Makai Dog brought joy to people and animals

By Rhoda Lindsay
and Jim Richardson
Special to The Advertiser

At age 12, Mr. Makai Dog had lost much of his agility and some of his hearing, but none of his charm.

Makai Dog visited a care home weekly to cheer up residents

He was born in Makaha Valley and raised on the shore. He was a skillful Frisbee player, ranging far on the sand with his eyes on the disk, leaping and twisting to snatch it to applause at Makaha Surfing Beach. Never mind that he wasn't supposed to be there. But he was a performer and, you know, a true Makaha boy — to heck with rules.

In his dog teen years, he would steal away at night, round up a few friends and prowl the neighborhood, touching noses with yard prisoners through chain-link fences along the street. He loved keiki, and would play catch with them — and adults — endlessly.

In a tide pool near the surfing beach, he would jump into the water, grab his mistress by the arm and gently pull her to the edge of the reef, ever the diligent lifeguard.

Two years ago Makai Dog (that was his registered name) was invited to be a representative at the Hawaiian Humane Society's black-tie fund-raiser at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. He even got his picture in the society's newsletter.

Over the years he took on the role of father to two pups rescued from abandonment, starvation and disease along the far reaches of Farrington Highway. He tolerated their puppy chewing and nipping habits, played with them, taught them how to sing from the second-floor lanai when the late-evening worker arrived home.

In his last year, Makai's back legs began to fail him in his effort to climb stairs. He didn't like being helped; it seemed to bruise his dignity. His hearing faded. Recently he began to bleed uncontrollably from a mouth ulcer.

Several visits to the Wai'anae Veterinary Clinic temporarily stopped the bleeding. A week and a half ago he lost so much blood that one morning he didn't get up for his usual morning stretch, didn't show interest in his customary breakfast snack. It was his way of saying, "It's time for me to move on."

The drive to Wai'anae Veterinary Clinic was only three miles, but it seemed like a thousand. Dr. Reb, who had treated Makai from puppyhood, was gentle, and through our tears we could see his own grief: He had lost his dog of 13 years, Gretchen, only a few days earlier.

"Guess who you're going to see on the other side," he said softly to Makai Dog as he applied, first, the sedative, then ...

... And then the Great Makai Dog's noble mission on Earth was finished.

Jim Richardson is a copy editor for The Advertiser.