I got Kona for Mike as a birthday present in 2004. He was the tiniest little puppy - we picked him out, brought him home, and immediately bathed him. I still remember the first night - he whined all night long! Kona didn't like being on the floor in our room.
Kona's first night at our house in San Antonio!
We got Kona to try to help calm down our black lab, Bobo. That didn't work too well - Bobo taught Kona how to dig, and Kona taught Bobo how to eat the fence. Kona was named for the coffee bean out of Hawaii. Coffee is black and tan, depending on how much creamer you use, and Kona is a black and tan German Shepherd, hence . . . KONA!
In October of 2007, we almost lost Kona. It was almost time to go to bed, and we had let Kona out at Westwood Shores to go to the bathroom. When Mike opened the door to call him back inside, he didn't come, which was strange. Mike set out in the truck to look for him, and we still couldn't find him. All of the sudden, Mike looked across the field in front of Westwood Shores, and saw cars begin to slow down and stop on FM 356, a major road that ran about 500 yards from the house.
Mike looked closer and saw Kona trying to come to him, however he had been badly hurt, and was hardly able to walk as he had been hit by a car. Mike sprinted across the field and carried Kona back to the house. Kona weighs about 80 pounds, so this was no small feat! It was almost 10:30 at night, Sammy was about 19 months old and was already in bed for the night, and I was taking a bath and had just washed my hair. I jumped out of the tub, quickly dressed, loaded Sammy in the car, and then Mike and I carried Kona to the back of our Jeep.
We drove over an hour to get to the closest animal hospital in Conroe. When we got there, they immediately took Kona back to work on him. We kept asking if Kona had broken his leg, and finally they advised us that they were trying to keep him alive through the night, and then they'd worry about his leg. When we left the animal hospital, we were unsure if Kona would live. It was one of the hardest goodbyes we'd ever had to say.
Kona made it through the night, and the next day we took him in to a veterinarian in Huntsville. The vet advised us that the nerves in Kona's right front leg had snapped, that they would probably not be able to regenerate, and we should consider amputation as soon as possible. We decided to wait and have the specialists at Texas A&M look at Kona before we made any final decisions.
At A&M, they advised to give Kona about 3 months, and that his nerves would probably regenerate. The next three months were tough, having to see Kona in his disabled state, but A&M was right. One day in about January, I looked up and he was walking. The next week, he was running, and today, you'd hardly know he had any issues with his leg at all.
I'm so glad we didn't give up on Kona - he's never given up on us. Kona will be 7 years old in October of this year. He is calm, loving, gentle, and most of all, protective of our family.
It seems like wherever Sophia is, Kona is right there. He lets her do anything she wants to him, and she loves to touch his fur and giggle! He gives most of the same privileges to Sammy, but is not as lenient when Sammy plays rough.
The other day, one of the little boys in our playgroup walked into my bedroom where Kona was sleeping. Kona jumped up to greet him, and scared him so much! The little boy came running down the hallway, screaming "A moose, there's a moose!"
Kona, you big moose, we love you! Thanks for being our loyal friend and puppy!
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