We had to say goodbye to our dog Kona last week. He was almost 14.
Kona came to us at the very start of the covid pandemic, a sort of rescue from my daughter-in-law who was struggling with two animals who couldn’t stand each other and fought continuously. Kona was half French Bulldog with Cattle Dog and a few other breeds mixed in. To be honest, my wife Elin and I didn’t care much for Kona either, as every visit to their house was met with a slobbering chaotic canine who just wouldn’t leave us alone, jumping all over anything and everyone. Our daughter Ayla knew one weekend dog sitting Kona away from her home would change our opinion of him. After pet sitting for a weekend, she casually mentioned she couldn’t keep him anymore and begged us to take him in. We certainly saw a totally different dog during those couple days and that was the only reason we agreed to take him in.
Weeks of social distancing from the rest of the world that first winter he came to live with us led to a special friendship between a man and a dog that I could never have imagined. He really was a totally different animal. With all my public events cancelled, I didn’t know how I was going to survive without income, and not being able to travel on my motorcycle put my whole life on hold. Kona injured his hip early on and was unable to walk for weeks. So the two of us laid on the floor together for days on end trying not to disrupt my wife who was trying to continue doing her job as best she could while working remotely.
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Making sure he was carried outside when he gave me that look, cemented a unique and special trust. We spend our days watching Youtube videos, scrolling Facebook and wiping down groceries with rubbing alcohol. We even made a series of dumb videos called the Kona Corona Chronicles. For me, Kona was the very first pet I ever had and he truly became not just our dog, but my best friend. We survived the early days of the pandemic together and we bonded.
When I wasn’t traveling the country on two wheels, a better part of my day was spent hanging out with Kona. He followed me everywhere I went and got angry at me before every motorcycle trip I took. Whether it was watching me mount tires, change the oil or pack the bike or pack a bag with clothes in my bedroom, He knew I was going to be riding away, long before I even left! Boy, it was clear why he hated motorcycles!
Kona was smart. We had lots of wildlife visit our backyard and as Kona was a herding animal, any sound or smell of a chase was a reason to be excited. He eventually realized he needed to trick us by pretending he just casually needed to be let out to do his business when he actually knew there were deer outside. He remained composed and hid his excitement until the moment he heard the latch on the screen door released and he shot out like a bat out of hell! He fooled me every single time. Kona knew the names of his stuffed toys and when asked, he could retrieve five or six different toys from a basket of 20.
My dog was kind. Kona would normally bark goodbye, standing on the foot of the bed, looking out the window over the driveway when my wife left for work, except if he believed I was sleeping. Instead of barking, he would just whimper very quietly she drove away. He consciously was making an effort not to wake me up.
Kona was thoughtful. Playing fetch in the house often had a toy flung into an end table with drinks or food on it. As he was charging to get the toy, he would pause for a second, then with Ninja-like precision, extract the toy from around the legs of the table, without ever spilling a drop. Unlike us, Kona never once spilled anything while playing fetch in the house.
He was trusting. As his hearing started to go, a roll of my eyes, a hand gesture or a pointed finger was all he needed to know where we were going or what we were doing next. As his health was failing he would need just a look and a nod to assure him I would pick him up and carry him to wherever he wanted to go.
My dog was loyal. I will never forget the afternoon Kona and I were sitting outside on the back lawn when the mosquitos arrived. He would snap at the ones buzzing around his head or twitch his ears. I had one buzzing around my face that I kept batting away. Kona watched me for a moment and then jumped up and snatched the pestering mosquito just inches from my face.
Kona was patiently polite. No matter how hungry he was, he would wait for permission to eat his dinner and despite drooling a bit, would never eat food that fell to the floor without the ok from us. Of course, he knew what facial expression to show us and usually got the green light!
He loved to walk in the morning and wanted to visit all the neighbors he knew, even when they were not out in their yard. Every afternoon was a car ride to the park or the school ball fields and another adventurous hour hoping to meet new human friends along our walk.
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At the end of most summer days, even from a sound sleep on his favorite spot on the couch, Kona recognized the sound of my wife sliding the freezer door open as time for a little ice cream.
A diagnosis of congestive heart failure over the winter was followed by weakness in his limbs in April and eventually inability to walk. His desire to chase the turkeys, rabbits and deer across the backyard each day was finally stifled by his body giving up on him. He no longer had any interest in his favorite position looking out the living room windows which were at floor level. He let us know in various ways that he was tired and ready to say goodbye.
We may have only had Kona for five years, but he quickly became a central part of our family and he will be missed dearly.
Kona truly was this man’s best friend.
Kona Corona Chronicles
