Language Barrier

Poor Kozmo.  I expect him to know at least 50 words in English. Last night I realized I don’t even know one word in Dog.  It was a typical Monday evening, trying to cram many things into a few hours. After a last minute trip to the grocery store, Kozmo’s walk was off the table as I started cooking dinner. Just as we were ready to eat Kozmo started to get antsy. He knows he doesn’t get his dinner until after his humans eat. I assumed he was upset we were having a late dinner.

Finally Sir Kozmo was served his dinner and the dishes were done. I sat down on the couch exhausted.  Koz started whining and prancing and pacing from door to door. He had been out. He had been fed. What on earth was he telling me? I looked outside. I imagined a skunk or the neighbors dogs barking or maybe even Kozmo could hear the robin’s nest on the front porch.

I kept pleading with Kozmo to please calm down and lay down. He refused. His whining got louder and he started to bark. He was clearly stressed. He’s never behaved like this before. As soon as he went out on his run he barked. Not understanding the language of Dog I started to imagine all sorts of things lurking in the dark.

After an hour or so of this I decided maybe if I went to bed Kozmo would settle down and relax.  Just as I crawled into bed his barking became more insistent.  I know I shouldn’t get up when he barks. I couldn’t listen to my poor puppy be so stressed. I got up and went downstairs. I tried to calm him down. I got him to lie down on his chair for about 10 minutes.

Not wanting to reward his manic behavior, but wanting sleep even more, I took a frozen Kong out of the freezer and lay down on the couch. Just as I was entering a sound sleep Kozmo finished his Kong and went right back to barking, whining, and pacing. Now he was jumping up at the windows.  Nothing I said could break his almost state of panic.

Finally I decided to face whatever was lurking in the dark and take him outside. I put Kozmo on his run and he stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly the light bulb went off.  The line for Kozmo’s run was caught in the door and he was unable to move off the stairs. He had no way to get to the grass to do his business. I got his line untangled and he ran right to his spot to take care of business.

I felt like the worst dog mom ever. My poor pup spent the past 4 hours telling me his line was stuck and he had to go potty. I didn’t get what he was saying. Within 2 minutes Kozmo did his thing, came back inside, and went right to bed. I didn’t hear another peep out of him even though I couldn’t fall asleep. How can I expect him to listen to all of my human words when I don’t even know what one bark means?

We will continue to work on this language barrier.

Lazy Sunday

Anything is possible

Last night Kozmo had his first class at a new dog training facility. Koz seems to love agility but struggles with recall and putting multiple obstacles together. I found an Agility Foundations class that seems to be what we need to make sure we really have solid basics so that we can move forward.

I was nervous. Upon walking into the room I had flashbacks of Kozmo's very first class ever. The classes are held in a large pole building and dogs whining and barking echoes through out the entire building. Koz was sitting right beside me but when he saw the big room with agility equipment and other dogs he was excited and just started whining. Soon most of the dogs were whining and barking. It was loud. Just like that first class over two years ago, but this time my dog knew his name and who I was.

We started class working attention, focus and targets. These are exercises Kozmo and I have been through before but it helps to reinforce this and remind me what we should be working on at home.

Even though Kozmo has worked with competition sized agility obstacles this class is taking him back to the beginning and making sure he's learning how to properly approach and go through the obstacles. What I really liked about this class is that we don't lure our dogs. We don't use treats to get our dogs to go across or through the obstacles. We let them get comfortable and then praise like crazy when they touch the obstacles or go through the tire. I can see how this will help the dogs since you can't use treats or point if you are in a competition.

Kozmo calmed down and had pretty good focus. We have a lot of work to do but it's clear he has the drive for agility and the ability to focus on me.

After a 90 min class both Kozmo and I were tired when we left the new school. When we got home Sparky was laying in the dog bed. I figured if I had a tired dog who was still pretty focused this was a good opportunity. I called Kozmo to his bed and gave him the rest of the treats that were in my pocket.

For two full minutes Kozmo and Sparky shared the bed proving anything is possible. If Kozmo and I keep working he can be a great agility dog and he can be friends with Sparky!

Kozmo wasn't sure what to do with Sparky in his bed

For 2 minutes we had world peace 

They were done after 2 minutes, but proved anything is possible

The love fest continues

Kozmo is doing so much better with Sparky. He still has impulsive moments where he tries to chase the cat. They aren't snuggling together alone but jealously seems to be the inspiration for their new found love. Both Kozmo and Sparky want to snuggle with the human and are jealous of the other one getting more attention. So this is what my Sunday evening looked like. I couldn't be happier!

Sparky and Kozmo both try to fit on my lap

All snuggled in

Dog Walks Rock

Through Kozmo's classes I have been lucky enough to make two really awesome friends. Sunny & Marcy's human and Kaylee & Roscoe's human. These two ladies have a special place in my heart and I love the time I get to spend with them. We are always outside, with our dogs, and I always go home with a big smile.

Sunny & Marcy's human is usually the organizer. She sends out the invites, scopes the trail and coordinates the best dog walks. The great thing about these walks is that anyone and everyone is welcome. This week Kaylee and Roscoe's human rounded up Troy and his human to join us. I was also able to get my great friends, the human's of sweet Eden to join the group. Some of us have know each other forever, some just met. It didn't matter, we all enjoyed ourselves. So the hike started through a snowy trail on a warm sunny morning.

We came upon another human with two beautiful Border Collies. We all stop to put our dogs on leash and the Border Collie's got their leashes on. Their human yells, "my dogs are friendly" several of us call back that our dogs are also friendly. After some quick hellos and introductions Gunner and Kate's human decided to join us. We started out with 7 dogs and 9 humans. We ended a lovely hike with 9 dogs, 10 humans, and some new friends.

Our canine and human pack encountered a couple hiking. They asked if we were a club. We all laughed. If we were to try to be a club it wouldn't be fun anymore. We'd have rules and structure and meetings. We are just a group of like minded humans who love to walk in the woods with our dogs. The more the merrier.

Everyone had a wonderful Saturday morning and all I can say is Dog Walks Rock!!! Kozmo and I are looking forward to our next dog walk.

We just added 2 Border Collies to the group

Look, Kozmo does come when I call him

Look closely, all 9 dogs are in this photo

Only Eden is missing from this photo

A fun game of chase broke out once the trail widened

Dogs having fun

Kozmo likes to explore

The moment I've been waiting for

From the day I adopted Kozmo I've been waiting for Kozmo and Sparky to be friends. Koz spent the first year he was with me trying to chase the cat to engage him in play. Sparky hid for months. As he got braver he occasionally had to put Kozmo in his place with his claws.

For several months, Sparky has been in the same room with Kozmo peacefully. There even have been some naps with a human in between the dog and cat. Of course, I never have my camera with me for these wonderful family naps.

Last night Kozmo was beside me on the couch and Sparky came to sit on my lap. What happened next made me so happy, they touched noses. I didn't have a camera with me, but my phone was close. It's a terrible blurry phone photo but I managed to get proof of Kozzy and Sparky becoming friends.

blurry....but I have proof peace between cats and dogs does exist!

Sparky is a funny cat. He has a quirky personality. He makes me laugh every day. About an hour before we were all together on the couch I found Sparky in the living room alone. This photo cracked me up. Silly cat.

Silly Sparky

Inspired by the winer olympics

Kozmo and I both love snow. After sitting on the couch watching the winter olympics I was inspired to break out my snow shoes and go on an adventure. I went to explore a new trail on the back side of a ski resort. I figured if the mountain is good enough for a ski resort then the state park on the back side has to have good snow and trails for winter hikes.

The conditions were perfect and Kozmo got the gold medal!

Winter get away

Kozmo was lucky enough to go on a adventure this weekend. Originally he was going to go to the kennel while the humans rented an 1800's farmhouse in the woods with friends. Plans changed to the point where there were only going to be four humans in this big old house and the house is dog friendly. So Kozmo got to be part of the adventure.

Kozzy's Aunt Tammy loves fire. Despite the fact it was bitter cold, January in Pennsylvania, and there was a perfectly good fireplace inside, we built a huge fire outside. Kozmo was too nervous around the fire to sit close enough to stay warm. Aunt Tammy backed her car up close to the fire and let Kozzy lay down on Belle's bed with a blanked. Poor Kozzy was still cold. He was finally happy when he was covered up with Aunt Tammy's winter coat too.

Poor cold Kozzy

On our second day at the farmhouse Kozmo seemed much happier enjoying the benefits of the indoor fireplace and his human who was curled up with a book.

Kozmo enjoys the indoor fireplace

Watching for squirrels through the window

Kozmo loves squirrels. He figured out how to act like he really need to go to the bathroom so I would let him out. Then he would run to the area where the owners feed the animals dried corn. He would bark at squirrels and think he was going to catch one until he got cold and then come back and sit next to the fire place. Here he is trying to act like a good boy.

Acting like he's not chasing squirrels

We had an awesome weekend, and are investing in a winter coat for poor Kozzy and his lack of warm fur.

Getting closer

The progress continues getting Kozmo and Sparky closer together. I moved Kozmo's bed to vacuum. I also threw Sparky's bed on top along with some dog toys to make it easier to vacuum out the corner where the dog bed usually lives. 

A regular occurrence happened, I walked into another room and got distracted. I didn't move the beds and toys back right away. Hours later I walked into the living room and found these two almost sharing  a bed.

We are getting so much closer to the dog and cat snuggle I envision!

Kozmo and Sparky sharing a bed