Friday, May 23, 2008
May 23rd - King of the mountain
This pic really shows how BIG he is getting!! over 60 pounds and counting at last weigh-in..
Monday, May 19, 2008
May 19th - Kodo redecorates
We have started leaving Kodo out of his crate in his 'playpen' both overnight and between the time I get up and the time Brian gets up. Well, one morning he decided that the playpen wasn't laid out correctly, so he took it upon himself to rearrange things. The blue rug started off in the corner of the room with his water bowl on it, and the green blanket was his bed from inside the crate. He not only pulled them both to the center of the room, but he also managed to get the water bowl to tilt up on top of the blanket. Then, tired out with all his exertions, he fell asleep. And that is how Brian found him when he came down to get ready for work....
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
May 9th - LONG hike
Today I decided to take Kodo to the Rocky River Reservation metropark area for his 'smell the flowers' walk (a couple times a week I try to take him someplace new and relax the leash rules so he can stop and smell and investigate as much as he wants. He still can't tug on the leash or eat things off the ground, but otherwise anything goes.. :) ). This park has lots of paved trails, lots of unpaved trails, meadows to romp in, dandelion fluff to eat (his new favorite!), and Canadian geese to try to make friends with. I figured we would meander around for 45 minutes or so, or until he got tired.
Once we got there, he made a beeline for the dandelion fluffs and snowplowed through them with his nose. There seems to be something about knee-high (puppy-knees that is) grass that makes him want to race around in circles with his ears pinned back then flop on his belly, rip up big mouthfuls of grass and give me the 'devil-eyes'.. :)
Once he got THAT out of his system we wandered down by the water and he checked that out. Fast moving river waters seem to make him a little wary, so he didn't try to stick his big old paws in there this time.
We kept wandering on the trail for about an hour, and he was still perky and ready to go, so we went by the Rocky River Nature Center building. I was surprised to find they allowed dogs inside- the staff invited me in and seemed really excited to meet Kodo. So we went inside, and Kodo got another one of his favorite things- bunches of people crowding around to pet him and tell him how beautiful he is! :) He was so involved in being adored that he didn't even notice the giant red tail hawk sitting on top of the bird feeder JUST outside one of the observing windows of the center. I got to watch that though, and I was really disappointed that I hadn't brought my camera!
We did a couple more trail wanderings, took him back to the car for some water, then another 15 minutes on the paved trails. I figured that was enough and I didn't want to overdo it, so I took him back to the car and popped him in the back. As soon as I moved out of the way he hopped right back out again! Fortunately I was still holding the other end of the leash! Despite the enthusiasm though, as soon as he got home he did his bear-rug imitation right in the middle of the kitchen tile and fell asleep...
Once we got there, he made a beeline for the dandelion fluffs and snowplowed through them with his nose. There seems to be something about knee-high (puppy-knees that is) grass that makes him want to race around in circles with his ears pinned back then flop on his belly, rip up big mouthfuls of grass and give me the 'devil-eyes'.. :)
Once he got THAT out of his system we wandered down by the water and he checked that out. Fast moving river waters seem to make him a little wary, so he didn't try to stick his big old paws in there this time.
We kept wandering on the trail for about an hour, and he was still perky and ready to go, so we went by the Rocky River Nature Center building. I was surprised to find they allowed dogs inside- the staff invited me in and seemed really excited to meet Kodo. So we went inside, and Kodo got another one of his favorite things- bunches of people crowding around to pet him and tell him how beautiful he is! :) He was so involved in being adored that he didn't even notice the giant red tail hawk sitting on top of the bird feeder JUST outside one of the observing windows of the center. I got to watch that though, and I was really disappointed that I hadn't brought my camera!
We did a couple more trail wanderings, took him back to the car for some water, then another 15 minutes on the paved trails. I figured that was enough and I didn't want to overdo it, so I took him back to the car and popped him in the back. As soon as I moved out of the way he hopped right back out again! Fortunately I was still holding the other end of the leash! Despite the enthusiasm though, as soon as he got home he did his bear-rug imitation right in the middle of the kitchen tile and fell asleep...
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
May 6th - A Little Light Romping
We finally got the fence completely installed. The final piece was putting in the gates. Now that it's finished, Kodo has the entire area to run wild and free in the backyard!
Of course, what's the first thing he did when I gave him completely reign of the grounds? Well, he pretty much sat down and started eating the grass down to the roots. When he finished, he walked about 3 steps to the right and started the process all over again.
So, today we decided to take advantage of the yard and romp the pup a little bit. Kodo has been known to get distracted by a few things outside (neighborhood dogs, people, birds, geese, cars, planes, plants, wind, invisible things, etc.) This time with a little trickery (aka treats) we were able to get his attention enough to romp and play a bit. We truly got the full use of the fenced in yard today.
Of course, what's the first thing he did when I gave him completely reign of the grounds? Well, he pretty much sat down and started eating the grass down to the roots. When he finished, he walked about 3 steps to the right and started the process all over again.
So, today we decided to take advantage of the yard and romp the pup a little bit. Kodo has been known to get distracted by a few things outside (neighborhood dogs, people, birds, geese, cars, planes, plants, wind, invisible things, etc.) This time with a little trickery (aka treats) we were able to get his attention enough to romp and play a bit. We truly got the full use of the fenced in yard today.
A Little Light Romping
I'm not sure that I wrote any posts on all the tricks that Kodo has learned in the last few weeks. Here's a quick series of tricks showing how smart and attentive he was. He also knows the non-verbal commands, but for now, here's just a quick example:
A Quick Series of Tricks
Sunday, May 4, 2008
May 3rd - Meeting the cousins
Saturday night we took Kodo over to Auntie Teresa and Uncle Jamie's house so he could meet his cousins Chief and Lily. All three of the dogs are starting a puppy-training class together next week, so we wanted to do introductions before then if possible..
Kodo was a little intimidated by the bouncing, racing, and barking at first (his cousins are Catahoula mixes and have a LOT more speed and energy than he does!), but by the end of the night they were all hanging out and sharing toys comfortably.
It was funny how much lighter Chief and Lily looked than I remembered them being.. and how small their heads seemed. I have really gotten used to the Berner-look, so the other dogs tend to look a little 'off' to me.. :)
The cousins all sitting for treats!
Kodo was a little intimidated by the bouncing, racing, and barking at first (his cousins are Catahoula mixes and have a LOT more speed and energy than he does!), but by the end of the night they were all hanging out and sharing toys comfortably.
It was funny how much lighter Chief and Lily looked than I remembered them being.. and how small their heads seemed. I have really gotten used to the Berner-look, so the other dogs tend to look a little 'off' to me.. :)
The cousins all sitting for treats!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
May 1st - Birthday!
Kodo is 5 months old today!! And we weighed him, and he is 54.5 pounds- providing the scale doesn't have a top-out weight, in which case he may weigh more. He is definitely getting too heavy to pick up and hold for any length of time! He celebrated his birthday by having a REALLY good walk with me today- he behaved really well even with distractions, and we went farther than we usually did. Then he had a little romp with Brian when we got home.
We took some birthday pictures, and noticed the black on his nose seems to have almost taken over the whole nose. I am betting by 6 months he will have a solid black nose! I will kinda miss the piebald color tho- so cute and it definitely makes him stand out.. :)
We took some birthday pictures, and noticed the black on his nose seems to have almost taken over the whole nose. I am betting by 6 months he will have a solid black nose! I will kinda miss the piebald color tho- so cute and it definitely makes him stand out.. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)