Kodiak Keeps Me Sane

“The vital function that pets fulfill in this world hasn’t been fully recognized. They keep millions of people sane” – Eckhart Tolle in Guardian of Being.

This is a quote provided as inspiration to pet owners willing to accept a writing challenge. The This good-That bad (TGTB) creative writing contest asks entrants to complete a sentiment in 125 characters or less by explaining how their pets keep them sane.

I had every intention of posting an entry, in fact, I started writing something several times, but I know myself, I was unable to write what I wanted to say in such a limited frame. So here I am.

I have been blessed by the pets I've had throughout the years, whether they were cats or dogs, made no difference.

For the past two years, Kodiak has been the savior of my sanity. When I lost Echo, a huge void was left in my heart, a piece of me died with her, depression came to visit and stayed.

I hadn't realized how much of my day was invested in caring for Echo, as she had arthritis and 'disabling' diseases similar to those I live with. She required a lot of care and a lot of trips outside. After I lost her, I was only leaving the house to get groceries, once a week and if I could find a way to avoid doing that, I would.

Kodiak's arrival in my family forced me to establish a daily routine, to go outside again, to focus my time and energy on house training my new puppy. I began spending time outside in the backyard playing with him and training him when we were inside.

When I was able to begin leash training him, I was able to take my power chair out and go for walks, enjoy the sunshine and seasonal changes. Watching him communing with and watching nature, getting joy from the breezes, sunshine on his face, marveling at a butterfly, gave me pause, to consider that while I was hiding in the dark, quiet of the house, wallowing in my grief and loneliness, I was missing the beauty life has to offer.

As he grew up, our bond grew stronger. I began training him to perform service dog tasks. Quickly he began to respond to my needs without commands. He helps me to complete my housekeeping chores, do laundry, pick up the trash and load the dishwasher. He's really made my life less complicated.

He's sensitive to my moods and feelings. He lays on the floor between my feet so we're touching. He follows me from room to room and even lays on the bed watching me while I use the bathroom, following me back to the living room when I've finished. He naps with me, licks my tears and when I'm having trouble breathing, he's held me in my chair so I couldn't get up or put his head under my chin and lifted my face so I could catch my breath.

When I lay down with a migraine, he slides his face and shoulder against my upper body and shoulder, down across my chest and "spoons" with me, cuddling against me, looking back over his shoulder, kissing me softly. He will lay with me while my 'meds' take effect.

He sleeps with us at night, laying between us, with his back against my whole right side, usually with his chin resting on my ankle. He allows me to rest my hand and forearm on his hip, or to hold his tail, while I'm falling asleep.

I've had a lot of trouble sleeping at night when my pain level is high, there have been times I've lay in bed crying because I can't get comfortable. When I'm able to touch or feel Kodi by me, not only does it offer me emotional comfort, but the warmth of his body provides some relief to the pain in my hip, the stiffness of my joints. I've become somewhat spoiled, in that I have trouble sleeping without Kodi.

He wakes me with soft kisses and helps me with dressing and undressing every day.

He keeps me sane. He keeps me from succumbing to the depression that lives in the dark corners of my mind. He helps me to 'de-stress' and slow down.

He gave me my life back when I was throwing in the towel. He's helped me to regain some of my independence and to appreciate every day.

Thrifty Eater

Huskies, as a breed, tend to be 'thrifty eaters'. One would think for such an active and high energy breed, they would be big eaters, fueling all that activity, but they aren't.

Kodi has been true to his breed, hardly eating at all. I'm amazed that he has the energy that he has, that he's able to walk twice a day for an hour or an hour and a half each time, to play in the yard for a half hour to an hour at a time, several times a day, seeing as how he sometimes really only eats once every two or three days.

He has never preferred canned dog food, nor has he liked kibble.

We started him with a well known, highly recommended brand as a puppy, he didn't care for that, we tried a Veterinarian recommended prescription diet, but he wouldn't eat that. We tried mixing canned food with kibble, which worked a half dozen times or so, but then he stopped eating that.

A year ago, the Veterinarian said that they weren't concerned about his weight, though he's in the lower acceptable range for the breed standard. He's lean, lanky and apparently some Huskies can be that way.

We talked to the Vet a couple months ago about whether we could put him back on the vitamin supplements he was on when he was a puppy. They didn't feel that was necessary, but suggested trying another flavor of the same brand of dog food, saying that Huskies can be finicky.

We changed to a lamb flavor, from chicken and he seemed to be willing to eat a little more, but he started begging for canned cat food when I was feeding the cats, so I offered him a teaspoon of cat food each time I fed the cats.

When we recently saw the Vet, this time, they said they weren't 'concerned', but would like to see him put a pound or two on. They recommended taking that little bit of cat food and smearing it all over the bottom of his food dish and up the sides, then putting his dry kibble in on top of that, so that to get to the flavor of the cat food on the bottom of the dish he has to eat through the kibble.

We tried it and it worked! Kodi's eating twice a day. He's not finishing all the food, but he's eating about 3/4 of it each time, which is more than he was eating in two or three days.

They also suggested a spoonful of peanut butter was a good source of protein, fats and carbs, since Kodi LOVES anything peanut butter flavored. I've always treated him at least once a month to some plain cooked pasta with a little browned hamburg as a treat.

He's so active, has a high metabolism and burns up everything he's eating, so a little indulgence won't hurt him.

I can't imagine what he might look like if he puts a few pounds on. He's going to be an incredibly intimidating figure of a dog.