Cody's Life

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Certain Addictions

Cody has 2 issues (well, 2 main issues that he may need therapy for):

1) He's a kleptomaniac. He loves other people's toys/treats/bones more than his own. In fact, this is a common scenario when he's playing with Miya:

Cody chews on his hoof and Miya chews on another (identical) hoof.
Cody notices that Miya is chewing something.
Cody drops his own hoof and steals Miya's hoof out of her mouth.
Cody proceeds to gnaw on his new hoof.
Miya is confused for a second and then picks up Cody's original hoof and starts gnawing.
Rinse and Repeat.

2) He has an oral fixation, especially when he needs to eliminate (see definition 4)

I have already described his greeting ritual. He continues to need an item in his mouth before he can properly greet a new guest.

I have not yet told you about this habit: Cody will find a bone or hoof or piece of rawhide and take it with him when I let him outside in the backyard. He will carry the item in his mouth when he urinates, but he needs to put down this item before he will go #2. However, after the completion of going #2, he has forgotten that he brought anything out to begin with. Instead of having all his toys and chew items outside in the backyard (especially with the risk of being eliminated on), I have now taught him to go back and get whatever he needs to get. Luckily, he just needs a gentle reminder of "Go get it" and a vague directional pointer to jog his memory (This way I can stay in my PJs and the safety of my warm home without going outside and directing him towards his item). Of course, the first time we performed this trick, I had to say "Go get it" a few times until he picked up everything in the backyard. :)

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