Island Cowdog

We heard from Mary Kay in Hawaii today about her friend of 14 years. Here's the story in her words:

Hey!I LOVED reading your dogblogs!!! There's something about the intelligence, playfullness and dedication of a cattle dog that makes them better than the rest. Our Bravo is lying at my feet right now, as she always does. She loves me so much it makes me feel guilty sometimes. How could I ever reciprocate? Guess that's the "man's best friend""unconditional love" thing, right? Bravo is now 14 years old. Her arthritis has slowed her way down and made her pretty wobbly on her feet. Eyesight's not so good, nor is her hearing. But, she still has her sense of humor, and I know that she finds things funny. If she were physically cabable she would laugh out loud. We can see it in her body language, so that's good enough for us.

She started out as a true cattle dog, born to a big ranching family here on The Big Island of Hawaii. Her grandmother was actually from Australia. Her mother was a blue healer, and her father a red healer. She has all the traits of a working dog, but with us, she's had to learn to make her peeps her herd. Bravo is a beach lover, and likes to swim in the ocean (usually to chase my shoe). Smart cookie, she understands her commands - mostly without speech: snapping, clapping, whistle. But her human vocabulary is at least 30 words that she clearly knows. We know that she is in the sunset of her years, and are enjoying every moment we have left with her.

With Warm Love and Aloha, M'Kay