For the Love of Lilly

As many weekends as possible, we, companions of the Malamutes, liked to drive up Waimea Canyon Drive to the mountains and rain forests of Koke'e. There is no finer way to spend a day than to walk around in the forest or on the canyon's edge with your dog and it can only be topped by being accompanied by some or all of your best canine and human friends.

From the time that the Malamute pups were small we took them on progressively longer and longer walks in the woods. At first we walked the 100 yard trail between our cabin and the cabin next to us. We would hold our puppy stampede and the little guys would race along in their roly-poly bodies.

As the pups grew up, we started walking what we called the short loop trail near our cabin, which was about a half mile long. Then we started walking the long loop trail, or making the complete loop. This loop trail went down by the Boy Scout camp, and through a stand of pine trees. Kyra especially loved to be let off leash to chase the pine cones that we would kick for her. To avoid showdowns, we usually kept the other dogs on their leashes and just let the queen mother off leash to run and chase as she pleased.

Kyra sure did please us with her athletic moves, whipping around to pick up a pine cone as she shot pass us while running at full speed. She could even kick the pine cone along to entertain herself if we all got distracted talking or paying attention to one of the other dogs.

As the young Malamutes strength and stamina grew, we graduated to taking regular, longer walks in the woods. One of the many good things about having a dog is that they get you outdoors. They get you out in the daytime where you can see all of the beauty around you. In Koke'e, on our walks, Lilly and I would get out into native forest, something that only exists in a few places on each of the main Hawaiian Islands. We would walk among the multitude of ferns, under the native koa acacia trees. We would stroll along through ohia forests with their gorgeous red lehua blossoms. We would watch the breezes dance with the leaves of the lapa lapa trees reminding me of the dance of the wind and the quaking aspen from the mainland.

We always had to be careful with the Malamutes, as even in the cool of Koke'e, we had to make sure they did not overheat. With their big, heavy fur coats on, even a mile or two walk in the cool mountains could get them too hot. It was easier to walk the dogs in the cool of Koke'e rather than down below but we still had to pay attention to how the dogs were breathing to make sure they did not get too hot.

This was a lifelong responsibility for us Malamute lovers. This was one of the reasons that I chose not to breed Lilly. I was very concerned about her offspring being treated right including not getting overheated from walking too far or walked in the heat of day or just overheating in the daily warm temperatures of Hawaii. I was just not sure there were enough people that I could count on to place her pups with safely.

We had some favorite trails in Koke'e. We loved to walk the dogs through the forest right across the street from the Kalalau Lookout. We followed the trail through the woods and through the many different mini-montane terrains. The trail was around 2 miles long so we would walk about half way in, then take a rest break in the cool shade of the koas, drink some water, have a snack, and stretch out under the trees with a dog or two panting by our side. I loved lying down on the ground and looking up into the large, kind face of a Malamute, being careful not to get drooled on. After a refreshing break, we would amble out of the woods for the last mile or so. My men friends were really considerate, and they would make sure that we had left enough vehicles at the finishing end of the trail so we and the dogs could hop into a car and drive back to our cabins. Some of the men would go in another vehicle and drive to the start of the trail to pick up the vehicles that we had left there.