I Love My Dog More Than Most People I Know

I truly love my dog, Kodiak, more than most people I know.

I've not been feeling very well. I'm trying to keep up appearances and keep moving every day. Some days that's easier than others. I've been feeling dizzy, weak, dropping things, just experiencing a general sense of 'disconnect'.

Because it's been so hot and humid this Summer and I've spent more than a month and a half without my power chair while it's been in the 'shop', we've not been taking walks, not been spending a great deal of time outside. Kodiak simply doesn't want to.

As a result of our lack of 'outdoor time', I've been trying to exercise him in the house by getting down on the floor (that's the easy part, falling off the chair onto the floor. LOL) and playing tug-o-war or bouncing his ball for him.

When Kodiak was a puppy my husband played rough with him, wrestling with him, letting him chew on his hands, etc. (something I didn't want him to do), so when Kodiak is bored, has a lot of stored up energy, playing can quickly become wrestling.

We were wrestling on the floor, when he stopped and went to get a drink, so I decided rather than trying to struggle to my feet, I would just lay down on one side and watch television from the floor. Not the most comfortable way to do it, but certainly more comfortable than what I would experience trying to get up off the floor.

When Kodiak came back into the living room, he came to me, sat down against me and began to lick my face, my glasses, my neck and nibble on my nose. He got up momentarily to chase a cat away from his food bowl and when he came back, I was feeling a bit dizzy. I had my eyes closed and was taking some deep slow breaths.

He sat against me, placed his front paws over the arm I was leaning on and lay down, holding me down, as he licked my face. He lay there for quite a while. Before he let me get up, he licked my face one more time and sat up as I did. He followed me over to my chair, as I sat back down he curled up between my feet.

I've been laying down and taking a nap during the day, whenever our schedules permit and sure enough Kodiak is right there, on the bed with me, the whole time, curled up against me, so I can feel him. He makes soft noises, crawling up the bed so he can lick my face, cuddle with me. We often 'spoon' for a few minutes before getting up and getting back to our day.

When we go outside so he can 'go potty', he stops and waits for me to catch up to him, cognizant of the fact that I move slower, that he is my protector and companion. Once I've caught up, he will move further toward the ramp. If we are coming up the ramp with my husband, he will let my husband get ahead of us, but wait for me, turning and looking back over his shoulder until I'm coming, looking back as we move up the ramp to be certain I'm there and following closely.

I can think of no human, except my husband and son, who demonstrate the level of caring, compassion and love for me that Kodiak does.

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.

Migraine Treatment ~ Kodiak Cuddles

I’ve been living with severe, chronic migraine headaches for some 19 years. Along the way I have also been diagnosed with sinusitis and sinus headaches, as well as tension, cluster and ‘rebound’ headaches.

An Ultrasound of my face uncovered a previous skull fracture and bone fragments from a broken eye socket that were floating in my sinus. A CT scan and later an MRI confirmed the ultrasound results.

After years of treatment by a neurologist who prescribed a variety of medications that included home injections and being released from treatment after all his options were exhausted and he was at a loss as to what to do to help me, I was left to my own devices, dealing with the pain by laying down in a dark, cool and quiet room, putting moist heat on my head, trying to sleep them off.

Some days this strategy works, other days not so much. Sometimes my migraines cycle from one side of my head to the other for five or six days consecutively. On several occasions a single migraine has lasted for three weeks.

Today I had a particularly bad headache. I put heat on it, took some over-the-counter pain killers and went into my darkened bedroom to lie down. As soon as I was lying down with my pillow scrunched up under my neck Kodi came into the bedroom and jumped up on the bed.

He licked my face and nibbled my nose as he made soft sounds, much like a cat purring. He leaned his cheek against my cheek, slid down against me, leaning his shoulder into mine as he slipped onto his side with his back against my belly.

He looked back over his shoulder and licked my face before resting his head on the pillow next to mine. I put my hand on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

We rested there for a while. It was nice to keep warm with him, relax and de-stress.

A Neurologist couldn’t provide me with relief… because he wasn’t able to prescribe Kodiak Cuddles.