Cody's Life

Thursday, November 30, 2006

I Stand Corrected!

Lostelf and Cashlock (my officemates) corrected me upon reading my previous post. Apparently, only when I'm in the room, Cody is a more quiet when he's on the leash. When I leave the room, Cody tries to follow me and gets to the end of his leash. When he can't go further, he is frustrated and whines.

Given this new information, Maybe the best solution is to use the gate when I am not in the room, and to leash him when I return. Or just take out Cody's "whining" vocal cords.

(By the way, Cody is at PlanetPooch today. He was super excited at the dog park when he saw his old friends after taking last week off for Thanksgiving. He's having a great time as you can see in the webcam - he's the vizsla with the red collar. You can actually find him pretty easily - or at least I am able to at this moment)

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Codini, the "Escape Artist" Part 2

In a previous entry, I wrote how Cody likes to escape from vehicles and rooms. Well, his abilities have advanced.

At work, we used to use the gate. The problem with the gate (other than Cody maneuvering the gate to escape) is that it makes it difficult for humans to enter and exit the room a well. What we started to do is attach Cody to a leash that gives him enough room to roam and to comfortably lie in his crate, but not enough to escape. He does have some problems getting him caught around my chair, but he usually seems calmer having him leashed rather than gated.

While I was talking to my colleague, LostElf, today, I suddenly noticed that Cody was no longer in the room. While we were engaged in a discussion, Cody apparently chewed through his leash and snuck through the door. Luckily, he now ends up at his human best friend's room (Jeff) who shares an office down the hall. Now I'm going to have to find some steel leashes (do they even make those). (Usually trainers recommend using Bitter Apple, but even though Cody doesn't like getting it sprayed in his mouth, it doesn't deter him from chewing on plaster or chairs or anything else).

However, I hear Houdini and other escape artists can get out of steel handcuffs so I'm not sure how long it'll be before Cody can escape from steal leashes as well.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Accident!

For the first time since May, Cody had an accident at home. And not just any accident, mind you... He peed on THE BED.

I'm not sure what's wrong with him. I only left him for an hour and a half and he had peed A LOT right before I left him at home. He also was tired and is not really the kind to "retaliate", especially when my bed is his bed as well. My only guess was that he drank a lot of water yesterday and just couldn't hold it any longer. It is possible that he has a bladder infection, but I think he's "normal" today.

The good news is that his pee only penetrated his comforter and mine (so the sheets and the mattress was clean). I discovered his accident right before I went to bed and I happened to have extra comforters so I was able to stay warm in the winter weather despite his accident.

Thank goodness for thick comforters that can be washed.

Friday, November 24, 2006

10 Things for which Cody is Thankful

  1. Bones
  2. Peanut Butter
  3. The dog park
  4. A warm, comfy bed
  5. Running
  6. Stairs
  7. Doggie Day Care
  8. People food
  9. Squeaky toys
  10. Good human and canine friends
What is your dog thankful for?

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Pictures on the bed

Since I haven't posted pictures in awhile, I took some pictures with my newly refurbished camera.



Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Solace

A member of my family passed away yesterday and I left Cody under the care of co-workers and a neighbor. When I picked up Cody at my neighbor's, it was comforting to have him there. Luckily, it was not was of his cranky, growling days. Although he doesn't know what's going on, it's nice to have him there to comfort me.

In general, I'm not in too much of a mood to talk to people when things like this happen (I need to process my emotions), but it helps a lot to have just a cuddly friend to support you whether or not you want to talk. Also, there isn't any awkward silences that you have with human friends when they don't know what to say.

Anyways, thank goodness for loving pets to help you through tough times.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Feeling Connected

Since my post about optimal Cody placement on my bed, Cody has since changed his sleeping habits. He breaks it out into 3 time frames:

1) Bed time. This lasts anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. He will start sleeping on his pet crate pad that is next to my bed. He gets pretty cranky around this time and will be guarding some toy or pig ear if you even try to pet him. Sometimes he'll growl even as I'm passing him to get to my bed.

2) He loosens up and then jumps to the foot of my bed or on the vacant side of the bed. If I'm still up reading or doing Sudoku puzzles, he'll still jump to my bed. If I make any movement at all during this time, he'll hop off immediately and guard his position on his pet crate pad. Once he actually falls asleep, all is good.

3) This happens around 4-5 in the morning. He'll get up and find his new optimal position on the bed. This position is usually pressed tightly next to me. Sometimes, he'll wiggle into positions such as on top of my legs, or between my arm and body. This is usually very uncomfortable for me, so in a half-sleep state, Cody and I will alternate between him finding a place to be pressed against me, and me moving away from him. We probably do this maneuver about 5 times each until I get tired of it and make us get up for the day.

Yes, it is possible that Cody is just cold and needs to press against me to feel warmer. However, I have tried to place a blanket over him, and he just ends up lying on top of it rather under it. It is sweet and as I mentioned before, maybe it helps decrease my blood pressure by having him around.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Shiny Coat

I remember months ago in May when I met a 77 lbs Vizsla and his owner. The one comment that I remember was that he thought Cody's coat was dry and then he proceeded to give me tips. I noticed yesterday that Cody's coat is very soft (much softer than other dogs) and has definitely improved since May.

Here are a combination of tips he gave me, plus ones that I think are more effective:

  1. Don't wash your dog that often (I wash him once every week and a half and I think it's fine. As I never changed his grooming schedule since May, I would not say that this is the reason for Cody's shiny coat).
  2. If you wash your dog, use cold water only. (I did try that, but since I would sometimes combine my shower and his, I didn't really enjoy cold showers. Once again, it's not the cause of Cody's current coat condition (try saying that 5 times fast))
  3. Don't keep him out in the sun too long (I don't know if this works or not. It was definitely sunnier months ago, especially when I would run a couple of hours in direct sunlight with him. I still don't think it made that much of a difference)
  4. Food. The owner of the 77 lbs Vizsla did not give any recommendations regarding food. However, in July, I started an "Ultra Premium" dog food that was mixed with what I used before. I combined his food so half was Nutro Ultra for Puppies and the other half was Nutro Natural Choice Lamb for Puppies.
In an earlier blog post, I had said that I hoped for a shiny coat by switching to better food as it was promised in the label, but a colleague had said that supplements seemed to make more of a difference than food. In Cody's case, supplements were not needed. Perhaps Ultra had enough great ingredients that it combined all the benefits of supplements directly in the food. Another nice perk is that he "eliminates" less (as also promised in the packaging) since there are more nutrients in the Ultra than most other food. (I am in the process of switching him to 100% Ultra and after spending hours and hours researching on what "good dog food" means, I'll post another blog about it soon. I may be switching again in a couple of months to something that may promise to be better, but I'll post about it when the switch happens.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Resume Building (guest post from Phoebe's officemate Lostelf!)

It's a little known fact that sharing an office with a dog is a great way to build your resume. For example, here are some of the valuable skills Cody has allowed me to add to my resume:

  • Trained extensively for next 100 meter hurdles race (by repeatedly climbing over wooden doggie fence, which is now wedged into the door extremely tightly due to Cody's newfound ability to escape by cleverly dislodging the fence with his front paws)

  • Acquired advanced architecture skills through creative use of plastic doggie enclosure pieces to design defensive fort around office's red comfy chair (to prevent Cody from scratching up the upholstery)

  • Increased skin moisturization (due to excessive dog saliva exposure)

  • Successfully defended lunch on a daily basis (from consumption by people-food-hungry dogmonster)

  • Strengthened communication skills (by repeatedly apologizing to customers during phone calls for sound of lamps, boxes, and other items crashing to the ground in the background after being run into by overexcited vizsla puppy)

  • Exercised courtesy and deference by knocking before entering own office (to reduce chance of facing an angry, growling dog who has been abruptly woken up from his nap by the sound of the door opening)

  • Improved feng shui of office through strategic arrangement of furniture and wastebaskets (to prevent Cody from foolishly climbing behind furniture and getting stuck)

  • Lowered blood pressure due to opportunity to pet cute doggie. :)

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Stupid People Contest at the Dog Park

Here are the contestants from this morning's dog park visit:

Owner 1: Wearing work/nice clothes when the ground is VERY muddy.
Owner 2: Brings treats and gives treat to owner's dog and expects that other dogs won't beg or jump
Owner 3: Bring BREAKFAST and expects that dogs won't beg or jump while the owner is eating it.
Also throws balls in the direction of other people and narrowly misses hitting them.

I admit, I am one of these owners (the first one). I have sometimes gotten burned by dressing nicely and then finding dirty paw prints on my clothes from jumping dogs, but I'm too lazy to bring my work clothes to work and changing again. What can I say, I like living in a world of risks.

I've never seen such other stupid people all at once though. Especially Owner #3. Owner #2 may be excusable if she didn't expect other dogs. Honestly, it's still stupid
to feed the treat to the dog with so many other dogs around. Then again, she was dressed in sweats so even if they jumped, she didn't have too much to lose.

I have NEVER seen anyone bring people food into the dog park. It's plain stupid. Regardless if you thought other people or dogs would be at the dog park, you don't EAT it with 6 dogs around and then get angry when they are jumping or begging for your food. I mean, come on .... the majority of dogs, however well-behaved at home, LOVES people food. Especially when you bring people food to a place that they consider their domain (such as the dog park), you really can't expect to be left alone.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Cody's Lament: Puppy Love

Oh Molly, how I adore thee
Your golden locks perfectly created in the dog heavens above
I dwell in your presence during rare visits
Reciprocated love only exists in my mind

*WHINE* Oh Molly, how I would die for thee
I would spend an eternity in Hades if you would acknowledge me
Today, I spent minutes crawling to your side, and still you dismissed me
The agony of my heart in admiration of such beauty (NOT the Godzilla picture in the link)
How, oh how can I win your affection?

My everlasting love is constant like the moon.
I will moon over you until my last puppy breath.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Short-term Memory

The greatest thing about dogs is that they have a super short-term memory. After all the money that I spent on his toys and treats, it's good to know that I can recycle his toys after a few days (assuming he hasn't already torn into the stuffing and the squeaker inside).

It is also important to remember this trait about dogs when you're training or interacting with dogs in general. All newer dog training books tell you that there's no point in punishing a dog over an action that happened a long time ago. For example, if a dog has an accident on your bed, but you discover it 5 hours later, there's no point in punishing the dog at that point. If you're angry with him, he'll know you're angry, but will have no idea why. It's better for you to save your training to times when your dog can associate an action with an immediate consequence. If you don't, he's not going to know when you'll blow up or be affectionate and that can impact your long-term relationship with him.

Friday, November 10, 2006

4-6 Bottles of Water A Day Makes An Obedient Dog: Backpack review

No, I'm not talking about drinking the water; I mean putting the bottles in a backpack having Cody carry the and backpack during our runs. Here are some benefits:
  • Helps burn off his energy faster (half an hour with the pack is like one hour without)
  • Slows him down so it takes more effort for him to run fast (well, theoretically this would be the case. I've actually let him off leash to play with other dogs while he still had his pack on and it didn't seem to make a difference with his speed)
  • Makes it slightly more harder for him to jump on people when he's greeting them (gives me just enough time to pull on his leash as he's starting to jump)
  • Heels better. I think this is due to the fact that he thinks he's "working". When dogs are working, they focus and are more obedient.
Why did I decide to go with a backpack? Well, I've thought about it for a long time since I saw an episode of the Dog Whisperer where Cesar Millan recommended it. I also met an owner at the dog park that used a backpack and said it helped.

I bought a backpack from PetEdge a month ago (about $7), but it ended up being too small for Cody. I really like the one that we have now that I got at the local pet store (about $25), but it's a little too big. The problem is that he's tall, but too thin. The size of the pack fits, but the straps are too large for him. I have to think about adding some padding, but right now, with the bottles of water weighing down each side, Cody's been able to balance the pack pretty well.

Here are some things I like about the "Outward Hound" backpack:
  • Quick release straps (3 - one around the neck, and two around the chest)
  • Padding underneath the quick release buckle to provide added comfort
  • Velcro'ed pack can easily separate from the harness (usually I take the "pack" part of the backpack off and leave the harness when Cody wants to play and run a little more freely)
  • Two large pockets on each side, as well as smaller separated compartments for just about anything. Also has a nice little place for a bottle of water for easy access (for drinking)
  • Two sides and a top part helps make it easy to balance. The previous backpack was supposed to balance on Cody's back. Since his back is not flat, it was hard to keep that backpack in place. This Outward Hound one works much better.
Some things I don't like:
  • You have to carefully balance the two sides of the pack. It can look a little lopsided if one side is carrying slightly more weight than the other side
  • The velcro pack is easy to take off the harness part, but putting it back on is harder. Since the pack needs to be secure, there are three long velcro sections and you have to match it up carefully to make sure that the weight gets balances properly.
  • The sizing is good for most dogs, but not great for tall, skinny dogs.
Here are some pictures of Cody with the backpack standing, sitting, and lying down.



Thursday, November 09, 2006

Knowing One's Own

The big question on my mind is, how the heck does Cody know which toys and items are his?

Whenever I come back with a big pillow, he somehow only sleeps on the ones that I bought for him, rather than other pillows that I buy for myself.

In the same way, I have a big basket of junk. Some items are his, and some are mine. If he's bored, he'll look in that pile of junk, and always find some toy that was meant for him. Granted, he also finds things like clothes or shoes that he thinks are his, but for the most part, he can usually identify the items that have been reserved for him.

Food, on the other hand, is a little more difficult. I actually think he knows what food is his, because that will always be the food he has the least amount of interest in. I can have the most disgusting human food on hand, and he'll prefer it over any dog food there is.

If one wants to be logical about it, Cody probably senses something about items that are his. I probably introduce it ("Cody, I got you a new bed!") or I don't yell at him if he chews, plays with, or lies on his own stuff. It's probably the idea that if it's too easy to play with or use, it's probably meant to be his. Unfortunately for me, he enjoys challenges.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

First Taste of Chocolate

Last Friday, I accidentally left a small cup of chocolate-covered espresso beans on my desk. What that means is when I left Cody alone, he snuck in and got some. Amazingly, he did not tip over the cup, nor did he finish off the whole cup. In fact, I almost thought someone else at work ate a couple of the espresso beans.

Since there were only a few, I was not too concerned about the chocolate factor. There were a few symptoms that he exhibited. The main symptoms are hyperactivity, diarrhea and vomiting. Since he's always hyper, I really can't tell if that was from the chocolate. On Saturday morning, he did experience the other two symptoms which helped verify to me that Cody had stolen the espresso beans. Luckily, he didn't digest the espresso beans (can you imagine what Cody would be like caffeinated?!?!), and he was fine by Saturday afternoon.

I have noticed that Cody has been more stealthy in his attempts at stealing food. Before, he would knock over the food container and gobble up all of it. For the espresso beans, and a bowl of bones I had been saving for him, he left the cup and the bowl in the same place and stole just a few of them so it would more likely escape notice. Now that I know his new method, I wonder how much food I've "shared" with him lately... I'm going to have to start putting security systems around the food!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Cody is 11 Months old today!

Status:
53 lbs.

Achievements:
Completed Puppy I and Puppy II classes
Can last 8.5 hours without any accidents
Better at "Come", especially if there are no distractions, or if he's already exercised
No longer chews on network cords (But has still been chewing my flip-flops)
Heel with Gentle Leader
Heel with backpack (with 6 bottles of water)
"Nice" play with smaller dogs
Can usually catch balls now
Starting to eat regularly (early in the morning and in the evening)

Things to work on:
"Come" with distractions
Actually, any commands with distractions
Whining (especially with his separation anxiety)
Finding a treat that he'll like
Motion sickness
Eating grass (he was a horse in a previous life)
"Leaving it" for things that he finds (rather than things that I place in front of him)
Barking at the dog park or at things like pumpkins or stuffed animals
Jumping or Lunging at dogs/people (to play with)
Learning to growl at the owner of codymydog.blogspot.com
How to answer my emails and my phone, but at least learn to type his own blog posts.

Here are some more pictures of Cody that Evan took in the last week:



Sunday, November 05, 2006

Barking up a Storm

Cody has taken it upon himself to voice his opinions more vocally. In the past week, he has been barking more and more.

Of course, there are the standard weird things he's been barking at. For example, he's suddenly nervous around pumpkins (the person who lives above me dropped their jack o'lattern accidentally in my backyard. Cody would not stop barking at it until I cleaned up all the pieces.) Also, there are a few large stuffed dogs in one of my co-workers offices. The stuffed dogs have always been there, but he doesn't frequent that office very often. Apparently he's forgotten that these dogs don't move (much less attack) and he was cowering and barking at them.

There are other barking occasions that make me more nervous. He rarely barked at people and never children. A few weeks ago, two kids were walking by and Cody was nervous enough to bark at the kids (I assume he sensed their fear since he normally is friendly towards kids). He didn't attack, and actually cowered a little bit, but it made the kids cry (which made me feel bad). I have been using the Bitter Apple product more often, but it seems to have less of an effect. The bark collar that we used to use doesn't work because he it has no affect on him.

He never used to be this nervous before, but I'm definitely going to watch out for correcting this behavior.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Puka Dogs!

The whole Halloween theme reminds me of a treat that Cody and I both enjoy. They are Puka Dogs. Puka Dogs are Hawaiian-style hot dogs. They basically take a veggie dog or a polish sausage and stuff it inside a hollowed-out Hawaiian bread roll. It's only open on one end so they fill it with tropical relish (I recommend half mango and half papaya) and ketchup and/or mustard (I recommend no ketchup and using the lilikoi mustard. It's delish!). Oh, and the "spicy" garlic lemon sauce is the best. I tried the hot and the hothot which are both good, but it does take away from the flavors of the relish and the mustard.

Here's the menu in case you like to see what your options are: http://www.pukadog.com/menu.html

Right now, they're only located in Poipu, Kauai, but I had at least one a day when I was there. They had some dried puka dogs that they made into dog treats that I was able to take back to California. Cody loved them!

Here is the photo album of the puka dogs (real dogs) that people submitted.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Hula Dog!

Here are the promised pictures of Cody dressed up as a Hula dog. I was dressed up in Hawaiian garb as well, so we were matching.

Here are pictures of Cody and Nickey (Cody's a little wary of Nickey's super powers)





























Here's one after all the activities when he decided to rest. I had his Gentle Leader on because I didn't know how excited he would be seeing all the people in costume. (After all, this is Cody's first Halloween).