KOA

Koa of Austin - We had just moved to Arkansas after our tour in Hawaii.    Perry
insisted on giving our first Irish Wolfhound a Hawaiian name.    Koa... it just so
happens to be the initials of a popular camping franchise, KOA Kampgrounds Of
America.    We spared Koa the embarrassment and assured him he was our warrior to the
end. Koa became part of our family in October of 1988 at the age of 14 weeks. We
quickly learned that finding any reliable information on wolfhounds was almost
impossible to come by. Most books where generic only touching the surface of what we
now know. Most of our first problems with Koa was the lack of interest in food. At
times it was so bad I (Teresa) would find my self on my knees forcing food down his
mouth and crying. Eventually we found a veterinarian that put our worries aside.
Having had a lot of experience in large breeds, he told us that this was not uncommon for
this breed and was able to work with us, and got Koa on a good diet. Koa never got
heavier than 135lbs. He was always a very picky eater but around 3 years of age Koa
reached the weight of 135 lbs and kept it on.   In September of 1998, Koa was humanely
put to sleep when he torsioned and bloated at just over 10 years of age.
Koa was our teacher in all things that is Irish Wolfhounds....A gentle, kind and wise
Irish-man Koa was our Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow.