Yes, it's official. Break out the leis, FBRN has gone Hawaiian! Chico is our very first Frenchie to be fostered in the glorious aloha state. We think that, 'Kiuke loa k?ia keiki k?ne' means, 'This boy is so cute' in Hawaiian. Any way you say it, we know he is adorable and we are fortunate that we have a wonderful volunteer to help him. She worked with his owners to try to resolve his behaviors, but finally they made the difficult decision to surrender him to our care.

Chico is three years old and deaf. He is otherwise healthy and neutered. His surrendering family obtained him a few months ago by responding to an ad on craigslist. He did not get along with the larger dog in the home and reportedly has bitten. He was okay with the female Chihuahua.

He has only been in foster care for a short while, but Chico seems like a very insecure boy, perhaps due to his inability to hear. He allows his foster mom to pick him up, but is very sensitive to touch. He runs over for a quick pet or kiss, and then runs away again. He walks decently on a leash, although he flattened to the ground when a big truck went by.

Chico goes in his crate just fine, but has a strange habit of attempting to bite his foster mom's hands when she latches it. He does not do this when she unlatches it for him to come out. But, after a short while in foster care he is settling in and getting better in his behavior. He has sniffed the resident dogs with modest interest through baby gates but mostly ignores them. He offered nice kisses to the little person playing with the wii on the floor.

We love Chico and are excited about helping him. We're pleased too for the prospective adoptive families who have been disappointed because we could not place dogs from the mainland to homes on the island state. When Chico is ready to adopt, oh boy! We do wonder, though. Do dogs in Hawaii eat poi?