A Dog Man Made from Solid Wood

Sometimes you read a story about a man you wished you had met. This is one of those stories.

The 60-pound Plott hound was headed to her new home in the Bay Area.

“It’s bittersweet,” said Larry Richardson, one of Gigi’s foster parents over the past two months. “She’s a sweet dog and we’ll miss her. But we’re grateful she’s going on to bigger and better things and her forever home.”

What makes Gigi so special, what made nearly 10 people come to bid her goodbye, was that she belonged to the late Robert Hamada. The Kauai artist and master woodturner was known for his magnificent wooden bowls. He passed away at the age of 93 on Jan. 23 at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu.

He also bred and sold hunting dogs. When he died, there were 25 dogs and six puppies on his property. A friend, Allen Kapali, cared for the dogs in the following months and found homes with hunters for nearly all of them. Kapali said the hunting dogs were a big part of Hamada’s life. He was so proud of them, so sure of their abilities, that he give guarantees to the people who bought them. If they weren’t the best hunting dog they ever had, after one year, they could return it for a full refund.

“He did that for 30, 40 years, and not one dog ever came back,” Kapali said. “That’s how much belief he had in his dogs.”

Read his obituary here. Worth it!