Kahana

 Kahana Sleeping

 Kahana Posing for Camera

Kahana hanging out in yard

Kahana

 

     I just came inside from the yard. It’s been hot here so wish to remind everybody to keep your dogs home during these hot days. I know all dogs love to hop in the car to go for a ride.   But this heat can kill them in minutes when left in a hot car with the windows cracked open.

    I would like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to a friend whose dog, Sierra, passed away. I don’t think there’s anything short of the death of a family member that can be as tough as the death of a pet. As I write this, our friend is looking to replace Sierra with another dog of the same breed. I totally understand her feelings but having owned many dogs, each one is unique and can never be replaced. A new dog however can mend a broken heart quickly. It only takes one nudge from a dog’s nose to help push the pain of a pets’ loss aside.

  Now let me introduce you to Kahana, a 150 pound, 10 year old Saint Bernard residing in Pioneer. Like many of us she is a San Francisco Bay Area transplant. She arrived in the Mother Lode in August 2009 when her owners Donn and Vikke Keith retired here. Suddenly she went from being a restrained city dog to an open country dog. To her that was a great change. She got out of the car and immediately started running around in the open space as fast as her giant paws could carry her.

  However her new found freedom was short lived when the Keiths realized that in the forest a dog unfamiliar with the area can get lost easily but, there is also a leash law.  Thus, she was put on restriction as to where she could and could not go. Still being on restriction in the Mother Lode offers new opportunities that a city dog doesn’t have. She gets to interact with the wildlife now. In the city its birds and the occasional squirrel in the country she interacts with deer, raccoons,  squirrels, possums and, yes, skunks.  

  Kahana began her life with the Keiths as their son’s dog. Their son Donovan raised her but over time left home and could not take Kahana with him.  So Donn and Vikke sort of inherited her. These days she spends her life content to watch wildlife.  The deer seem to sense she is no real threat.  She sleeps a lot but does like to sit and watch the world go by. There is one deer with two Fawns in particular who comes close to her (about 3 feet) and Kahana just lies there watching the deer eat. Kahana’s  food bowl is outside and she sleeps as the raccoons help themselves to her food.

 

    Kahana is a very gentle dog and one of her greatest desires is to be loved.  She likes greeting people but like many large dogs she thinks she is a petite little thing. Should she step on your foot, you know immediately she is not petite!

    Rescuing people, although a trait of the breed is not something Kahana is interested in. Instead she would rather gulp down a dog treat and nap. All in all, Kahana  loves being a dog of the Mother Lode.