Cody's Life

2010-03-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

Cody the Escape Artist!

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but this is event-worthy.

Last Friday, when we came home, we heard a wimper. We looked around and opened the front door and noticed Cody sitting there, on the outside. This was puzzling as we thought we left him in the house all day.

We went to the backyard and checked all the gates, doors, and fencing for openings or holes. There were none. Then we decided to go outside the backyard and goad Cody into joining us (to see which way he may have originally escaped). What is puzzling is he ran back in the house.

We checked with any possible house workers (such as a gardener) who may have come in and accidentally let Cody out, but none came that day. Additionally, we noticed that his food, water, and bed was not touched all day, and confirmed to us that he must have been outside all day long.

Upon further tests, we realized that he actually ran into the garage. The door from our garage to our house doesn't always lock shut, so a curious dog can push the door wide open. Also, in the past week, when I take Cody to work, he has developed the habit of following me, about 5-10 seconds later so he doesn't get caught and immediately sent back to his dog bed.

Our theory is that Cody noticed that we were leaving the house and snuck into the garage after we entered the car. As we drove out of the garage, he must have followed us out, and stayed outside while the automated garage door closed shut.

We are the luckiest owners in the world! Saturday would have been a much different day. Instead of taking Cody to the dog park and lounging about, we would have been frantically visiting shelters and animal hospitals, posting signs, and worried about our dog. Things like this help remind us how lucky we are sometimes.

2009-11-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween from AdSense:

Here's a link - Cody is front and center with his aviator costume!

http://adsense.blogspot.com/2009/10/ghoulish-greetings.html

2009-10-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

(We were indecisive today. Devil Dog, Hawaiian, or Aviator?)

2009-10-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

Walk N Wag 2009

This past Saturday, Cody and I participated in a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Silicon Valley.

Here's our page:

http://hssv.convio.net/site/TR/WalknWag/GeneralWNW2?px=1043001&pg=personal&fr_id=1070

We had a great time, and Cody was able to find a tennis ball right before the walk started. This helped immensely because it prevented him from barking. (He barks when he's not in the very front of a pack of people/dogs).

They took a video of the beginning. Cody and I show up in about second 41. As you can see, Cody's trying to weave through the crowd finding the best way to get past people.

We had a good time overall. Cody made me power walk for the 3.5 miles of the walk since he was trying to catch up to the front. We ended behind 2 other dogs so it wasn't bad given how we first started. Cody lost his ball midway through the walk when they had a big bucket of water filled with hot dogs. He wasn't really interested in the walk after that and when I dragged him away from the water/hot dogs, he lost his ball in the process (he left the ball in the bucket while he was dunking for hot dogs).

It was such an emotionally exhausting day for him that he just crashed for the rest of the day. A tired dog = good dog. :)

2009-07-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

Kidnapped!

A couple of months ago, we asked that one of our friends pick up Cody from daycare. Cody doesn't know these friends very well, and didn't recognize the dog they had, even though they had met a couple of times previously.

When we finally picked up Cody a few minutes later, he was relieved that he didn't get kidnapped. This is a picture of poor, concerned Cody with their dog, Javier:

2009-06-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't uploaded a picture in a while, but here are the two loves of my life hanging out at home.

2009-06-08T17:06:00.001-07:00

Our "human" toddler

Cody turned 3.5 years old this past weekend and he's acting his age!

We had a house/dog sitter stay in our guest room a couple of weeks ago and Cody "discovered" our guest bed when she was staying there.

Now, this is our nightly routine:

8pm-11pm - Cody naps on our bed in the master bedroom

11pm - Cody moves to the guest bed when we kick him off the master bed

5am - Cody wakes up, leaves the guest bedroom, and whines by our bed until we let him join us.

Cody has developed human toddler traits! At this rate, I expect him to be sleeping on his own bed soon, waking himself up to attend elementary school, and getting his driver's license in a few years. How quickly they grow up....

2009-05-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Cody's Hurt!

Cody is limping! We noticed a couple of days ago that his right paw was bleeding - the inside toe. We're not sure how that happened, but all the running that he loves to do is not making it any better. He's been limping and has been reluctant to do anything that would require him to put pressure on his right paw. The biggest problem is that though he's injured, he's still active...or wants to be anyways. We'll walk him and run him these next few days and force him to take it easy until it heals. Hope he doesn't destroy the house being antsy from not being off-leash and doing "real" running.

At lunch today, Cody snuck a taste of my cheesecake. I caught him in the middle of a bite, but he didn't seem that remorseful. He's certainly playing the entitled invalid pretty well.

2009-05-06T13:41:00.001-07:00

How's Cody now that he's 3.5 yrs old?

Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile. I keep on thinking of stories that would be good for this blog...Cody and his ability to fetch/drop, update on flyball classes, Cody's transition to sleeping off the bed, his fear of being "kidnapped", meeting a baby, and his adjustment to his new home.

Today, I'll talk about how he's been lately. I never believed that this day would come. Amazingly enough, he's a much calmer Cody now. A couple of weeks ago, I took him to Mission Peak and he didn't bark at the cows or annoy any of the other hikers. Although he still barks occassionally, he's a little less nervous now. He's become more obedient and is developing the right balance between being too energetic and being too lazy. He heels when we go on walks and hikes, and he seems to be ok with listening to orders now. The funny thing is, he doesn't seem to have that much tolerance for other energetic dogs now. He just ignores them and refuses to play with them, which I find ironic. I can totally see him being a cranky old dog that can't remember the spastic puppy that he used to be.

2009-03-24T19:36:00.001-07:00

Please VOTE for US!

Phil and I are finalists for an all-expense paid DREAM WEDDING from a local radio station. We need as many votes as possible. You can vote once per day (one email address per day). Please HELP! (and Cody couldn't be happier for us since we moved in with Phil and a nice dog park is only 2.5 miles away!)

Vote for Phoebe Ho (and Phil)

http://www.star1013fm.com/pages/wiawvoting.html?feed=335890&article=5185658

Thanks so much!

2008-06-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

Cody trying to swim!

While we were in Boston, Cody, Phoenix and I went on a few hikes that ended in a river. On this particular day, another dog was there and his owner had a ball and let Phoenix and Cody play fetch with them. Clearly, Cody needs more practice swimming... But at least he never gave up and kept on trying. The great thing about his swimming style is that it is a bit more exhausting than other dogs' swimming styles.

Here are some still pictures:

2008-06-26T04:41:00.001-07:00

Cody in New England!

Cody has had many firsts this week. I'll go into all the details of each of these events, but he took his first flight (from San Francisco to Boston). He went on a boat for the first time. Met cats up close for the first time. Swam in a lake with a doggie life vest for the first time. Lived with another Vizsla for the first time. And donned his first Red Sox uniform for the first time. Yes, that's right.

Check out this link for some vocals of Cody singing with one of his favorite Sox players, David Ortiz!

2008-06-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

The Doggie Door

I try to live my life without regrets, but one of my latest regrets has been not buying a doggie door for Cody sooner.

When I first got Cody, I knew other dog owners who had pet doors. I chose not to get one since I took Cody to work with me most days, and because pet doors are so darn expensive (~$150). Living in a rented apartment with no real permanent lodging also prevented me in investing so much in something that I may not use for that long.

Cody's recent addiction to sunbathing, as well as a possible job change for me prompted me to rethink this decision. To be clear, Cody does not just sunbathe for stretches of time. No, he sunbathes for half an hour, and then whines to come back in for about 10 minutes while he cools down, then whines to be let out for another half an hour to continue the ritual. It's not the most pleasant way for me to spend a Saturday or Sunday.

The doggie door was on sale for $119 + tax, so I thought I would get one. Boy, did I wish I got one sooner. Not only can I enjoy my weekends, I can enjoy my evenings. Cody will get up in the middle of the night or in the day and just let himself out to relieve himself. I can continue sleeping or napping without interruptions.

I decided the next step is to train Cody to turn on the treadmill. Once that is done, I can leave Cody on his own for days at a time. Since he free feeds, I can just set aside a tub of food, a tub of water, and just let him go outside whenever he wants through the doggie door. The only issue is exercise, and he can just run on the treadmill. I mean, granted, there's going to be some socialization and playtime that he'll probably want as well, so training him to use the cell phone to invite friends over and to train him to open the front door will come next right after the treadmill training. Then I can just move out and my baby will be all on his own, all grown up. *sniffle* *sniffle*

Here's what the pet door looks like (yes, you're right, that's not a picture of Cody):

2008-06-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

Cody in Hawaii

No, Cody was not in Hawaii. I'm not sure if you all know, but Hawaii has very strict regulations regarding dogs visiting. All dogs are required to go through a 6 month quarantine. Then again, Cody would be able to have a nice long vacation in Hawaii, but I won't be there to enjoy it with him.

While I was in Hawaii, Cody was home with some sitters. I recently bought Cody a pet door so he can alternate between laying out in the sun or cooling off indoors, which also makes dogsitting him easier. Of course I missed Cody terrible, but I saw another animal that reminded me of Cody and made me want to adopt him. Unfortunately, these animals are endangered and I think it would probably be difficult to bring them back to my apartment. My tub would probably not hold this guy either. But take a look at the puppy dog eyes!

Introducing, the Hawaiian Monk Seal! Isn't he a cutie?

Here's the little guy singing to us:

Here's a picture with me and my new friend:

2008-05-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

Cody and the Treadmill

Since I've had boxes on the treadmill for the last few months, Cody hasn't been exercising on the treadmill for awhile. I've recently cleaned our place and Cody spent a nice 5 minutes on the treadmill (albeit, unwilling). This is how he looked afterwards. If you see his nice long legs, you'd also wonder why he's so against any type of walking or running, even if it's on a treadmill. (Hey, better than nothing, right?)

2008-05-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

Appropriate Greetings

This post is not specifically dog-related. I may be spending way too much time with my canine friend, but I was thinking about the differences and similarities between human and canine greetings.

I always found it a little odd, and a bit embarrassing at times, when Cody greets dogs and humans by sniffing, well, you've all seen it.

In the past week, I've had many encounters from meeting new people in various situations. I've found that we do about the same as humans. Checking each other out subtley, whether it be interviewing, meeting people in bars or dating situations, or just new co-workers or friends of friends. There's always that little "test", whether it be conscious or subconscious where you're judging the other person by your own standards. That is, after all, why first impressions are so important.

Especially when meeting new people, I've found that I "test" the other person by asking questions and seeing what kind of answers they have. I also tell stories to show the "better" side of me. In essence, I feel like I'm interviewing the other person and being interviewed at the same time. Then again, maybe this is just me and I spend way too much analyzing this kind of stuff.

I should just spend more time running and hiking with Cody instead. I know he'd probably prefer it :)

2008-05-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

Good Golly Miss Molly

Before I start, today Cody is exactly 2 and a half. Boy how time flies! Anyways, Cody and I had Molly over as a guest a couple of weeks ago and Cody and Molly had some fun times at the Los Gatos Creek. (No, Cody has still not learned to swim. He just tromps through the water like he does with tall bushes. Maybe this summer he'll finally learn how to "dog paddle")

Here are some pictures:

2008-04-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yucky Balls!

Lately, Cody has developed a fondness for tennis balls. Not just any tennis balls, but the most disgusting ones he can find. This has replaced his previous favorite toy (to my dismay as I still have about 6 of these balls left). The nice thing is that these tennis balls are cheaper and more easy to find. The problem is that we've now collected all these disgusting tennis balls in the cars, in my office, at home, and basically anywhere where you don't want a disgusting tennis ball to be. Cody has become so protective of these balls that he carries the balls around with him from place to place (the dog park so that the slime of his saliva can mix with the sand to make it super yucky to the car to the office, etc...)

*SIGH*

2008-04-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

Faux Pas Farms Open House!

We met Trish through Good Canine Citizenship classes last year. She has since bought a farm about 30 miles away and has opened up a dog boarding place.

This past Saturday, she had an open house and everyone was invited to come. Here are some of the pictures I took with my new camera, using my new camera reader. Everyone had tons of fun and it was a perfectly hot day to tire them out even more quickly!

2008-04-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

Cute Pictures from the Blackberry

I have started taking more pictures from my Blackberry when Cody has looked especially cute. Since he normally looks really stern or depressed most of the time, the only time he looks more like his happy-go-lucky self is when he's panting or when he has something in his mouth. Here are some of the more recent pictures I've taken. Hopefully, now that I have a new camera and a new card reader, I'll be able to update this blog a little more often.

2007-11-13T09:55:00.000-08:00

Laser Tag!

For months, I've wondered how Cody would react to the laser pointers. Since he doesn't respond to dogs in television episodes, I thought Cody would be way too smart to be fooled by a laser pointer. Yesterday, when I was at Pet Club, I saw the laser pointers and tested them out while Cody was with me. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Cody was fascinated by the laser point. He would follow it around, try to sneak up on it, and then pounce! Sometimes he would try to catch it with his mouth, but he never found success at catching this "point".

The greatest thing (other than getting him to run around and giving me minutes of good hearty laughter), is that I can actually get him to heel and follow me when I have the laser pointer. Amazing how he will focus on one point enough to get me from one end of the parking lot to another.

Since this is only day 2 of laser pointer fun, I don't know if this'll last. As it is, Cody has already noticed that I'm holding something in my hands each time this mysterious point shows up and he's been sniffing and looking at it. I figure that this "fun" will at least last a few days. Then, I can put it away and bring it out again in a month when hopefully he'll be just as excited about the laser point as he has been the last couple of days.

2007-08-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

Mutt Strut

Cody and I attended a Mutt Strut last week in San Mateo. There were booths, a couple of flyball and agility exhibitions, and a 1K or 3K walk to raise money for the Peninsula Humane Society.

Cody had a lot of fun and we signed up to learn more about flyball. He was a little exhausted between visiting all the booths, and meeting so many other dogs and people. He even met another Vizsla named Daisy!

During the actual 3K walk, Cody was determined to be the leader. In general, when Cody and I go running, if he sees a bike or another runner, he usually tries to pull to catch up and barks in frustration. Unfortunately, the 3K walk was no different. However, I normally make him sit for about 30 seconds the minute he starts barking as he watches the lead get farther and farther away. What this meant at the 3K was that we spent a lot of time waiting on the sidelines sitting. Either way, we had a lot of fun and were so exhausted that both of us enjoyed some afternoon naps.

2007-06-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

Good Canine Citizenship Classes

I know we haven't written in awhile, but Cody and I have been moving into a new space at work and getting adjusted. Cody is not thrilled with the new space since he only has the space under a desk rather than a whole office like he did before. Also, he was in the previous space since he was 9 weeks old (since I picked him up from San Diego), so this is his first move. He's still getting used to everything, but things are going well.

In general, Cody's doing well. He's mellowed out a lot and I can trust him most of the time to be off-leash and follow me or obey me when he's off-leash. He's still a hellion a lot of the time, but it definitely is getting better.

Tonight, Cody will be going to his first Good Canine Citizenship class. This class and instructor was highly recommended by Molly's owners. The instructor is Trish from Adobe Dogs. She has branched out and starting her own company since Molly took the class (When Molly was in the class, Adobe Dogs were a part of the Adobe Animal Hospital. I'm glad it's not a part of the hospital anymore because a previous requirement is that your dog's vet is also at Adobe Dogs. Even though Adobe Animal Hospital had gotten good reviews, I didn't really want to change my vet.)

For the class, I need to bring a 6' leash for loose leash handling and some "good" treats. No, I have not found the "magic" treat that Cody likes. I'm bringing some shredded chicken breast and baked hot dog slices to see if any of those will work.

2007-05-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

New Pictures!

Evan just took some new pictures of Cody:

Cody jumping for a Greenie:

I see that Greenie! When are you going to give it to me?:

A Google Dog!:

Hurry Up! I'm waiting for you!

Pictures outside, perfect for this little Hungarian hunting dog:

Sniffing around:

On the hunt!:

This is me, pretending to be obedient.

2007-04-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

The Best Chew Distraction Ever!

Do you ever have the problem of filling up a Kong and having your dog finish it about 10 seconds after you give it to him/her?

Although Cody is not as fast as many other dogs, he usually will finish a Kong in a minute. This means that I can only use a Kong to distract him while I leave the room or for anything that is immediate, but I cannot use it as a means of distraction for a long period of time (meaning that I can't rely on a Kong to distract Cody if I ever take him to meetings or want him to stay quiet while I'm on the phone).

While I was in New York last month, my friend Andrew (who owns Addie), told me a trick that he picked up (apparently Addie can set a world record for Kong-finishing). Andrew said that he took a piece of sliced cheese, put it in the Kong, and stuck it in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds. That way, all the melty goodness stuck to the sides of the Kong, making it more difficult to get out. While timing it, Cody spent a total of 31 minutes with the Kong! That beats most other chew distractions (he has a short attention span....)

2007-04-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

Flu!

Hi all,

I've been recovering from the flu for the last couple of weeks, but let me tell you, Cody was not excited to be stuck at home!

For the first 3 days of the flu, I was barely able to walk, much less take Cody out. Luckily, he had gone to day care the day before, so Cody slept with me on Day 1 of the flu. On day 2 he was getting antsy by the end of the day, and started whining next to the door. Day 3 he was unbearable, but by then, I was able to walk for a short while. Cody just wanted to get out and not be cooped up so he appreciated the chance at fresh air.

Marathon training has also been at a standstill, but I am able to take Cody to the dog park or take him on short walks. I still have a cough and some congestion so I should be able to do some light runs this week, even though we're supposed to be at 12 miles this Saturday. I should be able to do 12 miles still, even if I have a super slow time. We'll see...

2007-03-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

Cody's earliest picture

While I was cleaning out my email Inbox, I found a bunch of pictures that my breeder had sent to us before we picked out our puppies. After I picked out Cody, I never went back to look at the pictures to match him up since I had the real thing.

Here's the black-collar puppy that would be named "Cody" a couple of weeks later (He's about 7 weeks in this picture). What a cutie-pie!

2007-03-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

What a Pig!

Last Sunday, a friend and I took Cody on an off-leash hiking trail to Mission Peak in Fremont. I had his backpack on so he can carry his own water. To make a long story short, Cody decided to emulate how pigs cool down - can you guess what he did? Yup, he rolled around in cow dung. With his backpack. His head, collar, and backpack was covered with a thick layer of manure about an hour into a 3.5 hour long hike (round trip).

I know what you're thinking, and yes, "ugh" doesn't quite capture it.

I had a pack of Kleenex, and we had used grass to wipe some of the stuff off from him and his backpack. Luckily, by the time we completed the hike, Cody and his backpack dried off (and we placed an old bed sheet in the car to let him lie on it.)

Even though our hike was not ideal, Cody had a blast (until he realized he had to take a bath two days in a row. According to Murphy's Law, since Cody bathed on Saturday and I had applied his topical tick prevention medicine, that on Sunday he was bound to do something that would require me to bathe him again).

Anyways, the lesson learned is that I may want to check for bovine presence if I ever take Cody off leash :P

2007-03-03T16:24:00.000-08:00

Long Day

Today was a super long day for Cody and I. As I am writing this, Cody is conked out on the carpet in front of me.

This morning, we had to meet at 7am with the Team in Training group to run 8 miles. With Cody, I did 8 miles in an hour and a half, which is slightly over 11 minute miles. Considering that I always went slower than that, I think it was a good accomplishment. What also felt really nice is that I was not last in the pack. Although I started as one of the last people, my endurance outlasted at least most of the other women that were running (I stopped to walk for 3 minutes total, and only after running over 6 miles straight).

We had a person who specialized in sports injury prevention speak to us after our run. He showed us different stretches and sold some Styrofoam rollers to help us stretch some areas (like the IT band!). I've been wanting to get a roller for awhile, so it's helpful. Also, there were some stretching techniques he showed us that I hadn't heard about before.

After a couple of other errands, Cody and I had our 4th agility class. I know I haven't spoken about the agility class yet, but I plan on writing a long, very detailed (and very negative) review of the agility class. Considering we waited 8 months to finally attend this class, well, words don't really quite describe how poor the class is given my expectations.

Anyways, we had agility class for an hour. Cody had fun as he was able to go on tunnels and up seesaws and tables and go on surfaces he hadn't tried before. Since I had been training him on playgrounds and on the treadmill and other things, he was able to pick it up pretty well. The only problem was telling him to go to a certain location since he was more interested in greeting other dogs than coming for a treat or toy (unless it was another dog's toy).

That's it. This is probably an abrupt ending to a post, but I'm just plain tired and Cody napping is giving me some good ideas (after a good shower - unfortunately, it'll have to be cold because they recommend cold showers after workouts to help the muscles recover).

2007-03-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

Well, there's 3 months to the marathon.

Last Sunday, I was able to run 8 miles with Cody even with the torrential rain that came down in the middle of the run. I think the rain was to teach me a lesson and to make sure I wear quick-dry fabrics rather than cotton.

Through the week, I've been running between 2-5 miles each day, as well as meeting with my personal trainer on Tuesdays and Fridays to do weight training. Tomorrow, we'll be doing a "long run" of 5-8 miles in San Mateo. The trail should be dog-friendly so I should be able to get a good time with Cody helping me out :)

Here are a couple of pictures of Cody and me running on one of our Team in Training group runs:

Thanks for all who've sponsored me so far. If you'd like to sponsor me, please visit http://www.active.com/donate/tntsvmb/phoebeho

I have $2000 more to go!

2007-02-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

Cody and Molly - Friends at Last!

I was out of town for the last few days and we thought that it might be worth seeing how Cody and Molly would get along at Molly's place. When I dropped them off on Saturday, they ignored each other, so I was content with that. As long as they weren't fighting, I was happy.

Imagine my surprise with Molly's owners told me that they actually PLAYED together (not fight).

Here's a video that they took as I didn't believe it either:

2007-01-31T18:46:00.000-08:00

Big Brother Cody

There is a new puppy that lives across the hallway. Cody and Henri have played a few times and they whine to each other when they're not together. However, when they play, Cody usually just lies down and lets Henri pull and bully him. It's nice that Cody is playing so nicely with smaller, younger dogs.

Here are some pictures of Cody and Henri:

2007-01-27T23:49:00.000-08:00

Cody and Ruby

Cody hasn't played with Ruby in awhile, but they had a little play time today. In the past, they have played in the evenings, so it was difficult to take pictures. However, they played during the day today, so I was able to take some pictures of them wrestling.

2007-01-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

Cody's Marathon Training Breaks

As Cody and I are training for a marathon, Cody still needs to take some breaks during the runs.

2007-01-22T15:57:00.000-08:00

Dog Obedience from Saturday Night Live

2007-01-18T00:21:00.000-08:00

Cody's New Collar

To represent the gambler in him, he got a new collar for his birthday last month. We hadn't gotten a chance to use it until this month.

The dogs in the "Dogs Playing Cards" picture don't even have such stylish collars...

2007-01-15T16:42:00.000-08:00

Cody's Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.

Although he spent a large part of the weekend with his breed, he understands that the true importance is not the fur length, body size, or fur color, but the heart and passion underneath. His dream is that Vizslas, Terriers, Boxers, Poodles, Pugs, Dachshunds, Labradors, Irish Wolfhounds, Collies, Mutts, and all other breeds can play together and drink together at the same water fountain at the dog park. Right now, there is a divided fence between big dogs and little dogs, but maybe one day, everyone can all learn to get along.

At the end of this long, thoughtful, and busy weekend, Cody took the time to rest and get warm in the middle of an unusually cold Northern California day.

2007-01-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

Cody's weekend

Apparently this weekend has been tied up with Cody-related events. Yesterday morning, Cody and I went running on a hiking trail with another Viszla-owner and Vizsla. Cody had a blast running around off-leash, bouncing in and out of bushes. The downside is that the trail had poison oak and some ticks. Luckily, we were able to pick off all the ticks, and he didn't have any poison oak that rubbed off on me. The crazy thing is that it was so cold that when I got back to the car at 8:30 (in the morning), the sweat on my hair was frozen in clumps. Cody didn't seem to mind the cold as he had too much fun.

In the afternoon (after Cody had slept all day from the 1.5 hour run), we met a bunch of Vizsla owners at Gunn high school. There were 11 other Vizslas and Cody had so much fun. I brought his favorite squeaky ball that he showed off to all his new friends. He was willing to share it once in awhile, but the ball always ended up back in his mouth. Even though he had seemed tired after the morning run, he had enough energy to play with everyone for another hour and a half.

Cody slept all day today, so I got the chance to run some errands. I had made a playdate for Cody with a new friend of his, Suki. Suki is just a couple of months older than Cody, and they seem to get along. Suki is much more obsessed with birds, and loves to swim after them, but they like to run together and wrestle slightly. We went to the Campbell Dog Park and the Percolation Ponds so that they can run off-leash freely. I know that I should be taking pictures, so I'll make sure I bring my camera during the next play date.

2007-01-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

Cody's First Vizsla Play Date

The Vizsla owners in the South Bay all got together at the Campbell Dog Park and the Percolation Ponds. I've never seen so many Vizslas in one place! (there were about 15 Vizslas - including two 13 week old puppies!). It was a good thing that everyone had different collars because it was hard to tell which dog was which. It was also nice to see that other Vizslas were as bratty as Cody. Here is a picture of a few of the dogs in and around the water. Cody had tried to swim, but as this was his second time swimming, he flailed quite a bit. This didn't stop him from going in the shallow area though.

When we were first at the park, I was worried that he didn't like the other Vizslas since he was playing with other breeds. Once all the Vizsla owners took their vizslas on an off-leash walk, Cody quickly bonded with his kind. Since we got back, he has been sleeping non-stop. I'm excited when I know Cody's had so much fun that he gets tuckered out.

2007-01-06T23:32:00.000-08:00

How I spent Saturday Morning

I woke up at 9am to make sure Cody had a run in before I had to meet my trainer at 10. If he doesn't get enough sleep, he's usually pretty lazy and I have to really convince him to get out of bed. While I was calling him to take him morning potty break, I saw him slink out of the bedroom door and just lie there. Him being him, I naturally assumed he was just being bratty and disobedient. When I tried to coax him to stand, he turned over on his back instead. I was finally able to convince him to get up and that's when I noticed that he was limping. The weird thing is, he was completely fine yesterday night before we went to bed.

This is when I decided he had a leg cramp. I didn't think that dogs would have leg cramps. Usually, I get it because I didn't consume my share of potassium. I would think that since I give him good dog food, he would have all his essential vitamins and minerals covered. Then again, he did have diarrhea for a week so he could have not absorbed what he needed to absorb. Anyways, instead of running, I ended up spending that 45 minutes massaging his leg. The problem with massaging a dog is that you don't get immediate feedback. I'm still not entirely sure exactly where the cramp was (since he never yelped ), but it's possible it was the groin area of his back left leg since he would turn his head when I was massaging that area.

All in all, I think the massage worked. By the time I left, he was only limping slightly. When I got home, he was jumping up and down on his hind legs so he must have healed. Anyways, it was a big learning for me as I never thought dogs could actually get leg cramps. Now I wonder if Cody is ever sore from long runs like I am sometimes.

(Sorry I haven't been writing much. Lots of work to catch up on, and since Cody had diarrhea for a week and only recently got better, we're both trying to catch up on sleep as well)

2007-01-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

Ruby, not Diamond is a Cody's Best Friend

Cody loves Ruby. Unlike Molly, Ruby likes Cody too. Awhile ago, Cody and Ruby ran around the pool area of the apartment complex a few times. Now, every day, Cody will pull towards the pool area when we get home. If I bypass the pool area and go straight home, he will sit by the door and whine until I let him go out and check out the pool area to see if Ruby is there.

Ruby and her owner live on the opposite side of the complex, but they come over since the pool is close to my apartment. On the rare occasions when I pass Ruby's apartment (Cody has only been there 3 times in his whole life), Cody will pull towards the apartment and sit at her doorstep until I knock to see if Ruby can play.

It's really nice to see them both play. Ruby and Tina are very similar in that they both are pretty aggressive and wrestle a lot with Cody. Although Cody is a runner at heart, his short attention span means he likes to alternate between running, wrestling, and playing keep-away. Cody missed Ruby while he was at PlanetPooch last week, but since he still whines at the door and pulls me towards the pool area when we go home, he did not forgot her.

2007-01-02T17:49:00.000-08:00

Cody, the Diarrhea King

I picked up Cody from PlanetPooch a couple of weeks ago. He was super skinny and was anxious to eat. I happened to start him on a new dog food (Authority Harvest from PetsMart) that same day. Since that day, he has had diarrhea. I don't think he had it at PlanetPooch since his first elimination at home was solid. For the week following, he still had diarrhea. After a few days, when I started him on bland food, he had improved, but then I found him eating a bag of the new food on the counter and his diarrhea came back. It took about a week for Cody to get over it and I'm glad that it was just a food allergy. I'm still not sure what ingredient in the food he's allergic too, but we're back on Nutro Ultra and Cody's stool is great.

Bland diet: After much research, most sites recommended trying a home remedy for awhile before taking the dog to the vet. I had scheduled an appt for 10 days after Cody's first bout. I figured it would be good to have someone check it in case it didn't get better. Here was the diet that Cody had: boiled chicken, rice, cottage cheese, and yogurt. Honestly, he loved his bland diet because it was so much more tasty than his regular food (well, at least he loved the chicken part). I used about a half cup each for all the ingredients (but a whole cup of rice). I fed him twice a day. Honestly, I think he would have gotten better at the same rate if I just switched him back to his old dog food immediately. However, in case the diarrhea was due to some other issue, it was good to have him have the bland diet just in case.

2007-01-02T17:44:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Cody's Resolutions:

1) Stop barking, even in play
2) Stop pulling on the leash
3) Stop jumping
4) Coming when called (even when there are other distractions)
5) Learning to use the treadmill
6) No begging when people are eating food
7) Fetching and COMING BACK with the ball
8) Find a treat that is so yummy that the chance to eat one outweighs any other distractions
9) Start agility class
10) Learn to write blog posts and answer emails

2006-12-20T16:03:00.000-08:00

Cody on Holiday!

From tomorrow til next week, Cody will be on a holiday vacation at PlanetPooch. He wishes everyone a happy holidays. If you find yourself with extra time, please feel free to read through the archives and see what adventures Cody has been through in the last year!

Here are some pictures of Cody in his holiday outfit with some of his friends from work.

2006-12-18T14:07:00.000-08:00

Treadmill for Cody

Last week, I wrote about how Cody was without many days of hard exercising. Over the weekend, I decided to take advantage of a sale at Sports Authority and bought a Horizon DT680 treadmill. I basically chose it because it was the quietest one they had that was at a decent price. I bought the treadmill for 2 reasons:

1) Cody can use it when it's raining and both of us are too lazy to get out and get wet.
2) I can use it while watching TV.

You may ask if Cody can really learn how to walk/run on a treadmill. Before I made the purchase, I snuck Cody in the gym in our apartment complex. I held his leash and straddled him on both sides so that he would stay on the belt. (Initially, he'd have his front legs on the belt and would get confused as his legs started moving without him). I started him very slowly and he seemed to get the hang of it. He started walking slowly at the same pace as the treadmill. I think it was promising enough to think that I can train him even better over time. I'll keep you all updated on the progress.

2006-12-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

Pajama Day!

Anyone remember these pictures of that Cody wore when he was 2 months old? The pajama shirt was way too big and was hanging off him:

Well, today is Pajama day at work and I put on that shirt for him again today. It is now his "muscle" shirt since it's so tight. He still looks cute though :)

2006-12-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

What Do Cody and Bees have in Common?

They both have hives!

Last night, Cody had a fun time running around and wrestling with a boxer named Ruby who lives in the neighborhood. There were bushes to hide behind and jump over which Cody and Ruby enjoyed.

However, this morning, I noticed some dark, pronounced areas on Cody when we woke up. At first, I thought it was the lighting or drool spots when he "scratches" himself. Upon closer examination, they looked like hives. There were very mild bumps that ranged from the size of dimes to the size of a Ritz cracker. There were a few larger ones on the main part of his body and smaller ones towards his tail. They were also only on one side of his body.

I panicked a little when I saw it. I thought that I should call the vet, but I didn't really have time that morning. Here were theories:

1) He has some weird cancer that suddenly came up and he's going to die.
2) He rolled over a huge amount of ticks and mosquitoes on one side and somehow they didn't follow him home (since I didn't get bitten)
3) He ran into some poison ivy and I will soon be developing a rash on my hands for petting and handling him.
4) He has some weird allergic reaction to something in the bushes.

Honestly, I didn't think that #4 was very likely since I've never seen him have hives. I figured it's the only one I can treat immediately though. I gave him a couple of Benadryl tablets before we left for work. Amazingly enough, a couple of hours later, the bumps were gone (but unfortunately, he did not get the drowsiness side effect).

Overall, I'm very grateful that I didn't have to spend a ton of money at the vet's for something that took care of itself.

For other dog owners, diphenhydramine/Benadryl tablets was ok'ed by my vet. Unless the dog has some allergy to Benadryl or other health issues, it's generally fine to give Benadryl to your dog for allergies. My vet told me to administer 1mg for every pound he weighs (so I gave him 50mg this morning).

2006-12-12T09:19:00.000-08:00

I'm in Big Trouble

So, the rain has set in. And the laziness. Even though I wrote the post on how bad it was not to exercise Cody, I quickly forgot my own advice.

Last Friday: I didn't take Cody out because I already had exercise session with my human personal trainer and I thought Cody would be tired since he was at PlanetPooch the day before.

Saturday: I was out late Friday night. Plus, I have not been sleeping well the last couple of weeks so Cody and I slept until 3pm. He didn't seem that antsy to go out, so I thought we'd skip exercising on Saturday and just go out really early on Sunday.

Sunday: I had no excuse. We woke up at 7:30 but I was lazy. I read my book while Cody was entertaining himself. In an effort to completely catch up on sleep, we took a nap from noon-4. I was feeling super guilty when I woke up, so from 4:30-5:30, we did go on a walk that included fetching balls, and playing with new and old friends.

Monday: I had a 7am meeting at work so we skipped the exercise. However, Cody did have a few wrestling sessions with Tina, Miya, and Belvie. I on the otherhand have gone 3 days without a real exercise session.

Tuesday: We woke up early to run. But it was pouring and Cody and I refused to go out. I'm hoping that I can get him a couple of wrestling sessions at work, and then maybe a short run this evening. My personal trainer, John, is going to kill me. If the 5K run I'm doing tomorrow doesn't kill me first.

In addition to this lack of exercise, I'm keeping Cody on puppy food since he has more energy. I'm going to seriously consider getting both of us a treadmill.

I really don't want Cody to look like this:

I used to think Cody was ok, until I saw this picture of a really cut vizsla when I was looking for a picture of a fat vizsla (apparently none exists in the Google image search) . It's like the vizsla version of muscle building.

2006-12-08T14:55:00.000-08:00

The Lifespan of a Dog

This is Freddie. She is 13 years old. She eats human food. Sandwiches, enchiladas, dumplings, meatloaf, you name it.

But other dogs eat dog food. And they live till 10 or so.

So if you want your dog to have a lifespan as long as a human's, you give him/her human food, like enchiladas.

If you don't want to live that long, you should start eating dog food.

The end.

2006-12-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

Cody the Massage Therapist

Now that Cody is "old," he is looking into different career opportunities. Here are pictures of him with his first client.

The problem is that he takes too many breaks and gets sleepy and yawns while he's on the job!

2006-12-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Cody!!

Today is his first birthday. I put a Greenie "candle" in his dog food in celebration :)

Stats: He's 53 lbs. He uses a large backpack that is a little too big for him (because he's super skinny) and he uses an 18" collar. He's about 2 feet tall (floor to shoulder) and about 4 feet long (tip of nose to tip of tail). I *think* he's full-grown. He is now also tall enough to reach water faucets when we run, and easily jump on furniture. However, the flip side is that he can't fit as well in my car.

Food: He eats on average 2-3 cups a day. (He sometimes eats 2 cups twice a day and sometimes nothing at all). I'm still blending his old food, but he'll be completely switched over in the next week or two (it takes awhile because I'm not entirely sure when he'll eat). He's mostly on Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy food. I recently switched him to the Large Breed food since he's over 50 lbs and he's using a weighted backpack some days when we exercise. I just wanted to make sure he's getting some calcium to support the extra weight. I plan on continuing to use the Large Breed Puppy food for another couple of months. The reason is that adult dog food usually has a lower amount of protein because they assume adults are lower energy than puppies. That is true in most cases, but Cody still has a lot of energy. I looked into the ratios of high energy dog food, and it has a higher percentage of protein. To make sure he's getting as much protein as he needs, I'm going to switch over to adult food a little bit later.

Snacks: I still can't find one that he likes enough that he'll stay by my side or come when he's distracted. I'm still working on it though. Greenies are pretty close so I might try to buy mini-Greenies and see how well it works.

Accidents: He is mostly accident-free. I think he can go 8-9 hours without eliminating if he doesn't drink anything, but I've been playing it safe at around 6 hours during the day, especially when he's active.

Activities: We run 45-60 minutes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Thursdays, Cody goes to PlanetPooch for doggie day care. Since day care usually tires him out, we'll go for only a 30-45 minute run on Fridays. On weekends, we'll usually run for 1-2.5 hours. We'll also visit the offleash park and practice some commands there. Weekdays are usually 2-poop days and Weekends can be 3 or 4. I'm hoping that we start agility training soon after we practice a little bit more at the offleash park.

Health and Grooming: He gets a bath about once every two weeks now. I still trim his nails every week to week and a half. To avoid ear infections, I put in ear drops once every couple of days. I also brush his teeth or let him brush his teeth once every few days as well.

Commands: He's just learned the "front" command (coming in front of me and sitting) and the "finish" command (pretty much the same as heel - coming to my left side and sitting). He's pretty good at not pulling most of the time (unless another dog is around that he hasn't greeted yet). In general, he's improved overall, though he does bark from time to time.

Here is a picture of Cody when I got him (13 weeks) and one of him today (1 year). Can you tell the differences? Good thing he's still my handsome vizsla!

2006-12-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

No Exercise?!?!

Yesterday I talked about Cody's appropriate poop requirement to fulfill his exercise needs. During Thanksgiving weekend a couple of weeks ago, I decided to do an experiment where Cody and I did not go out to exercise.

Actually, this "experiment" was an accident. We had run and exercised for at least an hour and a half for each day during the Thanksgiving weekend, and even though Cody wasn't pooped, I was (especially with the additional weight of Thanksgiving dinner and leftovers that I had to "carry" during our runs).

On the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, Cody and I both slept in. We woke up around noon and spent awhile debating if it would rain soon (to decide whether or not to go on a long run or not). I spent the afternoon debating while I think Cody decided it wasn't going to rain. He jumped up and down the couches and tossed and ran after various small toys all afternoon. He was only slightly destructive (scratched a little of the carpet and corners), but basically a slight terror. When I decided it was time to go running (read: when he was so distracting that I couldn't increase the volume of my television enough), it started to rain so both of us just plowed through the rest of the day without exercise.

Anyways, due to this "experiment," I highly discourage any truancy in your exercise regimen if you also have a highly active dog.

PS. Today's Cody's last day as an official puppy! He turns 1 year old tomorrow!!!!

2006-12-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

Exercise Quality

I don't know if other dog owners do this, but I measure the quality of Cody's exercise sessions in with the "poop quotient." That is, I count how many times he poops during an exercise session (each instance rather than the amount of poop)

For me, I use a heart rate monitor and I try to be "in the zone" for at least 30 minutes. For Cody, my equivalent measure is "2 poops".

On weekends, when we do 2 hour runs, we can get to 3 or 4 poops which is a huge success. Of course, there are other factors in play (mostly, when he last ate or last eliminated, and when we're running/exercising). Since Cody is now eating about every other day, a successful poop quotient ranges. Regardless, I've found that Cody needs a 2 poop minimum to make sure that he isn't a monster during the day.

If you have a dog, do you have a "poop minimum" to help you decide when they're properly exercised and how much is that?

2006-11-30T12:22:00.000-08:00

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)

2006-11-29T19:49:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-24T19:08:00.000-08:00

10 Things for which Cody is Thankful

Bones
Peanut Butter
The dog park
A warm, comfy bed
Running
Stairs
Doggie Day Care
People food
Squeaky toys
Good human and canine friends

What is your dog thankful for?

2006-11-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

Pictures on the bed

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

2006-11-22T15:28:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

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:

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).
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))
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)
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.

2006-11-16T16:08:00.000-08:00

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. :)

2006-11-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-07T23:55:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-11-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

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:

2006-11-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

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).

2006-10-30T11:58:00.000-08:00

Graduation!

Cody officially graduated from Intermediate puppy class. That means that he should be coming when he's distracted and doing all sorts of distraction-related activities. He actually went through a test which he did well on. This was the trick:

1) He had his Gentle Leader on during the test
2) We ran for 2 hours right before class

In general, he has gotten better. Not perfect, but he occasionally will come back when he's distracted by other dogs, especially if he thinks I'm going to leave him (I'm taking advantage of his fear of abandonment).

We're going to practice a bit more and then start some agility or good citizen classes after we master the distractions.

By the way, Happy Halloween! Cody and I did dress up for Halloween, but as our cameras are still under repair, I'll post the pictures as soon as my friends send me their pictures of him. If you have any Halloween pictures, please share them here!

2006-10-30T11:46:00.000-08:00

Fatso

Before I continue, I need to make it clear that I am in no way implying that Cody goes on a diet. He's already bulimic and anorexic enough without needing more encouragement on that front. Anyways, for the last week, Cody actually has been eating what he has been allocated to eat. He's supposed to eat around 4 cups a day, but normally he'll only eat 2-3 because he's anorexic. (Vizslas tend to be a bit anorexic; they only eat what they need) Plus, with his motion sickness, he becomes a bit bulimic. In the last week, he's eating like a healthy dog which is nice to see. Even though I may have to re-think Cody's expensive dog food, I like to think he can eat normally some times. Since I do free feed him, I am slightly concerned that he might be turning into a regular dog that overeats, but so far he's still left some food in the bowl after he's eaten his 4 cups so no worries yet. You can see from the ribs on the picture that Evan took on Friday that he has a long way to go before he's overweight or a true "fatso".

2006-10-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

Pictures that Evan took - "Curious Cody"

2006-10-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

Depressed Cody

This week, I decided to look for Cody on the webcam at PlanetPooch. I normally have a very difficult time tracking him down, but he is clearly lying down in the middle of the room. In fact, he barely raises his head when other dogs are passing him by. He looks tired and depressed. I encourage you to all visit him via the webcam and shooting out your "happy energy" to him.

2006-10-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

Bladder Control Testing

The problem with bladder control testing, or testing the limits of bladder control, is that the consequences are not pleasant. In the past week, however, I have determined that Cody's bladder control can last for at least 8.5 hours. That is, he did not have an accident when I forgot to take him out for 8.5 hours. This is great news for me because I have a back-up plan now for the winter. As the winter months approach, I can't consider leaving Cody in the backyard since it will rain. Previously, if I left him inside for that long, I would need to worry about accidents. Now, if I can't take Cody to the office, I don't need to rely on PlanetPooch, PetsMart, or any other day care to take care of him.

If I can do this all over again, I think the timing of Cody's birth (December 6) was perfect. While winter was ending in the beginning of 2006, I didn't have to worry about exercising him too much because he was too small. If I needed to leave him in the car to prevent accidents, it wasn't too hot. When summer came, he was ready to run or exercise more, and he was able to stay in the office for a long enough time for me to go to meetings. Anyways, it's great. I just need to hope he doesn't get any bladder infections again.

2006-10-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

Cody's Weekend

This past weekend, Cody and I drove down to Los Angeles. He had last gone on a road trip with me in July, during the heat wave weekend. This time, he did much better. He drank and ate normally after the first day, and he even eliminated normally.

Each day, Cody and I ran/hiked for an hour, and then the owner of codymydog (a horrible spoof of this site) ran Cody for another hour. Of course, Cody outran him and scoffed at his slow pace.

The first night, I kept Cody in his travel crate and he whined all night. The second night, I let him on the twin bed I was sleeping on. Of course, I had no space to sleep, but at least Cody was able to sleep. Needless to say, we are both happy to be home and able to share a larger bed so both of us can sleep more soundly.

2006-10-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Other Cody site

Since I've been talking about Cody-related sites, I should point out another blog that people may go to accidentally, thinking they'll get to this blog. This site is www.mydogcody.com. To make it even more confusing, that site uses Blogger as well. The silly thing is that the domain was probably available when I first created this blog for Cody as the other Cody (chocolate lab which will henceforth be called "Cocoa Cody") was not born yet. Since Cocoa Cody is pretty darn cute, I don't mind giving a shout out. Maybe the other owners will discover that I posted a random blog about their dog and we can share Cody stories. But then again, that'll probably be too confusing.

Too bad Cocoa Cody lives in Florida since it'll be highly unlikely they'll ever meet. Given my Cody's personality (and his inclination towards puppy labs and puppy boxers), and what I've read about Cocoa Cody's personality, they'd probably get along really well (but that pesky problem of giving commands to one and not the other would probably be difficult. I find it hard enough when I go to the dog park and there are other "Cody"'s there. Luckily, that's not very often so I don't have to worry about it. Usually, I'll just leave with Cody (of course my own Cody and not some other random Cody) to minimize confusion.)

2006-10-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

The Worst Blog Ever

I'm going to rally all my faithful readers to protest and boycott http://codymydog.blogspot.com/. Clearly, the owner of the blog doesn't realize that Cody likes his fame and doesn't feel exploited whatsoever. He loves people and he loves attention . That's why he has a Dogster page. Which reminds me, maybe I should get him a MySpace page...

2006-10-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

The Convenience of PetsMart

For the first time tomorrow, I will pay for Cody to attend PetsMart day care. In the past, all his other stays have been "paid" via coupons or gift certificates that I had earned or received. Cody went to PetsMart on Monday and will be attending for the second time in a week tomorrow.

While I'm still concerned that he may catch another disease, I feel like I'm more prepared. I also feel like although they aren't entirely careful, he did not receive kennel cough during his other stays there.

Why is he going when I dislike PetsMart day care and think it inferior to other day cares (See Review)? Well, a "pro" point that I mentioned in previous posts is that it's convenient. This week, I have more trainings and meetings that normal and I would rather not burden my co-workers with the responsibility of a puppy whose energy levels range between mellow and, well, very far from mellow. Actually, Cody's time at PetsMart yesterday helped with my decision to let him go again. Amazingly, Cody was tired after this visit. I heard he made a new friend and probably spent a lot of energy wrestling with her. Also, he did not have any accidents today even after spending a day at PetsMart where he needed to eliminate indoors. I still would prefer PlanetPooch over PetsMart when it's possible, but as I made the decision last minute this evening, PetsMart was the best option.

Worst case scenario, these visits will help develop his immune system.

2006-10-13T12:05:00.002-07:00

Cody in the office

Here are some more pictures that Evan took while Cody was in the office.

2006-10-13T12:05:00.001-07:00

Codini, The "Escape Artist"

When Cody was in his PlanetPooch shuttle waiting for me to pick him up last Thursday, Cody apparently darted out of the shuttle along with the first dog. Cody was so excited to get out of the shuttle that he just made a run for the shuttle door. I was not there yet but I heard that Cody's new nickname is "The Escape Artist". Luckily, they were able to grab him soon enough (many dog owners around that are used to chasing after runaway dogs) before he got too far.

Cody also has been making more trouble at work. Since Molly came that one time when he discovered the technique to escape from his gated door, he has been doing that a lot. We actually have to be super anal now about making sure the door is completely wedged in so that with all of Cody's weight pulling on the gate, it still won't budge for him to escape.

And of course, there's that time that Cody just plain ran away. I don't like thinking about that time since it was mostly my fault :P

2006-10-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Vizsla Character Traits.

There was a link that was passed on to me about some of the "quirks" that vizslas have. I find it amusing that Cody exhibits almost all of those behaviors.

Here's a summary of the full link and how Cody applies to each "generic" Vizsla trait:

Sniffing at counters. Yup. He loves to sniff and see what's going on. Except for one time a few months ago, he only sniffs and occasionally licks. He has not yet gotten away with eating human food from the counter though.
Extremely energetic. Unless you haven't read this blog, you already know this about Cody.
Digging. I only let him hang out in the backyard after I exercised him completely. Except for one day when I left him in the backyard for 9 hours, he hasn't had any outside digging problems. Of course, I need to mention that he's obsessed with one spot in the living room carpet that he "digs" at.
Likes to always be by your side. Cody will follow me into the bathroom unless I make sure the door is completely closed shut. I feel like he has a slight fear of abandonment, which of course makes no sense when he decides to run away.
Vocal. He likes making noises all the time. He barks occasionally, but it's more weird whines and whimpers or groans. He'll make sounds when he's yawning, and of course, he's a big snorer.
Oral fixation. (Needs things in his mouth). It's amazing how much he likes things in his mouth. He's swallowed most post-its than I can count. Since I put my "to-dos" on post-its, he actually does me a favor when he eats them because it means less tasks for me to finish. Until I miss something really important.
Likes big, comfy places to sleep. From my heat map blog post, you already know that he loves my bed. He hates my car because I have bucket seats and he can't spread out. In general, he hates cramped spaces. Here are some pictures of him sleeping and you can see that the curled up position is not one to which he defaults.
Smart and sneaky. He has found ways into corners and up on places that he's not supposed to go. Normally, I would praise him for being resourceful, but sometimes it's just being bratty.
Love to be on high (chairs, sofas, etc.). Apparently this desire outweighs the cramped spaces problem as you can see here.
Fetish for socks and shoes and laundry. Honestly, Cody's only really had a problem with socks. He also likes one of my flip-flops (just the right sandal) and a particular left boot.
Soft personalities. The link says that if they're not socialized properly, they can be timid. I remember him being timid when he first visited the dog park, but he became one of the gang pretty quickly.
Lap dogs. I don't have any pictures of him on my lap as I don't have any pictures of me in this blog. But trust me, he will try to lie on your lap or press and nestle against you if he can. It's nice and sweet. These are the times when I agree that having a pet can have health benefits such as lowering blood pressure and such. Of course, with all the other issues that he has when he's not lying down and peaceful, the stressful times may counter those benefits.

2006-10-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Is Cody Deaf?

Due to the infrequent occurrences of obedience, my co-workers often wonder if Cody is deaf. To be honest, I have often asked myself that question when I have given the same command over and over again, or when I lost him and he didn't come when I called him for half an hour.

Even though I would like to give Cody an excuse (or me an excuse for being a poor trainer), there are certain indications that prove that Cody is not hard of hearing.

As the Gentle Leader is not known as a hearing aid, when he has it on, his immediate obedience means that he heard the commands and responded appropriately.
He sure likes squeaky toys a lot for a dog who is apparently deaf.
If he's lying down peacefully, he jumps up to stand if I even whisper "Potty"
He starts to salivate when I mention "Greenie"

All in all, Cody is not likely deaf. He's just a stubborn brat sometimes and I need to improve my training skills. We've been working on it. Since my city issued me an off-leash permit (to practice training in certain areas in a few city parks), we'll be practicing that a bit this weekend. Stay tuned...His "hearing" might improve soon!

2006-10-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

Cody in the Crate

Here are pictures that Evan took of Cody while my camera is getting fixed. Now I can have the same quality of pictures that my friends have of Phoenix.

2006-10-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

A Good Joke

The only other person that is in our PetsMart class is this other girl and her black lab, Max. She made a comment to me: "Cody is never hyper, is he?" The trainer, who had seen Cody at day care and sees us when we first go into PetsMart when he is really excited, and I burst out laughing. Boy, he can really fool the others sometimes! (I think it helps that I make sure we either go on a long run or a visit to the dog park before class. The Gentle Leader also helps a lot to remind him who's in charge. Amazingly, Max also wears the Gentle Leader and he doesn't seem very well-controlled with it.)

2006-10-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

Cody's Diary for 10/7

Wow. I am 10 months and one day old today. What a big boy!

Mommy normally takes me for a walk, but we had to go into that yucky car. I hate that car. It makes me sick, but I like sticking my head out the window, so I guess it's ok.

We went to a place where there were lots of other cars. There were nice people there and they were very friendly. There was even a person who is going hunting in two weeks. I wish my mommy could hunt! I sure like finding and chasing those birds. We left the car there and walked around in this different neighborhood. I liked sniffing all the new smells. Everything was so interesting that it was hard to pay attention when my mommy was talking to me. Sometimes it's easy just to tune her out.

Even though I did nothing special, I had a new treat today during our walk! My mommy got me something she called a "hot dog". I don't think it looks anything like me or any other dog I've met so maybe I misheard her. It was a little hard to eat, but it was sure tasty. I don't like chomping on food like some of my friends do. I just ate small bites of the hot dog since it was kinda weird to eat. The "bun" was a lot easier to much and chew in one piece than the "hot dog".

We walked back to the place where the cars were, but I don't think our car was ready. While we were waiting, my mommy tried to make me stand and sit while she was far away. I don't like it. Usually when she yells, it's because she wants me to come near her. Every word out of her mouth seems to be "heel" or "come" so I don't understand why she would want me to just stay far away and sit or stand or lie down. I was getting a little tired of the game after awhile, but I did enjoy some of the treats from the bag since I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon.

When we finally got the car, I had to say good-bye to all the friendly people there. I thought we could finally go home, but mommy had another idea. We went to the fun store where lots of other dogs go. I was really excited, but then mommy put my Gentle Leader on. I hate the Gentle Leader. It makes me sad when I have it on so I wasn't as excited to jump around and explore when we got into the store. I saw a good friend of mine, Max, who seems to be there every time I come to this store. I wasn't able to spend very much time with him because almost immediately, mommy made me go away and walk around the store saying "heel" and "come". See what I mean? You'd be confused too if she gave you commands that didn't involve going closer to her.

Anyways, after we walked around the store (thankfully, mommy let me sniff around a little bit), we went to an empty aisle and practiced the same thing she practiced earlier that morning. She would tell me to stay and then walk away. I was too tired to second guess her so I just stayed. She then tried to tell me to sit and stand when she was on the other side of the aisle. I have no idea why she would want me to do that, but I did what she asked.

After that, Hallelujah!, she took off the Gentle Leader. There were a lot of yummy smells with which I wanted to have a closer smell, but I don't think mommy liked that. She tried to get me to do the same tricks again, but I was getting bored, and those smells were beckoning me!

I think mommy gave up so we got back together with Max (I think he was supposed to do the same thing I did but in another aisle). We didn't stay long after that. I wanted to play with Max, and Max certainly wanted to play with me, but him and his mommy left so we left too.

I'm super tired. I normally don't spend all morning walking around, performing commands, and experiencing new places and people. I'm going to go lie by the glass door and take a nice long nap so I can have some energy to play and run with mommy later.

2006-10-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

Cody's Training this week

Last week at the PetsMart obedience class, we practiced the command "stand" and started working on "come" with some distractions.

Cody knows how to stand, but if he sees me with a treat, his automatic instinct to sit or lie down overrides his desire to obey the "stand" command. It's actually quite funny to see him go through all his series of tricks when he really really wants something.

Anyways, even though I've said extend-leashes are evil, we've been using that leash this week to practice his come command ("come" doesn't make sense on a 4 ft. leash). It's not entirely successful when he's distracted, but that's where practicing comes in.

Also, I've applied for an off-leash permit to practice off-leash training in certain parks in my town. That should help a lot in practices as well. I'll keep you posted.

2006-10-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

Rain Rain Go Away

Apparently it's true that one dog year is 7 human years. Cody experienced rain for the first time in 3 dog years (about 5 months human years). He forgot what it was like and of course, freaked out.

He was hesitant to pee or poop when that wet stuff was falling from the sky. The really nice thing about it is that I wasn't afraid that he would run away if he escaped from me as long as I was walking in a path of covered areas.

He's at doggy day care today (Planet Pooch) so he can play indoors for now. He's going to have to learn really quick how to take a walk in the rain. (I actually bought him a rain slicker since I knew he hated the rain last spring. We'll see if he'll need it or not or outgrow his wicked witch of the west syndrome.

By the way, Cody has an official photographer now while my camera is getting fixed. We'll take some more pictures this week and I'll post them up soon.

2006-10-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

Where are those pictures?

My camera broke a few weeks ago which is why there hasn't been any Cody pictures. However, here are some old ones from when he was about 4 months old. These are great action pictures (my camera cannot take action pictures as good as these). I got these from the owner of hugpug.com.

2006-09-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

Growth Comparison Charts Between Phoenix and Cody

Phoenix's owner decided to plot Phoenix's growth chart. Since I've been recording various data points for Cody's weight as well, she took those data points and compared the growth curve with Phoenix's. It's fun to see that they have the same growth pattern, even though they are not related at all. Cody was the smaller of his brothers and he was part of a large litter (11) but I'm surprised that he is hitting the average 50-60lb mark (He weighed in at 51.3 lbs when he was at the vet yesterday). I think (*hope*) that Cody's weight has stabilized, but it'll be interesting to see how Phoenix compares in the coming months.

Cody and I are hoping to give Phoenix and his parents a visit in November so that they can play and meet for the first time. Cody hasn't played with another Vizsla puppy since he left his dog family so it'll be a fun time for all. I wonder which dog will tire out first (and how long that'll take given the Vizsla energy levels).

2006-09-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Sympathy Bronchitis

Cody and I both seem to have developed a form of bronchitis independently from each other.

Apparently Cody has developed a mild form of the "Kennel Cough" which has led to his hacking/coughing fits. The vet said it should go away in a few weeks and should be getting better. Cody didn't interact with many dogs except for his stays at PetsMart last week or PlanetPooch. I still feel as if the rules at PetsMart are more lax and the employees don't notice problems like coughing as much, so I'd much rather blame PetsMart for Cody's illness. Since I don't know for sure, I won't complain too much.

Cody received his Bordatella shots in April (if you board your pet, they recommend Bordatella shots every 6 months. In fact, I had already scheduled him to get another vaccination this Sunday before he got this cough). Apparently, a shot just diffuses the severity if the dogs come into contact with other dogs with kennel cough. Cody shouldn't interact with other dogs until his cough goes away (which should be in the next week), otherwise the other dogs have the danger of contracting the cough as well.

After talking to other dog owners, I realized it was a rarity that I keep Cody up to date on his shots and prevention medication (like heartworm and ticks), well-groomed, exercise and training, socialization, and general well-being (like brushing his teeth and consistently washing bowls). In general, I'm glad to have the routine of making sure that he's healthy. When he's older, I'd like to know that I did everything I could to prevent illness and to keep him healthy.

2006-09-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

My Little Bulimic

In the last couple of days, Cody has been hacking a bit (and not from choking, motion sickness, or anything in particular that I can tell).

When he was playing last week, he hurt one of his legs and it's still healing. Since another person took care of him over the weekend, I put antiseptic and some first aid on his wound Sunday night when I returned from my weekend trip. Since it was late and he was sleepy, I placed a bandaid thinking he would not lick or remove the bandaid (he was leaving it alone after I put it on him). However, in the morning, the bandaid was gone. It is possible that Cody took off the bandaid, walked to the next room and threw it away in the trash can, but it's more probably that he swallowed it. It may also be that the medicine he licked is not agreeing with him as well. Since it can be a million things that he may have ingested, it's hard to tell what's causing him to vomit. He is still drinking and eating normally, so I'm not too worried.

(We're still going to the vet tomorrow just to make sure since he's hacking more today than previous days)

2006-09-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

Kicked Out

Cody was being a bit cranky on the bed (growling) and as I don't tolerate that (and he wouldn't stop), I took him to the backyard. Of course, after he stopped being mad and started whining/feeling remorseful, I let him into the living room and locked him out of my bedroom. It was the first time that I kicked him out of the bedroom for the whole night (partially because he likes to scratch one section of the carpet in the living room). In the morning, he had forgotten the incident and was happy to see me when I woke him up.

2006-09-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

Teddy "Ears"

Cody loves his pig ears. But not to eat or chew (he actually finishes one about once a month). Instead, his pig ears act like a baby blanket or teddy bear. He isn't attached to one particular pig ear (thank goodness), but when we're at home, he must carry a pig ear to go eliminate in the backyard or to bed with him when he sleeps. He's not happy if you try to remove the pig ear, but he nestles it against the crook of his arm or leaves it close to his head. In our morning runs, he even attempts to carry the pig ear with him (I make him leave it at home because he will usually lose interest in carrying the pig ear as our run continues and that just means I'm left carrying the pig ear until the run is done).

I'm hoping he outgrows this, but it is a pretty cute "human" trait that he has.

2006-09-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

Cody's First Swim

Remember Cody's friend Tina and their jaunt into the muddy creek behind the offices? Well, it happened again today. This time, we followed Tina and her owner to a large pond/fountain at the end of the street. There, Cody followed Tina into the pond. He was a bit hesitant at first, but since he is a water dog, he got used to it immediately. Then, he jumped in to the "deep section" without realizing it. He tried to climb out, but he couldn't, so he doggy paddled across the pond (about 10 yards). My baby is all grown up! Swimming even without a life vest or inflatables!

I was starting to feel guilty that he hasn't had real experience with water and the summer is ending, but now we can enjoy the last few days of summer in that pond and look forward to a fun summer next year!

2006-09-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

Day care and Potty Training..At odds?

The problem with day care is that most day cares just allow the dogs to eliminate in the play room (or a corner of the play room). This means that the puppy may have gotten used to it being ok to eliminate indoors outside of day care.

I've noticed this problem after Cody spent 11 days at PlanetPooch and after his occasional visits to PetsMart. PetsMart's actually the worst because they have no outdoor area. They encourage dogs to eliminate indoors. In fact, their "outdoor area" is just an indoor section with the ceiling painted blue and a potted plant in the corner. I had an offsite yesterday evening so I left Cody at PetsMart. The employee there had confirmed that they just let the dogs eliminate wherever they want since they can't really monitor if each dog needs to use the restroom in the "outdoor area".

In the PlanetPooch Webcams, I've seen dogs go more freely indoors and outdoors, but due to the large number of dogs, punishing the dog our reminding the dog to eliminate outside is impossible to do.

I balance this problem with my belief that Cody should be socialized in this setting. I think by allowing Cody to go to daycare every week (as well as visit the dog park often), he can encounter other dog behaviors (both good and bad) and learn from them. He's not naturally a shy dog, but now he won't be. Of course, he may want to be a little shy if he has accidents in front of his friends, but he doesn't really seem phased by that.

2006-09-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

Mind or Matter?

I had always wondered if the Gentle Leader worked because the design makes it more difficult to pull physically, or if it restrains Cody enough (or reminds him of his muzzle) to decide to obey and heel. (See my previous blog post about his experience with these different collars)

During our walk, I tested this out. After he was pulling with his regular nylon collar, I decided to put on his Gentle Leader. This time, however, I did not switch the leash to the Gentle Leader, but left it on his regular collar. Amazingly, he immediately started obeying. He obeyed the same amount that he obeyed as the times when I had his leash attached to the Gentle Leader. This would indicate to me that it is 100% psychological. He did pull about 1% of the time, so he did know that the leash was attached from his neck rather than his muzzle area. I originally had thought that the actual design of the Gentle Leader to make it difficult to pull at least contributed to part of his obedience, but I guess for Cody, this is not the case. I imagine other dogs may not see the same results since Cody had experience with muzzles and becomes pretty submissive when I put it on him.

2006-09-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

Cody Heart Molly

Remember Christian's dog, Molly? Well, she's still playing hard to get. Like humans, instead of ignoring her and moving on, Cody is WILD about her. He freaks out and tries to play with her whenever she is in the office. Of course, Molly avoids him, which makes him even more eager to try to play with her. He apparently does not understand that snarling or growling means "Go away!".

The flip side is that when Molly and Cody go to the park, Molly lets down her guard and sometimes allows Cody to play with her. Sometimes.

Anyways, last week, Molly came to the office and Cody got excited (as expected). When Christian left with Molly to go to an office down the hall, Cody pushed against the door gate until it was slightly ajar, and wiggled his way through to escape (all done before I had a chance to stop him). I have never seen him act with such determination. He ran all around our floor, went down the stairs and ran all around the first floor, came back up, and kept on circling and going to every office and cubicle. After getting help from 3 others, we finally cornered him.

The moral of the story is (besides that playing hard to get works with canines as well) is that Cody would be a horrible hunter. Even though he is from a hunting breed, the fact that Cody can't trail Molly when she was only about 10 yards away means that he's really really really bad at tracking.