Life is good in Hawaii for the Dogs

This morning we walked to the beach with the dogs. Here's a picture of Lanikai Point. The tree stumps are a reminder of how much the wider the beach used to be. Due to erosion many ironwood trees been removed.

Doggie update: At the age of 15+ years each and over three years since flying to Hawaii, Tasha and Danzig are both still doing well! I'll repeat that retiring to a comfortable climate such as Hawaii seems to have prolonged their lifespan. A few weeks ago we had an episode where I feared it was time to say goodbye to Tasha. I was carefully monitoring her quality of life to make sure she was having more good days than bad and she was seeming more sad than happy. She was unable to walk at times and had a hard time getting up. I spent an entire day giving her love and affection. Love has amazing power, the extra attention really perked her up. I purchased a "bottoms up" leash for her, which is styled like my rock climbing harness to support her hips. After one walk using the leash it seemed as if she decided to walk on her own, maybe she was embarrassed by it! It is as if she resolved to start "training" to walk better. She started breaking out of her pen and performing feats of strength such as knocking over my beach cruiser to get out. Maybe she overheard me talking to the vet about our options, including putting her to sleep! I was so sad and torn about making sure she is living with dignity and comfort. We thought she'd never make it to the beach again, but now she is walking there regularly. Here are some photos taken this morning.

As for Danzig, he continues to teach life lessons every day. He is so happy all the time, his tail wags him. I can tell he his having some difficulty breathing because his malignant tumors are growing. However every audible breath is part of his excited happiness to be alive. Everything to him is awesome. Even when he was in the animal shelter the day we adopted him he stood out as the positive thinker. Every other dog was barking and unhappy about being caged. Danzig quietly sat there wagging his tail, as if he was thinking, cool, I'm no longer a stray on the highway, there's a roof over my head and regular meals! When we fixed his broken tooth, he was even happier with "Oh yeah! I'm no longer in excruciating pain!" We attract what we think about, and thinking positively brings more positive energy to your life. Aloha from Paradise!

Fall 2011 Doggie Update

Aloha everyone! I'd like to share a recent photo of Tasha and Danzig taken this month. We can't believe Tasha celebrated her 15th birthday on July 6, 2011. What is that in dog years? 105?

In my last post I shared that Tasha and Danzig are showing signs of their age, and that Danzig has cancer. Even without a terminal illness, Tasha is the serious one. She worries about everything. When she's been bad she'll stress out about it like crazy, and when she hasn't, she worries and has a guilty conscience over the last time she did something, even if it's ancient history. Her mission in life is to please everyone around her. She is incredibly sweet and we love her so much. Unfortunately we can tell she is aging faster than Danzig. Even though she doesn't have cancer, she may not outlast him. With her advanced age, she's had some problems controlling her bladder and the poor thing thinks it's her fault and worries about making a mess, so she prefers to stay outside.
At the same time, Danzig has demonstrated that attitude is everything. On January 5, 2011 the vet's biopsy predicted he had 2 months to live, 6 at the most. However, since he doesn't know his condition, and therefore doesn't dwell on it, he has the most inspiring attitude towards life. Because he couldn't eat dry food following his throat surgery and tumor removal, we switched him to canned. He thought he won the doggie lottery! Basically everything makes him happy. Everything rules in Danzig's world. I took a quick video of him at feeding time to show how excited he is for his food. I apologize for the dark lighting, it was very, very early in the morning. Up for anything, all of the time! We can all learn a lesson from Danzig and his outlook on life.

Maybe it's better for our health and sanity to not worry so much about pleasing others and squeeze every bit of joy out of life that we can.

We continue to monitor their quality of life and are doing everything possible to make them comfortable. Ever since we met them at the animal shelter over a decade ago, they have been grateful, loving and loyal family members. Providing them with retirement in Hawaii has been the least we could do.

Spring 2011 Doggie Update

Aloha!


I wanted to post a quick update to let you know I'm still here to answer your questions and offer advice. A reader asked for my email, it is vickiyurealtor@gmail.com.


Our dogs are still loving life in Hawaii. The photo above was taken last week (May 2011). Tasha will be 15 years old in July, and Danzig is probably around the same age, since we have had him for over 13 years and when we adopted him as a stray he was estimated at about 2 years old. When we moved from snow country, Danzig was suffering from arthritis. The climate here seems to have helped prolong their lives. Just like for humans, swings in temperature can be hard on the body, so retirement in a warm climate is ideal.


Fifteen years old is quite advanced for large breed dogs living anywhere, so they are showing some signs of age. Tasha still insists on prancing when she walks. She looks like a wind-up toy with her feet lifting high off the ground in slow motion. The last time she was climbing a sand dune she fell over backwards and tumbled into the sand. It surprised her since she has always been such an agile athlete. She lives on love, and whenever someone comes up to her and pets her it makes her day. Danzig was diagnosed with cancer in January and had a tumor removed from his throat. The doctor gave him a few months to live, and we are focusing on giving him the best life possible. He seems really happy and wags his tail all the time and is not showing signs of distress.















I don't want to make too long of a post here, so the most useful information about flying with pets to Hawaii still appears on this page. There is another point I needed to add. If you are moving here without a place to move into, it could be very difficult to find a (nice) rental that allows pets. Please keep that in mind, since I have heard of people giving their pets away after going through all the trouble to get them here because they couldn't find a place that would allow them. If you are fortunate enough to be able to buy your own house or condo, then this is not an issue. Of course you need to check the pet policy of any building you buy into. I will check this for you if you send me the building name or address. I am very familiar with the housing market all over Oahu. I have found homes for people who had no idea where they wanted to live at first (my parents and myself included) and did extensive research to fit neighborhoods to lifestyle, wants and needs. I haven't mentioned that I am a realtor before, since this blog is dedicated to our dogs. I have over 13 years professional experience as an attorney and with real estate matters, and this background has proved invaluable to my clients. If I can be of any assistance in helping you to find a new home for you and your pets, please feel free to contact me!












Rainbow photographed from the Pali Highway, Kailua bound.