■ Just as fishermen in Hawai‘i do, when we head out on the water, we take everything we need to survive–just in case. We take extra water, tarps to use for shelter or water collection, MREs, flares, and other survival gear. And, just as fishermen in Hawai‘i do, we take our dog.
Meet Shorty, the boat dog.
Unlike our other four dogs, Shorty just showed up in our yard. He was a little black and white dog with a big head, well-formed shoulders and a stocky build. Worried that he might be rabid or dangerous, we shooed him away, but he kept coming back. Finally, one day my “fishing buddy” gave him a treat and we decided to give him a chance. We soon realized that he had been dumped,…