Christmas Haul #1

Oh, Bodie was lucky at Christmas this year!  He got several toys from his auntie.  Since they were gifts with the packaging removed (makes it so much easier for puppies when they open their gifts), I don't know brands.  But here is his progress on random rope toy #1.

Toy fresh out of the box.

After ten minutes of playing.

Random rope toy #1 on day four.

Bodie is Unique

I have had quite a few dogs in my life.  My most recent was another German Shepherd.  Previously, I have had Pembroke Welsh Corgis, Shetland sheepdogs, and Belgian Shepherds but none like Bodie.  Most of my dogs started to calm down by the age of two.  By that, I mean that they could relax around the house.  With Bodie, when he is not in his pen you need to keep your eye on him constantly.  He will cruise the countertops looking for things to grab, mainly paper items but also shoes and clothing.  He takes a lot of energy.

 

I guess he keeps me young.

Terror of the Trails

The terror of the trails is at it again!  Now that our spring weather has finally arrived, the activity on the trails behind our house is picking up.  Which means that Bodie’s backyard patrols are going into full gear.  I don’t know what it is but certain people get him all riled up!  Usually, he is content running his racetrack around the back third of the property with just an occasional bark or two but then something winds him up and he barks furiously at the fence.  I haven't figured out what gets it started, if it is the sound of a person's voice or the kind of bicycle the person is riding, but the puppy needs to make his presence known.  He would take a wide loop around the yard, get a running start, and uses a berm about five feet from the fence as a launching pad.  I was shocked at how high he was getting!   He was managing to get where he could plant his front paws on the upper cross support of a six foot fence.  Bodie could easily have managed to go completely over if he wanted to but he was content to hang there and bark at the offending parties.  Of course, I couldn't have that so we had to block off that part of the yard.

German Shepherd Pointer?

I don't know if I have shared this here since this is the Bodie Blog but Willie was a wonderful dog.  He was calm and gentle and sweet.  My vet said that Willie changed her mind about German Shepherds; she joked that he was really a Golden Retriever in a German Shepherd coat.  So many other people said the same thing, that Willie was not really a German Shepherd.

 

It seems like the same thing is happening with Bodie.  Oh, no, he is not calm and gentle but he is fascinated by birds.  We have a large backyard with lots of trees and bushes.  He runs around chasing birds.  Lately, he has actually started pointing!  He stands there, staring at the bird with one front leg raised.  Just like the pictures you have seen of pointers!  

Maturing

Bodie’s second birthday is coming up in a few months.  He won't be a puppy for much longer!  It occurred to me yesterday how much Bodie has matured in the past few months.

 

I’ve mentioned before how it has been difficult to get the puppy to eat his dinner.  We tried everything we could think of to get him to eat.  We changed his dog food, played with toppings, and tried canned food.  In addition, we changed the size and number of his meals, the time he was fed as well as the location of where he ate.

 

We finally figured out what works for him: one meal in the evenings of a good quality dry dog food with a supplement for itchy skin served in his puppy pen.  Now, at dinnertime we ask Bodie if he wants his dinner and he starts to drool, then he runs back and forth between the kitchen and his pen, and, best of all, he finishes his entire meal!

Toy Redo - Kong Wobbler

As Bodie is getting older he is becoming more food motivated.  So we thought we would pull out his old toy/treat dispenser.  We had purchased a Kong Wobbler when Bodie was a young puppy.  But it didn't keep his attention for long - he just wasn't interested in dog treats.  So we put the Wobbler away in his old puppy crate (which we use it as his toy box).  He has quite a few toys but only a couple are out at a time.  We pulled out the Wobbler a week ago and put some training treats in it.  He will play with it for a loooong time - knocking it, pawing at it, biting it.  It is funny to watch, especially when he tries to bite it - it is big!  I am glad we just put it away and didn't get rid of it.

 

Happy New Year!!!

Bodie has barked in the new year - in accompaniment to all the fireworks set off in our area!  I think we had more fireworks tonight than we had on the 4th of July.  We wish everyone a prosperous new year.

Puppy Names

I was reading an article about the most popular puppie names for 2012 (from a study of 1.26 million vet records), and I found it interesting that traditional names such as Fido and Rover are on the way out while baby names are taking over the charts.  It seems that the largest contributer to the popularity of a name is pop culture. For example, Bella has been the number one female puppy name since 2006 after the first Twilight book (featuring a heroine named Bella) came out in 2005. The 10 most popular names are listed below:
 

Female 

1. Bella 
2. Daisy 
3. Lucy 
4. Molly 
5. Lola 
6. Sophie 
7. Sadie 
8. Chloe 
9. Coco 
10. Maggie 

Male

1. Max
2. Buddy
3. Charlie
4. Rocky
5. Cooper
6. Bear
7. Bentley
8. Duke
9. Jack
10. Toby

When I was a child, our dogs had pet names - Cuddles and Mingo (a variation from Bingo).  But as an adult, I have always given my pets people names: Heather, Tammy, Willie, Georgie, and Ivy.  I guess that Fiesta was the exception to that.  And I don't know where Bodie fits in.  I guess I just wanted a name that was unusual but not weird, strong but not aggressive.

Bodie TV

Can dogs watch TV?  I know what the "experts" say: dogs don't have the visual acuity that people do... dogs don't see objects on the TV screen, just the movement... dogs respond more to the sound than the image... dogs don't have depth perception... and so on and so on.  Well, that may all be true but I also know what my german shepherd does.  Bodie sits on the couch and watches TV. 

 

 

He might not have an extremely looong attention span but he will sit there for at least 5-15 minutes and stare at the TV screen.  Bodie responds to certain people more so than others, even if they aren't moving or if they aren't speaking.  For example, Leonard on Big Bang Theory.  When Leonard appears on screen, Bodie will usually focus and bark. Then last night we had the show Breaking Amish on for the first time, and Rebecca was on screen.  He startled us by growling, ran up to the TV, focused on the part of the screen where she was and he started barking at her.  After watching the show, I would say Bodie was a pretty good TV critic.

Crazy Puppy! The Busy Bone Debacle

I try not to compare Bodie to my sweet Willie but sometimes it is really very difficult.  I could buy Willie a Busy Bone and he would be happily occupied for about an hour just chewing away.  It left a bit of a mess on the carpet, but that could be easily cleaned up.  So, I thought that a Busy Bone would be a great thing for Bodie also. 

 

We gave Bodie one this weekend.  The puppy has been occupied, but he is not happy.  He spends hours looking for some place to hide the Busy Bone, then he will leave it alone for a little while, then he grabs the chewie again and try to find another place to stash it.  He only relaxed after we finally let him take it outside. Bodie hid the Busy Bone somewhere in our large backyard.  I never thought that buying the dog a chewie would be so cruel!!!

Sharing Jolly Ball Update

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Bodie sharing his favorite toy with a neighborhood dog, Jack.  Well, I have a sad update to the story.  Just a couple of days after we gifted Jack with his very own Jolly Ball, Jack's owner passes away.  I am a bit surprised at how hard this has hit me.

 

Jack's owner is someone I have know for quite a while.  He was a good guy, but troubled.  He spent years trying to rid himself of his addiction to drugs and alcohol.  After many attempts, he finally broke free and had been clean and sober for more than a year.  He reconnected with his son and was planning a visit to see him for the first time in years.

 

When we gave him the Romp-N-Roll for Jack, he actually cried.  He said it was the first gift he had received in years.  He hugged the toy and told us how much it meant to him.  Two days later, the day before he was flying to California to reconnect with his son, he passed away from a heart attack.  It breaks my heart.  The only positive I can take away is we had an opportunity to bring a smile to his face.

Dog Days of Summer

Bodie is an energetic, lively dog.  The way he runs around backyard is a sight to behold.  If he is barking at someone out front and he hears activity on the trails, he can run faster than any previous dog I have owned!  He has worn a racetrack around the backyard.  When Bodie is having fun, it can almost be impossible to bring him into the house.  But it has been really hot here in the Pacific Northwest lately, and it is much easier to bring to get his attention.  Just ask if he wants fresh water and he runs for the back door!

German Shepherd Sharing a Jolly Ball?

Bodie has a friend in the neighborhood who lives just a couple of doors down.  Jack is  another big dog that is misunderstood by most people. He is a mixed breed with a lot of Rottweiler.  A noisy and rambunctious puppy that people tend to assume is aggressive, but he is a very sweet boy.  Recently, Jack had to go to the vet for some emergency surgery.  Poor puppy!  He had to have some rocks removed from his digestive system.  Oh, the things dogs decide to eat!  So, Bodie decided to share his favorite toy, his Jolly Ball Romp-n-Roll.  Except Bodie cannot quite let go so Jack is getting his very own! :D

Mine, mine mine!

Beautiful Bodie Showing off his Jolly Ball Collection

I have been on the fringes of the dog show world enough to know that I am not suited for it!  I appreciate  a well-bred dog, but I get highly offended if anyone criticizes my baby.  But here is Bodie pretending to be a show dog, stacking naturally. :)  With some of his Jolly Balls!

Puppy Progress

Bodie is soooo much better in the backyard!  We think the longline did its job, enough that we have not been using it this week.  He comes in when we want him to, and the barking has really calmed down.  He still barks, of course, especially with noisy trail users, but it is not the frantic barking from earlier in the summer.

I just wonder how he will react when we have a handyman come to the house today?  I will be at work, so my sweetie will have to handle it.  I hope it goes smoothly.

The Barking Bodie



It has been difficult to keep Bodie quiet in the backyard lately.  I was wondering why this wasn't a problem last summer, and then I realized that we haven't had the puppy for a year yet!  We got him in the middle of July last summer and Bodie didn't discover barking until he was around 6 months old.

I don't think many people mind a little barking - that is expected with a dog.  But when the barking becomes incessant, it certainly gets annoying.  And I figure that if the barking annoys me, it annoys the neighbors.  Now don't get me wrong.  The puppy doesn't automatically bark as soon as he is put out in the backyard; Bodie can be outside for hours with nary a peep.  But he can get all wound up and start nuisance barking.  What really gets him going is people coming up to the fence and neighbors yelling or operating power tools.  So, as soon as Bodie starts barking nonstop, we bring him in the house

Interestingly, Bodie doesn't bark too much at the hikers and cyclists on the trails behind the house.  He can still get excited with people on the trail but he mainly runs back and forth along the back fence with very little barking.  But there are all sorts of things that can get Bodie riled up.  Kids in the neighborhood scream quite a bit as they play and that can get the puppy barking.  Noisy kids don't bother me much and it is easy to get him to quiet down.  But what gets me concerned is that sometimes kids will come up to the fence and yell at Bodie or poke sticks at him through the fence.  Now that really gets him going!  And I don't think it is very smart to tease a German Shepherd.

On one side, we have next door neighbors that seems to have a lot of activity going on in their yard lately.  The worst of it comes from some guy that doesn't even live there!  I think he is borrowing the neighbors' equipment to run a car detailing business.  He operates a shop vac, power washer and the like several days a week and into the late evening.  Last night he was there until after 11:00pm!  Sometimes he brings his dog with him.  It is an unrestrained pitbull that will run up to the fence and he and Bodie will both raise a ruckus.  It is strange that this dog owner starts yelling at Bodie as soon as our puppy starts to bark.  You would think that an adult would realize that some stranger yelling at a dog to shut up won't get that dog to quit barking.

Then the other neighbor is a single woman who was glad when Bodie barked!  She is security conscious and thought if Bodie barked at anything in her yard, it was good.  She has even stood on her back porch and encouraged the puppy to bark!  But with the nice weather she has been spending more time outside and doesn't appreciate the barking as much.  So, in order to calm Bodie down, she stands at the fence and reads to him!  So far, reading to him doesn't work.  At least that is better than yelling at him.

Well... I don't think Bodie will be spending much time outside this summer.  We don't want him to be the neighborhood nuisance.

Better Bodie

I will keep this short and sweet.  Bodie is much better, even though the injury didn't really slow the puppy down at all.  The vet completely removed his claw and it is already growing back! 

Broken Bodie

Poor, poor puppy! Bodie is at the vet today. Sometime yesterday he ripped one of his back claws loose from the bone. We never noticed it until the evening when he was leaving bloody marks all over the living room carpet. It was extremely difficult to get him to quit playing so we could try and see what was bleeding. I wanted to rush him off to the emergency vet, but that was an emotional reaction. We called the vet first thing this morning and he has been there all day. We will be picking him up in about an hour. Funny, I keep looking around for him.

Bodie and The Thunderstorm

Or should I say thundershower?  Here in the Pacific Northwest, we don't get the kind of thunderstorms others get.  Ours are short, mild and very infrequent - thundershowers instead of thunderstorms.  So, even though Bodie just turned one year old, he had never experienced one before yesterday afternoon.  He was in the backyard when the wind picked up.  The trees were whipped around, rain started to pelt down, and there was one clap thunder and then a second.  We went to the backdoor to bring him in but he was running and jumping and pouncing and biting at the air; there is no better way to describe it other than frolicking! 

The Bodie Blog

I can't believe that it has been so long since I did a Bodie Blog.  Almost every day I think "I need to make a Bodie Blog" and every time I do, I think of a reason not to.  I am avoiding it because I don't want to sound negative.  But it is time to do an update!



Bodie is a challenge, a real challenge.  He is nothing like Willie.  And anything that I wrote would sound like a critisism.  I don't want that.  Bodie is stubborn, and challenging, and oh so intelligent!  He destroys everything - the car, the backyard, and anything else he can get his teeth on.  But he is a good boy, and I am glad that we have him.