Duke and Harley

Duke Ikaika

Birthday: April 7, 2007
Breed: Chihuahua Beagle Mix
Favorite Toy: Green Turtle Squeeze
Favorite Thing To Do: Lay on a Pillow or Warm Clothes to Lay On and Lick Someone
Favorite Food: Peanut Butter and Rice
Guilty Pleasure/Bad Habit: Chewing Through Laundry, Both Clean and Dirty

Duke was not planned, like most "children" he was a happy surprise. It all happened on June 3, 2007... My roommate at the time, Ke`ala, and I went for a jog and ended up at Westchester Park; it just so happened to also be Los Angele's Annual Dog Adoption Fair. We decided to walk around the park and look at the different animal shelter stands.

That's when it happened, love at first sight. While we were looking at the Chihuahua Haven Rescue stand, the owner brought out two Chihuahua Beagle puppies. They were both boys from a litter that was found on the side of the road near their shelter. They were both 6 weeks old and only a pound and a half each. After looking at them, I knew I had to adopt one; I just didn't know which one I wanted. Ke`ala and I came up with this "genius" plan where Ke`ala would hold both puppies and I would stand 5 feet away. Whichever dog ran to me first was going to be mine. Needless to say we got the hyper one that b-lined it to me, I never realized that this little ball of energy would cause trouble.

You have no idea how much laundry has been destroyed by this little man. You think he is just innocently sitting and laying down on the laundry when you're folding, but he is actually stalking his next victim and is about to bite holes and chew through clothes, nothing is safe.

Now, Duke's claim to fame is that he is the man of the house since he was with me for 10 days before Lucas. He truly believes those ten days should be calculated in dog years, therefore he was with me for seventy two days before I met Lucas, over 2 months. These days, Duke and I bond while laying in front of the fire place or cuddling on the couch.

Harley Makana

Birthday: February 7, 2008

Breed: Border Terrier Mix
Favorite Toy: Duke or a Tennis Ball
Favorite Thing To Do: Go for a Bike Ride
Favorite Food: Hamburger or Chicken
Guilty Pleasure/Bad Habit: Chewing on Shoes (Including Mahina's Wedding Heels)

Harley was a surprise gift for Mahina. She had been combing through Pet Finder ads for a while and had come across Harley, then Lois, on page 12 of the listings...which I think were sorted by distance from us.

So to surprise Mahina I took off one weekday morning while she was at work and drove to Palm Springs...told you it was far...and found Harley at a great little shelter. She was a little wiry mutt running around full of energy. By the time I got there, it was too late, she was coming back with me. As Harley and I finished the paper work and jumped back in the car the first thing I noticed is that our new little puppy wasn't a fan of the sun.

Now I understand that my '96 Civic with no air conditioning while we're in Palm Springs can get warm, but this dog was running for cover and burrowing herself anywhere she could get to in the car.

I made it over to Santa Monica to meet up with Mahina for lunch and came with new puppy in tow. Mahina was so excited and wanted to leave work, but she couldn't.

For the next couple of weeks, until she could stay home all day without having accidents everywhere, Harley came to work with me at LMU and hung out in the office, mostly sleeping.

Now, she's nearly 30 lbs and incredibly fast so we try to burn off some of that energy by taking her on bike rides with me. So far I've pushed her up to 17mph, but now we're going to try and work on her endurance so she doesn't wear out after 3 miles.