Kozmo loves to swim

I guess being a good citizen kind of ebbs and flows for Kozmo. He is having more good days than bad, but he proved he can still keep me humble.

Kozmo had a great weekend. We had a huge break through with swimming and couldn't keep him out of the water. Something just clicked and he didn't need to be coaxed. He was ready to swim and swim and swim. You can see in the photo below how fast he was swimming and didn't even have on his doggy life jacket. I tried to tell him this was a no wake area!

At one point Kozmo took one of his water toys onto shore and became distracted with a gross dead fish. Unlike his previous episodes of running away or not coming to me until he devoured something gross he was a pretty good boy. Of course he wouldn't "leave it" or "come" despite the stern tone of voice I was using. I went to get his leash. This made the other human crazy, he thought I should have tried to capture Kozmo while I was close. That dead fish was gross and I was not about to start a game of chase. So I get the leash and start walking away from Kozmo up the trail. Within seconds Kozmo came running up to me to see where I was going. I put his leash on and we went back to the water where he had two humans to play fetch and block him for going back to his stink fish for a solid hour. Once again, Kozmo proved that a tired dog is a good dog. He slept the whole way home and was pretty tired on Monday too.

Monday morning I discovered the secret to being the human in charge of my household...a Wiggly Giggly ball. It's a ball, about the size of a soccer ball and when you move the ball it makes noises. Someone gave us this ball and I had it in the basement saving it for Kozmo. He still likes to destroy squeaky toys so I was saving this for when he was a little older. Despite being asked to wait at the top of the stairs Kozmo followed me to the basement and discovered the ball. I carry the ball upstairs, give it a toss across the kitchen floor and for a few seconds Kozmo was happily playing. If I hadn't seen the next chain of events with my own two eyes I would have never believed it. Kozmo is happily playing and out of no where Sparky runs up and starts attacking Kozmo. Sparky chases Kozmo into the dining room and Sparky is hissing and growling. I pick Sparky up and he seems to be fine. Kozmo was also fine, but he had earned a new healthy respect for Sparky. As I was telling the other human what happened he was petting Kozmo and discovered one of Sparky's claws in his fur, we then found another stuck in his cheek. Doggy and Kitty are both fine and the humans think this Wiggly Giggly ball is pretty cool. Monday evening the other human rolled the ball and Kozmo tried to hide. He associates his new toy with the cat attacking him. This time Sparky came and attacked the ball. I never saw him attack something so ferociously.  We left the ball on the floor and Sparky and Kozmo laid on the floor napping, the closest they have ever been before. The dog and cat would rather sleep together than cross the path of the Wiggle Giggle!! The Wiggle Giggle ball is at my feet as I type. It works better than a gate to keep Kozmo away from something. We feel bad Kozmo had the wrath of Sparky's claws but are really happy the two of them have turned a corner and respect and tolerate each other more.

So Kozmo turned the corner on two big issues, the cat and swimming. In my head we were having a great week. Tuesday night I was so proud taking my good citizen to school. His classmates couldn't wait to find out if he passed the good citizen test. I proudly told the class that Koz is an official good citizen. We started class with some polite walking on a leash. Suddenly Kozmo started making that sound where you know he is going to throw up. I tried to run as fast as I could to the door. Poor Kozmo was trying to keep up with me, but couldn't wait. So rather than his mess being contained to one pile...it was a pile that spanned about 10 feet. I cleaned up the mess and rejoined the class. Kozmo was wound up, he wanted to tug at his leash and wouldn't pay attention. Three jumps were set up and we were to send our dog over 3 jumps. Kozmo did this once perfectly. Everyone clapped. Then he wouldn't sit to do it a second time. He started biting my feet. The trainer offered to hold him while I walked away and gave the commands.......She let go, I said over, Kozmo jumped over one jump and ran to the corner and pooped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried to catch him to get him outside as soon as possible and he ran to the other side of the room, pooped again, and then let me take him outside. Part of me felt bad. Kozmo was trying to tell me something. I didn't understand his bad behavior was his way of saying, "mom I gotta poop". We ended class and I know that we all have a lot of work and this good citizen thing certainly doesn't mean Kozmo will always be a good dog. He's still a puppy.