Kody
Wow, has it really been a year since this beautiful, wonderful, precious soul entered my life? It’s hard to believe. The time seems to have just floated by. When Kody first came home, he was a little shy about meeting new people and dogs, but once he had a ‘proper’ greeting, he opened right up and became ‘best friends’. Now, everyone is his ‘best friend’ immediately. When we go to the park, he greets every new dog with enthusiasm and immediately invites them to play. He loves to run. Maggie (his 12 year old ‘big sister’) and I usually just end up sitting back and watching him go. I think he’d run for hours if I let him. Unfortunately, his hip dysplasia is a limiting factor for him.
He had his first FHO surgery in September and then underwent extensive physical therapy. He was not the most cooperative of patients, however. He found it easier to just not use his surgery leg, so he didn’t. That makes it a little difficult to build the muscles and minimize the formation of scar tissue. Dr. Drum (his physical therapist) has been wonderful, though she does say that he (and sister Chance) have been the 2 hardest post FHO patients she has had. Once we got past all of those hurdles, we reduced his therapy to just once a month rechecks to monitor his buildup of the muscle mass he lost in the surgery leg, and to help insure his freedom of movement. He is currently back to going once a week to help build those muscles up more and he is doing great. He thinks it’s social hour and has to stop and say hello to everyone.
Kody has completed his Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced education classes. He is currently re-taking the Advance class with the goal of completing the CGC exam. At this time he’s got 50-75% of the test nailed. He still needs lots of work with how he greets others…he just doesn’t quite understand why he can’t just walk right up to whoever he wants and say hello. He gets better every day and I couldn’t be more proud of him.
When Kody first came home and accompanied Maggie & I to the barn, he was convinced that the horses were giant ‘puppy eating monsters’. He wouldn’t step foot into the barn if the horses were in there, even if it was raining (and he doesn’t like to be in the rain). After his surgery and subsequent physical therapy he has resumed going to the barn and is no longer afraid of the horses, though he is cautious around them. He has doggy friends at the barn who will run with him and lots of room to do so. He thinks it’s fantastic. After a couple of hours out there, he is down for the rest of the day.
We have all had adjustments to make in the last year, but I they have all worked out for the positive. Maggie still gives me the ‘When is he leaving?’ look, but I know she secretly loves him (I catch them snuggling them all the time). He gets along great with the cats, loves to go with mom (anywhere) and really loves to go visit ‘grandma’ in Atlanta. I am grateful to everyone at the Susquehanna SPCA, VCLI and everyone else involved in rescuing all of these dogs and allowing Kody to come into my life. He is a great boy and well loved.
Kim Clawson