for him to return, and generally missed him for about a week. Who says dogs life in the moment? Well, Caesar does, but Caesar may need correction. It was like Kona said to Ben, "where you been? I missed you." the first time he saw him, and then he pined for him after he was gone. Amazing, but his instant recognition may be from the small whiffs of Ben's scent he could have gotten from Ben's room. Ben can return any time and his stuff is all ready for him. It could be from the calm familiarity Ben showed by being asleep on the sofa at 5:00 AM, or some sense that dogs have that human's simply don't understand. He knew his buddy Ben instantly, and Ben taught him "high fives" and a few other tricks without hardly trying.
Kona is patient. Kona is calm and submissive to humans but wrestles incessantly with Molly the Poo and his pal "Cheese" the cat. He loves to ride in the car, and ignores me when I eat or drink something while I drive, staying on his spot and minding his own doggie business.
I'm hoping to teach him to work as a "Therapy Dog" for nursing home patients, but that's an update for another time. Meanwhile, Kona says "later!", and wishes you all a great Spring.
