August 31 - Avon Lake dog park

We had people coming over in the evening, and we wanted to wear Kodo out a bit before they came over to minimize the jumping and nose-goosing that always accompany visitors. So we decided to try taking him up to the Avon Lake dog park. It is the closest one I know of- only about a 20 minute drive.

It was a really nice layout- the fenced-in area wasn't huge, but it was well kept-up, with lots of trees for shade, nice benches for the people, and a water fountain with a dog-height bowl. When we got there there were maybe 10 dogs in the enclosure already. Several of them gathered at the 'airlock' to greet Kodo as we came in. I was expecting him to be intimidated because of his last experience, but he was fine. Happy tail, head up, lots of greetings sniffs, then he was off wandering around without a care in the world.

He made two particular friends while he was there. One was a smaller sheltie or spaniel-type mix with a lot of energy who kept tearing around in circles while Kodo tried to chase (her?). There was also an Ibizan Hound there (that is exciting by itself- I don't think I had seen one outside of a dog show before?). She was very friendly to us, and kept trying to entice Kodo to romp with her. It was funny to watch- he would start running after her, then she would pour on the speed (sight-hound build, enough said!) and leave him far behind. She would take these tight turns and he would have to struggle to catch up. But when he got close enough to her, he would shoulder-charge her like a tank. Not sure if it was intentional or just puppy clumsies. I was a little worried that he would knock her down, but he didn't and they both seemed to be having a ton of fun..

Most of the other dogs ended up leaving, so we decided to call it a day after an hour or so. He didn't want to leave, but all the running around had tired him out pretty well so he went into bear-rug mode as soon as we got him home. Not enough to calm him down for the evening, as we found out later, but still good exercise and social time.. :)

Old tricks

Ok, so it's been a while since I've posted something, so I thought I might start by posting a video of Kodo's catching skills. We usually run through a series of tricks when giving him dinner. Berner's aren't really known for their grace and dexterity (as seen in the water video...lol)...but he does know how to catch when food's involved.

Rapid Catches

Distance Catch

August 31 - Bernerfur!!!

To lead into this properly, I need to add that I had groomed him twice last weekend and gotten similar amounts out of him each time. This was a 20 minute grooming session- we were expecting company so I wanted to get him cleaned up so he didn't shed quite so much on the newly vacuumed floor.

Obviously, Berners are not the dog for meticulous housekeepers. Fortunately for us... we don't have that problem!! :D And of course the love that he gives more than makes up for the dust-elephants in the corners...

August 29 - Almost 9 month's weigh-in

Vet trip today- needed to check on his nose to make sure the peeling wasn't a problem. It wasn't, fortunately. We are such paranoid first-time puppy parents.. :)

We weighed him in, and it looks like he is only about 80 pounds- not too much of an increase from last month. He is definitely taller though- a little over 27 inches at the shoulder.

August 24th - Meeting Auntie Nita

Kodo got to meet Anita when she stopped to visit on her way through town. They seemed to get along really well- though Kodo still shows an unfortunate tendency to goose people with his nose when their backs are turned to him.. :)

August 23 - First dog park visit!

The local BMD club was planning an informal outing to a dog park and beach about an hour drive away (Bow Wow beach in Stow), so I decided to take Kodo up there to hang out with other Berners. As soon as we got in, Kodo got a little freaked out when another dog there growled at him, so he spent the first 10 minutes sitting against a building wall with his tail tucked under him, refusing to make eye contact with any of the dogs trotting by him. It turned out a Great Dane group had picked today to meet up there too, so there were a LOT of big dogs there..

After about 20 minutes he started moving away from the wall on his own and wandering along the back fence smelling things. At this point, he met a girl mastiff puppy (much smaller than him) who kept following him and sitting next to him which seemed to help his confidence a bit. He started going up to people and asking for attention.

He started playing chase a little with a pair of 4 or 5 month old Berner pups that came up. They were SOOO cute! I miss that fuzzy puppy coat!!
As the time went by, he started getting a little more outgoing. There were a couple times where I saw him racing from one side of the beach to the other play-chasing another dog or being chased. And he did some of his happy bunny hopping when he was playing too.. :) Toward the end of our time there, he met a beautiful female Weimeraner named Cashmere who he really got along well with- they spent a bunch of time romping back and forth together.

I tried to coax him into the water twice to help him cool off, but he would have none of it. Not even up to his ankles. Guess he won't be a water dog at all...

August 16th - Canine Fun Days

We took Kodo out to Chagrin for the Canine Fun Days today. It was good weather- relatively cool for August, so we figured it would be perfect.

As soon as we got into the grounds, we ran into two other Berners and spent some time chatting. One of the other dogs was a 15-month boy, and he was smaller than Kodo! It was funny how they seem to recognize other Berners.. :)

After wandering around the polo field, we decided to let Kodo give the swimming pool a try, so we bought our tickets and got in line. After waiting for about 10 minutes, we finally got up to the ramp. Kodo wasn't really sure about the whole water thing, and he ended up walking on his back feet on the bottom of the pool and flopping his front paws around and splashing like crazy. I actually managed to get video of him during this:


Then we wandered around some more, and finally decided to try Kodo on lure coursing. Didn't have much expectations of how well he would do- Berners aren't really the sight-hound type.. :) However, once we got his attention on the lure, he ran about 3/4 of the way round the field before the lure got a little too far ahead and he lost interest. We were so excited and proud!! and once he got sick of it, we did a 'Come' command from the opposite end of the field and he came to us!!! Unfortunately we got no video of this because we both needed to be out there to lure him into starting to run.. All in all, a very busy day! I think Kodo had a ton of fun!

August 9th - Rainy festival

We decided to take Kodo up to the North Ridgeville Corn Fest this evening. We got up there and parked and started up the row of food tents. Kodo was having fun smelling food and people smells and seeing a couple other dogs here and there. Halfway down, it started to rain. Then POUR!! We tried to take shelter under a tree, but it didn't help much. So Brian grabbed some food from the stands and we hurried back to the car sopping wet from head to toe. We managed to get back to the car safely and got hm ok. And considering how little actual excercise he got, Kodo was sure sleepy when we got him home... :)

Wet seal pose- that does NOT look comfortable!

August 3rd - Birthday weigh-in

8 months old and 78 pounds!!!

August 2nd - Surveying his domain