Freeeeedom!

Poor Dulce had to endure 35 days in the Hawaii Quarantine Station.  It was a long time for us to be apart but at least it wasn't the full 120 days!  We visited her as often as we could and we were confident that the quarantine station staff was taking good care of her.  Still, we were counting down the days to her release!

We picked her up this past Saturday morning.  When she saw us packing up her toys and bedding, she got SUPER excited... she knew it was time to leave.  The weather was crazy that morning.  The sun was shining but it was pouring down rain!  We got a little wet but I had towels waiting in the car for us.

Leaving the station, we saw the most vivid full rainbow in front of us!  In fact, it's almost a double rainbow if you look above the right side of it.  What a beautiful sight to welcome Dulce to Hawaii :)

Our first stop was the pet store to pick up some food, bowls (we still don't have our things from Korea yet), and to give her a bath at their pet-washing station.  After that, we headed back to our hotel which has a huge dog park next to it.  We expected her to take off running.  After all, she hasn't been in an open area or even on grass for over a month.  To our surprise, she simply trotted around the park slowly.  Had she forgotten how to run?  When we went inside, she slept for the rest of day!  It was a hard-core sleep, as if she hadn't had a good night's sleep since she left Korea.

The next day was warm and overcast so I took Dulce to the off-leash dog beach on Hickam Air Force Base.  This beach is awesome and Dulce had the time of her life!  The waves break about 700 feet out from the beach and the whole area out to the break line is crystal clear water that is only a few inches deep.  Dulce trotted through the water, rolled in the sand, and dug a bunch of holes.  It was so much fun watching her enjoy herself!

She made friends with the other dogs there and suddenly remembered how to run!  They had a great game of chase going... with Dulce in the lead the whole time :)

Dulce survived quarantine but not without a couple changes.  Surprisingly though, the changes are actually really good!  First of all, she lost over 2 pounds which is exactly how much weight she had put on living in Korea.  She's now down to a slim 16 pounds which is exactly what she should weigh.  

The other change is that she has become much more desensitized to noises and moving things.  In quarantine, there was constant noise and also birds and people moving around outside her kennel all the time.  She used to growl at noises she heard and would bark at and chase birds but not anymore!  So far we've taken her to a Starbucks and to a restaurant (we sat outside at both of course) and she calmly sat there and watched the world go by.  People walked past her and birds hopped over close to her and she simply watched them, not moving or making a sound.  She is unfazed by the birds at the dog park and at the beach as well.  This is an unexpected, but definitely welcome, side effect of her quarantine stay.

We are so glad to have Dulce with us again and she seems more than happy to be home :)

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"I find I’m so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my

head.  I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at 

the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.  I hope I can 

make it across the border.  I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.

I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.  I hope."

~Shawshank Redemption