Cody's Life

Sunday, April 30, 2006

My personal trainer

I wrote earlier about the good weather. Since the weather is much nicer, my trainer has demanded a more vigorous workout schedule.

This is the plan:
MWF are light days - 2-3 miles in the morning and perhaps a 1 mile walk in the afternoon or evening.
T and Th are 2 sets of 4.5 miles - 4.5 from home to work in the morning, and 4.5 from work to home in the evening. (Though I'm thinking of letting him get the day off on Thursdays so he can attend doggy day care)
Sat and Sun we do 7 miles each day.

He's a relentless trainer - we rarely can skip out of one of these workout days, and if we do, we still have to at least do 3-4 miles that day. Besides pushing me every single day to run harder or faster, fortunately, he gives me short breaks when he needs to take a bathroom break or get a drink of water. I live for these breaks. (If I'm extra lucky, he may take a longer break to "chat" with a new canine or human friend).

What do I pay him to train me this hard? 2 meals a day, lodging, treats, toys, affection, health insurance, and a few other incidentals. I guess it's pretty comparable to the rates of human trainers if you factor in all the costs.

Plus, he doubles as a therapist when I'm upset or sad so I think I get the better end of the bargain.
Going Under Cover

For the last few months, it was raining pretty hard in Northern California. Since Cody hates the rain, we kept our activity mostly indoors. When he has to go potty or poopie, he will duck under some awning, hugging the wall so he can get as little of the rain on him as possible. Since no one's a fan of the "wet dog" smell, I don't complain (plus, I don't have to bathe him as often if he doesn't get muddy).

Since I've come back from New York last week, the weather has been gorgeous - exactly the kind of weather one would expect in California. Since Cody and I go on our long runs on the weekends, I noticed that he's gone back to running from one cover to another - to seek the comfort of shade. Since he runs considerably faster than me, he will run along ahead to wait for me under the next shady area. A brief respite from the sun for him.

Of course, he only goes "under cover" when he's in the middle of something - whether it is eliminating or walking. When he's lounging at home, one of his favorite pastimes is just laying out in the sun, or by the window where the sun is pouring in. Life is certainly good when you can have choices like that.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Hanging out with his own kind.

At the dog park today, Cody met another Vizsla puppy! It was Sophia's first visit to the dog park, and she was 9 months old. She was slightly bigger than Cody, but it was fun for him to have a playmate that played exactly like him in style, energy, and spirit. Alas, I did not have my camera, but it was cute to see them together. She had a red collar on too, but she was a little lighter in color so it was not hard to distinguish Cody from Sophia from afar. (Of course, up close, you can tell the difference since they are different genders).

Now that the weather is better, Cody should be getting lots more exercise. We'll still do our morning run, but now there are consistently more dogs at the park so we can go there more often as well. Fun spring and summer ahead!

Wednesday, April 26, 2006



Cody in the Car

Since I was a bit text-heavy yesterday, here are some pictures of Cody sitting in the front seat of my car. It's a lot cuter seeing it in person though :)

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

My Little Monster

Right after my flight arrived, I rushed to work to see my little Cody. He seemed to have grown so big in the past few days! He had changed a bit and the little rascal has developed new issues:

1) He has a few more scratches. I think this is due to more play time with other dogs that may not be as well groomed as Cody. I file Cody's nails every week and I have heard that other dog owners do not. Who knows. Some of those scabs are on the top of his body so I'm not sure where they would come from.

2) He doesn't like his crate anymore. I need to bribe him more than normal to get him in there.

3) He's not scared of the kitchen anymore

4) He likes to jump on furniture (though he's doing it less now and remembering that it's a no-no)

5) He's much more milder. He slept all day today. Granted, I heard he kept the puppy-sitter up quite a bit, so he may just be catching up on sleep.

We also tried putting medication in his ear. He was squirmy, but not belligerent until I put in the ointment. I have many new wounds on my hands due to his bites, but last night I purchased a muzzle so I can be wound-free for the next applications.

We had the second-to-last obedience class yesterday. Cody was a brat, as usual, but I did learn something interesting. When a dog has to work hard (such as heeling or being extra obedient) they need to shake it off by shaking their head or body, or running around the room. This explains why he always runs around the room like a crazy dog after our morning "heeled" walks.

Sunday, April 23, 2006



Cody with his stuffed dog

Just to make sure that Cody gets his due attention for being extra cute, here are pictures that I took of him earlier this week when he was sleeping with his stuffed animal. Isn't he just adorable? I can't wait to see my "Honey Bunny" again tomorrow!


Pictures of Addie

Here are some pictures of Addie (The Miniature Australian Shepherd who is letting me share her home while I'm in New York). A bit more fur than Cody, but pretty cute :)

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Cody Alternative

Luckily, the friend I'm staying with has a dog named Addie. She is a mini Australian Shepherd, so about the same size that Cody is now. She has quite a few similarities:

1) Likes attention (not really uncommon for dogs though)
2) Likes tummy rubs
3) Not altogether obedient for walks and commands (she likes to chase birds and pull a little).

Although I miss Cody quite a bit (I called earlier today to see how he was doing - he was in the middle of a nap), it helps to have Addie around to give my attention. A cute thing that she does is that she'll nudge my hand off the keyboard so that my hand is conveniently on top of her head or under her ear so I can scratch her.

2 more days until I see Cody again. If I get the chance, I'll take a picture of Addie so you can all see her.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Yeast Infection In the Ear

We went to the vet again because gunk in his ear was dark and smelly.

Apparently, he has yeast infection. The doctor gave me a new cleaner with special yeast-fighting formulas (I used to wash his ears once a week with another cleaner) and an ointment that combats the yeast. I learned one thing though - the ear canal is set up differently than humans so you can't really go too deep with the cotton swab. And, the ear canal is deeper so gunk may be forming farther than one can see with the naked eye.

Since I'm in NY (5 days without Cody!), one of my colleagues will be puppy sitting. It'll be ok (I hope) since he knows her and she'll be staying at my place so his environment won't change. I just feel bad that she'll have to get him to hold still for the ear cleaning and ointment application for each ear every day. I'll owe her big time.
Cody's First Tooth Came Out!!

He's growing up so fast (33 lbs yesterday!)

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Chewed out

This will be a rant. I got chewed out today by some random person at work for leaving Cody outside. Here's the background:

I had a meeting in another building so I took Cody with me and tied him to a tree outside. The place I left him was half in the sun and half in the shade. I also left him a bowl of water. The temperature outside was in the low 60s.

I was actually only in the meeting for about half an hour (I was late and I left early) so when I came out of the building to get Cody, I couldn't find him. That was when I saw this random woman with Cody. She promptly began to scold me about how I should leave a blanket out and he was cold (the sun passed the area so the sunny part where I left him was no longer there). She then assumed that I left him there all day and scolded me on that point. She also said that he was unhappy (well, of course Cody will be unhappy if some random stranger taunts him with affection and doesn't unleash him - it has nothing to do with the weather) I was so furious that she made all these assumptions. I just said that it was only half an hour and just took Cody and stormed off. Who is she to know or make asinine assumptions about how long Cody was there and what he was thinking?

Wow, I understand caring about dogs and making sure that there is no abuse, but situations like this make me disappointed in pet owners.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Soothing therapy

All weekend I was bothered by a particular issue and was unable to sleep very well. Last night I woke up at 4:30am pretty upset by this issue and thought about it until 6:30 am. At this time, I decided, all I need is a little affection from my puppy to help my stress. He was pretty unhappy that I woke him up so early (tit for tat) but eventually he snuggled up to me and chewed on his hoof in my lap. After 10 minutes, I went back to my bed and was able to fall asleep (granted, only for 40 minutes, but it was better than nothing). Sometimes all you need to put things into perspective is a little puppy snuggled up against you to let you know that things can't be that bad.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Happy Easter!

Cody felt that since Jesus woke up at dawn this day many years ago, we should celebrate that occasion and wake up at dawn today as well (1-1.5 hrs earlier than his normal waking time).

That means I just had extra time to walk him, bathe him, clean his ears, give him his heartworm medicine, and apply his monthly Advantix. I even had extra time to use the blow dryer on him so he didn't have to be wet for so long.

And all that before 8:30 am! I would say in the long run that means I can get more done, but I'm off to take a nap with Cody (the new and improved clean smelling one that I may let on my bed again...)

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Syndicating Cody

A colleague of mine (the owner of Nickey, the pug), sent me a link of pug pictures - one of which is a picture of a black pug who Cody met and played with at the dog park.

http://www.hugpug.com/sheba/2006/04/mountain_view_p.html

(scroll down...it's under "Gwen took on a park puppy")
Presentation is everything

Cody is apparently finicky about where he drinks and from what containers (or any).

In our long hikes, I would bring a travel bowl so Cody can drink water from it. However, he would always knock the bowl over and try to drink from the water fountain, regardless if he can reach it or not.

At home, he would try to drink from the travel containers that I left in his crate. In the same way, he'll only eat from the travel container in his crate. (He doesn't have a choice at work)

This morning, I was trying to coax him in eating in the bowls I left in the kitchen. He came by, sniffed, and proceeded to walk away. In the process, he knocked the bowl over, and suddenly the food was like manna from heaven. He couldn't gobble the kibble quickly enough. Of course, he didn't touch the few pieces of kibble left in the bowl.

Short of just feeding him from the ground, I just shake my head and hope he grows out of it.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Rose by Any Other Name

Now that Cody's been at work for a few months and have been called a variety of nicknames, I wanted to test it out to see what he really will respond to.

Yesterday, when he was lying down and resting, I first called "Cody". He turned his head. I thought, "Hmm, maybe he'll respond to anything." Then I tried "Fatso" which is my colleague, Leslie's name for Cody. No response. I tried "Boo Boo" which is Carolyn (another co-worker's nickname) and no response again. In secret (so I don't embarrass him too much) I call him "Honey Bunny" so I tried that, and he responded. Hooray! At least he knows the names I call him. The question is, does he associate "Cody" and "Honey Bunny" to him, or to me? For example, if Leslie called him "Honey Bunny", will he respond? Or will he respond to "Fatso"? I guess that'll be the next test.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Dogs Playing Poker

I play poker with co-workers every Wednesday night (so if you are one of my publishers, friends, or family, you know you probably won't be able to reach me then).

I always thought it would be a great idea for Cody to learn to play poker. Or more specifically, for him to climb innocently on a co-worker's lap and signal a nod or a lick for face cards. Then again, since Cody wags his tail so violently when he's happy or excited (to the point where his whole lower half of his body wags with his tail), we probably don't need to figure out a secret code.

Yesterday night, I realized that there's another level to think about for dogs playing poker.

Since I have issues insisting on "alpha-ness" upon Cody, I've been thinking about it more recently. In poker, there is also that sense of "alpha-ness" or "respect" among your fellow poker players. Every call, raise, and re-raise asserts "alpha-ness". It's just an interesting insight. Hopefully it will help me in my own games.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006






I love the bean bag!

One of my colleagues, Evan, took these pictures of Cody while he was laying on a bean bag.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Choking at clutch time

At yesterday's obedience class, the instructor said that Cody was ignoring my "alpha-ness".

We worked on "wait" and recall ("come" when he's off playing and distracted). Since the instructor used Cody as the example, it was clear that Cody obeyed the instructor and not me. She showed me some tricks using a choke collar that will help enforce "alpha-ness" without hurting the dog. We've started using the choke collar today and it seems to work much better. At least my arm doesn't hurt as much from Cody's pulling.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Expanding Cody's Comfort Zone

Well, there's no turning back now. After our 6 mile run/jog/hike today, I gave Cody a much deserved bath (he hadn't had a bath in 2 weeks since he wasn't allowed to bathe for a few days after his surgery). As I am still recovering from my cold, I decided to join him in a nap. This is where guilt and a soft heart joined to lead me to allow Cody on my bed...the bed with white sheets.

After the first few minutes while he was tossing the sheets, he settled down at the foot of the bed and we both enjoined a very relaxing and deep nap.

Of course, now that he's ventured outside to go potty, he's going back to his crate until my soft heart wins out again the next time he has a bath.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Growling Trends
Day 3 after surgery

The great news is that he hasn't been growling...much. The first 2 days, he only growled at his own reflection when he had his cone on (hilarious to watch). Today, he growled a little bit more. The blend of giving him pig ears again and the fact that he hasn't slept enough (no sleep with the cone on at nights), he's been more cranky than usual. Hopefully, he'll be able to sleep more this weekend than he does on weekdays when he doesn't have the distraction of people walking in and out of our office. (Tempting for him to stay up so he doesn't "miss" anything).

I'm going to look into getting him a crate at work so that he has a place he can escape to sleep more soundly without being tempted with visitors.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Conehead/ Cone of No-Silence
Day 2 After Surgery

Debated which reference I should title this post (Saturday Night Live reference or Get Smart reference. Maybe it means I watched too much TV growing up).

Anyways, Cody whined all night since he wasn't able to maneuver comfortably in his crate with his cone on. He occasionally licks at his suture, but I don't put a cone on him during the day (I don't want to make him suffer through further embarrassment after getting neutered). At night, since I can't monitor his licking activity, I put his cone on. Here are some pictures that I took before we got ready for bed.

(Yes, he may be embarrassed when he realizes these pictures are up, but since I ban him from using the Internet since he may surf to adult-content pages, he'll be older when he sees them and the humiliation of these pictures won't require too many therapy sessions.)


4 Months Old!

Cody is 4 months old today.

He now has all his shots and is neutered. He weighs 30 lbs and still hyper.

Happy Birthday Cody!

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Post-Mortem on Cody's Surgery
Day 1 After Surgery

I called the vet at noon yesterday and everything went fine. Apparently the lab that also got neutered was able to commiserate with Cody after their surgeries.

When I asked if Cody was sleepy or konked out, the receptionist laughed. Given that Cody had the same spirit, energy, and strength when I picked him up at the end of the day, I didn't feel so guilty anymore.

Here were post-surgery instructions:
1) Use the cone if need be (future post to come with pictures)
2) Give him a very light meal (in case he has digestion problems. Later that evening, he did have diarrhea so this advice was useful)
3) Don't exercise him too much (I'm completely ignoring this as Cody is still as hyper as ever. I tried to lessen the exercise, but he just wanted to bounce off the walls)
4) No baths (or immersion into water) for the next few days (4-7)
5) Check for redness, swelling, and discharge. Call vet immediately if something bad is happening.

Yesterday, while he was sitting next to me in the car, he fell over. He reminded me of a student trying to stay awake in class and nodding off. Cody quickly woke back up and a few minutes later he decided to lie down and sleep. A wise decision.

Today he seems perfectly normal, so things look good. :)

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Guilt-Ridden

I dropped off Cody a half hour ago for his operation. He seemed so excited to be at the vet's. He even met another puppy that was also getting neutered. Little did he know what is in store for him. At least I opted for some pain medication for him...

Here were our pre-operation instructions:
1) No food after midnight (water is OK)
2) Don't bring in a wet dog (a bit hard since it's been raining for the last month, but I kept him as dry as I could)

At least if he continues to growl at me after this operation, I'll be able to take this factor out as a cause for his aggression.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Sympathy colds

Cody and I have both been fighting colds the last few weeks. As I don't believe this illness can be transferred between humans and canines, I believe one of us has a "sympathy"cold. Then again, it has rained pretty much every day in March and given that we both have to walk every morning in the cold, it's likely that we both got it from the weather. Either way, we both slept about 15-18 hours each day this weekend. From the much needed rest, at least I know MY cold is getting better.

Cody got his last set of shots today! 6-in-1, Bordatella, Rabies, Lepto, Coronavirus. This means the following
1) He should be tired the next couple of days. Right in time for his "snip snip" operation on Tuesday.
2) He can finally travel on planes (we might be going to New York in a few weeks)
3) He can finally go to doggy day care and boarding facilities.

Yay!