Cook Island Dogs

Before I start to write about the turquoise waters or the fire dances or the amazing sunrises and the coral reefs, I want to tell you about one of the best parts of the Cook Islands that have not been mentioned in any guidebook… the dogs. Yup, these pups on the Island of Raratonga are pretty swell. They have owners, but people on the island have a more laid back manner of taking care of their pets. They let them play without a leash and thus the tourists and travelers get to share a bit of canine companionship during their strolls along Muri Beach (the best beach on the island). We haven’t met one dog that was not friendly to humans and got along decently well with other dogs. On one of our first mornings, Mike and I went on a walk to explore the beach a bit and ended up leading a pack of 5 dogs down the beach! There were Henry and Bessie Mae (2 older golden retrievers), Scrappy (an orange dog with a thick collar of white fir and who always started small fights), Foxy (a dog similar to Scrappy except with pointy ears and was lowest on the totem pole as we witnessed with his inferior gestures to every other dog), and finally our favorite of them all, Captain Ahab.
We call him Ahab for short. He has some hound in him, is rather tall, and is the greatest fisher-dog we have ever seen. He was fishing and playing in the water the entire walk and even caught a fish! Of course it was the hunt, not the kill he liked, and he tired of the fish when it stopped flopping around. (We were able to put the fish back in the water, and it swam away. Ahab is his own dog. He fishes, hunts lizards and crabs, peals bark from a tree, and has fights with palm leaves. He doesn’t bother himself with scuffles with other dogs, but enjoys hanging out with them. He knows who he is and is darn good at it. Since returning from the island of Aitutaki, we met up again with our friend, Ahab, and he has joined us on walks every night. The one sad part with Ahab is that he looks rather gaunt. Tough, but gaunt. We aren’t sure if his owners (yes, he has a collar) don’t feed him enough or if he is just so active, he burns the calories too fast. Regardless, he needs more food. Who knows if it is a good idea or not, but we have been feeding him our meat leftovers every night. And I’m not sorry for it! He’s our favorite dog of this whole trip so far. I hope he is on the beach tonight for another round of “Catch the Ghost Crab!”
I would be remiss if I did not mention Corned Beef (CB for short) and Bailey. They live at our bungalows complex called Kura’s Kabanas. Bailey is a big, gentle old dog who just got over a bout of something and is recovering. She doesn’t move much, but she does like a good scratching and to chew on a coconut! Bailey is the only dog who had a name when we met her. Everyone else has earned their names. CB is a golden retriever and has become our house dog. She is there in the morning, hangs out on our porch while we read, and defends us when any unseen enemy is upon us. She’s a good dog, and yes, she is a big fan of corned beef.
We have also met a number of other dogs like 2 stumpy dogs that pal around we named Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. They look a bit awkward thanks to their hound mix and the short shepherd mix parents. I gotta tell ya, that doesn’t mean they aren’t strong. Today, I saw Tweedle Dumb swim about 200 meters from 1 island to another. With those little legs? Makes me think of Gus. Pretty impressive.
It is also important to mention that not all of the Cook Islands have dogs. Aitutaki has no dogs what-so-ever- just cats. They aren’t sure exactly the reason they were “removed” from the island, but there are 2 theories. The first theory is that dogs were blamed for leprosy and the chief ordered them all to be eliminated. The second theory is that one of the dogs killed the chief’s son, and the chief gave the same order. The law of “no dogs” on Aitutaki remains in effect to this day. The cats have filled part of the dog niche (we walked one lovely fat orange cat down the beach one night back to her home one night), and are loveable and calming. I loved Aitutaki for so many reasons, but I must say that I was happy to see Ahab again.
These islands have caused me to think about what pleasure good dogs bring. As look around, we are not the only traveler who has taken delight in canine company during their stay on Raratonga. There is a comfort, an acceptance, and unconditional love some might call it, even if it is only as long as a walk on the sand or a swim in the water. It makes me feel like friends are all around us even when we are half a world away. In the Lonely Planet Guidebook for the Cook Islands, the only thing they say about the dogs of Raratonga is that they are a problem. Well, Lonely Planet’s problem is my joy.