The Road Trip – What a Zoo!

The Road Trip – What a Zoo! was Originally Posted on December 11, 2009 by lavarock

Before breeding a dog, you must have them checked carefully to ensure that they are not carrying problems to future generations. Problems to look for are eyes and hips. If you think about it, many people would shudder if we did this in humans, but it is commonplace in dogs.

There was a TV show recently, which asked, “Would you consider engineering your child”. If you knew that the wife was carrying a child that had a specific problem, what would you do? If you could choose your Childs attributes, would you? If you could choose your child to look like a specific movie star, would you? Engineering people is very controversial.

Most Asians and Native Americans are lactose intolerant, and up to 80% of African Americans and Hispanic Americans also have some symptoms. Their ancestors did not eat dairy foods, so their bodies were not prepared to digest dairy, and they passed these genes on from generation to generation. As they intermarry, this problem may be reduced.

Engineering animals, not so much so. In the case of a purebred Labrador, you want to ensure that you do not pass along hip problems and you do that by testing. If a dog has problems you do not breed them because the problem is passed on to a percentage of the litter. If the two parents are very tall, the children will tend to be tall. Then by breeding them to tall dogs can compound the problem. It is a very common breeding event to breed for color. We can easily determine the probability, or even force the color of a chocolate or yellow or black Labrador.

Because Labradors are such common dogs (they are the most registered dog in America) it is inappropriate to beed a dog who has issues because there are so many other Labs who would not carry a problem further. However, if there were a very limited number of dogs in a gene pool, you might allow a problem such as hip displaysia to be ignored for the present and breed it out later when there are more dogs to carry the line forward.

In dogs, you may be breeding a problem away, or trying to ensure a good field or show dog. Many of the breeds were bred for specific qualities of working with livestock or being small enough to crawl into small spaces.

With all that said, Sandra, a friend and I drove to Hilo Wednesday with 6 Labradors (Koa was included) to have their hips checked. The Vet puts them to sleep and X-rays their hips and elbows, then the results are sent in for certification. We took the newly remodeled Saddle Road and I could have been blindfolded and plopped down on it and when the blindfold was removed, never have guessed where I was! There are parts of that road that are now 4 lanes! There are reflectors along the road and we were able to drive in fog/clouds with little problem. It is no wonder that the rental car companies are removing Saddle Road from the restricted driving areas.

We dropped the dogs at the Vet and then had the day to sightsee. After stopping at Kens for brunch, I talked the group into the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo (HiloZoo.Com). When I was a concierge I often recommended the zoo but had never been. This is the only natural tropical rainforest zoo in the U.S and covers 12 acres, so it is not so large that you will walk all day, but easy to spend an afternoon there. You can even take a picnic lunch. Since I had this chance, I really wanted to go. What a great place! The animals seemed well cared for, the landscaping is nice, and it is a lot larger than I thought it would be.

They have reptiles, mammals, primates, birds, amphibians and invertebrates. Of course, the neatest part is Namaste, the white Bengal Tiger, who they feed at 3:30pm. I would be neglectful if I did not mention that, of course they feed him raw, meaty bones

The zoo is on the east side of Hilo out towards the volcano and across from the Mac Nut factory. This is a lot better stop too. Did I mention that admission t othe zoo is free? That makes it a really great stop for individuals or the family.

After the zoo we went to the middle of Hilo and sat by the water. The park has a multi-humped bridge and we watched 2 people using stand-up paddleboards. Nearby a man was crabbing.

There is a monument there which is difficult to identify what it is until you get to it. From a distance it looks like a large black pile of lava, perhaps a mound or cupcake. When you get to it and turn the corner you find it is a monument to those who lost their lives in the tsunami. The lava on two sides actually forms two waves and you enter at a trough between them.

We stopped into the nearby cultural center where there were displays of festivals around the world, all doe in miniature. Most had to do with this time of year. I the 20 minutes we were there, we three were the only visitors. Meanwhile the 2 volunteers chatted away while we explored. Driving through Hilo I never would have stopped at these places had we not had the day to spend and one of us being a Hilo expert.

I developed a terrific headache and went to Longs Drugstore for a headache powder. In old movies it was always humorous to hear someone taking a powder for their headache. When I was working at Hewlett Packard’s Atlanta office, I got a headache and a co-worker handed me a Goodys power to take. I wanted real aspirin, but he assured me this was better. he was right (thanks Jim) and I have never looked back. Some people prefer Goodys and some prefer BC but can tell you that they really work fast! Anyway, Longs didn’t carry them, so I looked for regular aspirin and found they only had Bayer. Regular readers know that I refrain from name brands and try to save the most money by buying generics. I found a generic headache capsule, which turns out to be the equivalent of Goodys, just not in a powder form, so it will take a bit longer to work. Wha’ts in a Goodys? They are the equivalent of aspirin, acetaminophen along with caffeine.

We soon picked up the dogs and walked them around to shake off the sedation. We piled them into the cars and headed back over the saddle. As we left Hilo, we began to drive into the clouds/fog. Call it what you will, but it descended on the roadway and would have made it very difficult to see the road, were it not for the newly installed reflectors along the way. By the time we passed Mauna Kea road we were in the clear, but one of the dogs really whimpered to stop. It sounded like Koa. Anyway, we stopped at the campground and let the dogs stretch and pee. They also got a snack we had brought, because they had not eaten in 24 hours because they would be x-rayed.

It was very, very cold at the campground, as it is at the 6,000 foot elevation and the sun was down. I was just wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. This is a common stop for me, because it is the only restroom along that whole route. Once you leave Hilo, there is a good 2-hour stretch of nothing and no bathrooms except this one mid way across.

We had left for Hilo at 6:45am or so and returned about 8pm. The dogs were all give a full meal and I took Koa and headed home.

It was a very nice road trip and the dogs handled the trip well. I should know the results of Koa’s hips soon and that determines if he should be bred.