A lei for you, and your little dog, too

Photos courtesy Lei Woof
Mia in a Lei Woof lei.


Krystal Narusaki was at a loss trying to think of something original to give a friend whose dog was graduating from the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen Program, the doggie equivalent of a high school graduation.

“Everybody gives a canine treat, but I was trying to think of something special I could do and thought, ‘What do people give at graduations?’ They give a lei, but it couldn’t be a flower lei because a dog will just eat it.”

So with ribbon and yarn, Narusaki, a longtime crafter, made a choker-style doggie lei, and it didn’t take long for friends and family to request lei for their four-legged companions, including a rabbit.

She’d been making them for only about six weeks when LeiHut.com came calling. The website is an online marketplace for “stuff from Hawaii,” and a lei for dogs is eminently marketable.

Narusaki, who already has a full-time marketing job with DK Restaurants, wasn’t aiming to launch a business, but said with the interest, it didn’t take long for her to come up with a name, Lei Woof, and packaging.

Krystal Narusaki with her shih tzu Beau.

Her dog Beau is the official product tester, and she claims he loves wearing the lei.
“I think he does because dogs really respond to human attention, and when people see him, they go, ‘Oh, my gosh, he’s so cute!’ He just looks at them and thinks, ‘I must be doing something good.’

“And when my mom goes into town with her dog, he walks around like he’s hot.”
Like ribbon lei intended for humans, the doggie lei are made to resemble Hawaiian flower lei. Narusaki had to work on the design to make sure the garlands lie flat and that there is nothing to scratch or irritate.

Styles offered are plumeria (yellow), lokelani (pink), maile/mokihana (green) and pikake (cream). There are also a couple with light-green “foliage” accented by a choice of purple or orange flowers. The initial design has a ribbon tie closure, and she’ll be introducing an elastic version soon.

The lei come in sizes from extra small to large, and the largest dog Narusaki has seen in one of her lei was a standard poodle. Prices range from $6 to $10. Human lei are also available for those who want to match their pet.

You can find the lei at www.leihut.com and at Aloha Doggie Daycare & Grooming at 525-B Cummins St. Customers are encouraged to post a picture of their dog on Lei Woof’s Facebook page to be entered in a monthly sweepstakes.