Local dog owners share their canine tales.
By Rich Wicks | Panora Times, March 2025
Archeological evidence shows that, thousands of years ago, early humans started domesticating wolves. This eventually led to the many breeds of dogs in the world today.
Regardless of how and when the partnership started, it is undeniable that humans and dogs have forged a bond like no other two species on Earth. Dogs serve as guides for the visually impaired. They are trained to locate explosives and illegal drugs. Some are even used to track fugitives or missing persons. Police dogs serve as formidable allies in law enforcement. Dogs can also be amazingly efficient shepherds. All those are admirable purposes, but this story focuses on dogs as pets.
About 46% of homes in America include at least one dog, and that figure is up significantly from about 32% in 1996. The number of dog-owning households surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Americans spent more time at home and less time with other people. Perhaps most importantly, 89% of dog-owners in America consider their dogs to be members of the family.
Several local dog owners were happy to share their tales.
Hannah and James Markiewicz and Kiera and Boone
“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” – Roger Caras
Hannah and James Markiewicz play in their yard with Kiera and Boone.
James and Hannah Markiewicz of Panora are the proud owners of two black labs, Kiera and Boone. Kiera is about 7 years old, while Boone is 4.
“We got Kiera in June of 2019,” James said. “We were living in Idaho at the time. We had our first dog for almost 10 years, and he ended up dying. We took a break from having a dog for a while. He was a terrier mix, and for our next dog, we wanted something like a lab or a lab mix.”
“We hiked and camped a lot, so that kind of dog would match our lifestyle,” Hannah said.
When the couple welcomed Kiera into the family, they found she enjoyed the wilderness and nature all around. But Mother Nature also played a trick on the Markiewiczes.
“We didn’t have her fixed right away,” James said. “In the fall of 2020, one of our neighbor’s dogs snuck into our yard and got Kiera pregnant. She had 10 puppies, and they all survived.”
As the couple found homes for the puppies, they chose to keep one, which they named Boone. James and Hannah take their dogs walking frequently when weather cooperates. Kiera and Boone enjoy the fresh air, exercise and freedom — sometimes, perhaps, too much freedom.
Boone poses while Kiera gets silly.
“One time, we were snowshoeing in the snow out in Idaho National Forest, and the dogs wandered away. We couldn’t find them for about a half hour,” Hannah said. “And, one time, they came back with a hoof from an elk.”
A few years ago, the family moved to Panora, which is obviously not as wide open as the wilderness of Idaho. Because of previous instances of running off, the dogs are generally not allowed to run free anymore.
“Typically, now the only time we can let them off the leash is out at her grandma’s farm,” James said. “They run around the woods out there and chase squirrels.”
Having dogs that are a mother-and-child pair has led to humorous scenes. Every mother has times of frustration with a child, and that’s certainly true with Kiera and Boone.
“He plays a little too rough for her liking, so she gets tired of him after a while,” James said. “He grabs her behind the neck and drags her around. She gets really annoyed with that.”
Although there are no children in the family yet, Kiera has shown plenty of patience with kids.
“When we first got her, I actually owned a baby store, and we lived upstairs, so she was around a lot of kids in the beginning,” Hannah said, “She would hang out with them, and then eventually she’d go off and be away from them for a while.”
Most dog owners can tell about amusing habits of their pets. For Boone and Kiera, their interests seem to be in filling their stomachs.
“They’re obsessed with food, so no matter what container we’ve kept their dry food in, they’ve found ways to get it out,” James said.
Because of this, James bought a sturdy food container that screws tightly closed.
“They’ve pulled it out, but they haven’t figured out how to open it,” he said. “But they’re very determined.”
Dana Stark and Cola
“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.” – Andy Rooney
Dana Stark holds her longtime helper, Cola.
Dog owners take care of their dogs, but, often, dogs also help take care of their humans. That’s been the case with Dana Stark of rural Panora. Stark and her husband, Dan, have two daughters, 7-year-old Rylee and 3-year-old Emilee. But before either of the girls were born, Stark welcomed Cola, a mini rat terrier, into the family.
Stark had previously owned a dog and decided it was time to find another.
“We got her as a puppy from southern Illinois, and she was only 1.9 pounds,” she said.
The trip home with Cola was memorable, to say the least.
“When we left to head home, I realized she was infested with fleas, and we had a seven- or eight-hour drive, so what were we going to do? We ended up going to Walmart, and we bought flea shampoo, towels and bottles of water, and we gave her a flea bath in the parking lot, and then the whole way home I was picking the fleas off of her,” Stark said.
Rylee, Cola and Emilee pose.
Stark and Cola quickly bonded.
When the Starks decided to try to have children, they learned that In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) would likely be needed. The process can be lengthy and stressful. Eventually, the Starks had two children, but 10 IVF attempts were made along the way.
“Cola helped me through IVF. When my husband couldn’t go with me to the appointments, she would go,” Stark said. “Cola went along to a lot of the appointments. We started with a doctor in Des Moines, and then we had a doctor in Omaha.”
Another medical challenge came up during Stark’s pregnancies, and again Cola was able to help.
“I was a gestational diabetic, so I wore a continuous glucose monitor. If, in the middle of the night, my glucose got too low, an alarm would go off,” Stark said. “I would have slept right through it, but Cola would wake me up. She’s my emotional support companion. She got me through that crazy time. She still does. She sleeps on my face and wraps herself around me.”
Stark also recalled a humorous conversation about Cola while Stark was awaiting her first child.
Cola works on her horsemanship.
“When I was pregnant with my first, my mom asked, ‘What if she doesn’t like the kids?’ I said, ‘Well, we’ll have to get rid of the kids; I had the dog first.’ I was joking, but Cola loves the kids,” Stark said.
Cola is nearly 11 years old now and has grown to a “robust” 9 pounds. Because of her small stature, she has been able to do some things that a larger dog could not achieve. Stark explained that Cola will use others to get to Stark. If there is someone she knows and is comfortable with, she will sometimes allow herself to be picked up, but then almost immediately tries to be handed over to her “mommy.”
One of the sorrows of dog ownership is that they grow old and pass away much sooner than people, on average. This also gives kids the opportunities to learn the cycle of life and how to deal with loss.
Stark shared how Cola has been displaying signs of aging, including being snippy if suddenly awakened from a nap. Through experience, the girls have learned to avoid grabbing or startling Cola while napping.
“The girls call her Old Lady Cola,” Stark said.
Cola adores the girls but still likes being treated as a queen at times.
“She is so spoiled. She had her own stroller. When we would go on a walk, she wouldn’t want to walk the whole time. Then, when we had our first kid, we put a bed for Cola in the bottom of the stroller. Then, when we had our second daughter, we got a wagon so they would all fit,” Stark said. “Now, the kids like to put her in the bathtub with them. She doesn’t like it, but she tolerates it.”
Dorothy Woodvine and Sully, Max and Case
“Before you get a dog, you can’t quite imagine what living with one might be like; afterward, you can’t imagine living any other way.” – Caroline Knapp
Case, Dorothy Woodvine and Sully at Springbrook Park.
Having a dog can be a wonderful, calming and reassuring experience. Having several dogs can be all that — with a circus atmosphere. For Dorothy Woodvine of Panora, that is part of the fun. She and her husband, Jay, now have three large dogs: Case, Sully and Max.
“We’ve always been dog people. Case is soon to turn 10 years old. He was actually our daughter’s dog,” Woodvine said. “Our daughter went off college, and that’s how we got Case. He was her dog, then became a family dog, and then became mom and dad’s dog.”
Case’s appearance draws lots of attention.
“Case is a husky mixed with a great Pyrenees,” Woodvine said. “Everywhere we go, heads turn, and people ask us if he’s a wolf.”
Woodvine’s other two dogs are golden retrievers.
“Sully will turn 4 in April. A friend of ours was going to have golden retriever puppies, and we’ve always been a golden retriever family,” Woodvine said. “We ended up getting Sully, and one of our daughters got a sibling of Sully, named Oakley.”
Case, Channing, Sully and Oakley.
Sully has found gainful employment in downtown Panora at the store Woodvine manages.
“He is the junior shop puppy of Bella Sorella,” Woodvine said.
According to Woodvine, many customers and visitors to Bella Sorella will immediately look for Sully upon entering the store.
“And then Max, we kind of rescued from a family that couldn’t keep him anymore. Max is also a golden retriever,” Woodvine said. “We adopted him about a year ago.”
Previously, the Woodvines had one small dog named Channing. Having three large dogs is a handful, but Woodvine welcomes the energy.
“My life is filled with chaos constantly with the three dogs,” Woodvine said. “It is just non-stop funniness.”
Part of the chaos, according to Woodvine, is that each of the three dogs sheds a considerable amount of fur. But she takes it in stride and says that vacuuming and using a Swiffer are daily necessities.
Case, Sully and Max chilling in the yard.
In a town the size of Panora, the Woodvine dogs have become minor celebrities.
“People know our vehicle because of the dogs, I think. We have an SUV, and the license plate says ‘the zoo’ because our nickname for the family has been ‘the Woodvine Zoo’ for years,” Woodvine said. “I take my dogs everywhere, and it’s funny because the windows are down and these three big dogs are just hanging out the windows. People take pictures a lot.”
Dog owners know that each dog, like each person, has a unique personality. Woodvine described the personality traits of her three dogs.
“Sully is a big chicken. Everything scares him. As he has gotten older, even a leaf blowing across the street will get him,” she said. “Max is a wild child. He’s probably the wildest dog we’ve ever owned. He is sweet and just rambunctious. And Case is the protector. He’s the big brother.”
Woodvine said the family used to take all the dogs to Paws and Pints in Des Moines, a popular combination dog park/bar/restaurant. But she explained they no longer bring Case because his protective instinct went overboard.
“When other peoples’ dogs would play and roughhouse, Case would go over and insert himself between them, and he would growl. He thought he was protecting and breaking up a fight,” Woodvine said. “But he’s the sweetest and cuddliest dog with people.
