Early Morning Walks

Since sometime in June, North Central PA has been experiencing above normal temperatures and staggering humidity. We have endured sustained temperatures in the 90's and even consecutive days with triple digit temps, days with humidity in the 90% range, all of which are highly uncommon for this region of the country.

This makes it terribly difficult for me to be outside, as I have asthma and become short of breath, feeling as if the heat and humidity are sucking the air right out of my lungs. It is equally as hard on Kodiak, since Huskies have a double coat and can be easily overcome by heat.

Making sure "Kodi" gets plenty of exercise can be hard in the Summer time, when it's so hot. He often has to be coaxed just to go outside to do his 'business', as he's burnt his feet on the wooden deck floor and doesn't want to be exposed to the direct sunlight for very long, his black coat heating up quickly.

Evenings can be terribly humid, even more so than the day time, so evening romps through the backyard with a favorite toy are far and few between in the heat of Summer.

I've started setting the alarm for 6 a.m. I get up, go to the bathroom, get dressed, gear up "Kodi" and we try to get outside by 6:30 - 6:45 a.m.

On most days it's still foggy when we leave the house, some days everything is damp and dewy with the sun having just come up over the highway. Sometimes it's actually cool enough for me to need a jacket. "Kodi" is comfortable, I'm comfortable and there are very few people out so early in the morning that we seldom encounter anyone, we don't have to worry about little kids at all and there aren't many people walking their dogs at that time of day either. Traffic is at a minimum, so crossing streets is a lot easier than waiting until late morning or the evening.

It's been especially nice because we get to see a lot of nature's creatures and we can take the time to stop and 'literally' smell the flowers.

There have been mornings when "Kodi" has enjoyed the fluttering of butterflies around his head; tried to pounce grasshoppers who've hopped in front of him; stood on the dike and taken long sniffs of the breeze carrying the scent of a Loon and her babies to his nose; heard and watched a flock of Canada Geese fly overhead. We've followed the whistles of Cardinals in an effort to photograph them and watched as objects appeared through the fog, as it has lifted and burnt off. We've admired the soft pinks and purples of the sky as a backdrop to the lighted lampposts along the street and enjoyed the 'cooing' of morning doves perched above us on the power lines.

This morning, though the sun was already out, it was chilly. I put on a thermal zip jacket before leaving home and everything was covered with dew. It truly smelled and felt like Autumn, a time both "Kodi" and I are keenly looking forward to, when we can walk without care for the temperature, can enjoy the squirrels playing among fallen leaves and admire the beautiful colors of Fall. The onset of "Husky Weather", as we refer to Autumn and Winter.

New Friends

A few months ago Kodi's friends Molly and Maggie moved away. He had been enjoying playtime at the fence with Molly, as she would bounce up and down the length of the fence with him, barking and playing happily.

Kodi always seemed to be in better spirits, happier, more contented, after spending time with Molly. When she wasn't on the other side of the fence any longer, Kodi would sit at the fence and look for her, sometimes crying for her, calling her to the fence.

When new neighbors moved in, so did new playmates for Kodi. A black Newfoundland/Retriever named "Lela" and a Rottweiler/Mastiff puppy named "Demon". Unfortunately, Demon passed away when he was about 7 months old.

A month later, "Moe" moved in, an 8 month old English Mastiff. Moe and Kodi have become friends, playing daily at the fence, each sitting on their side of the fence, watching and waiting for the other to come out to play. They run and bounce up and down the fence, taking time to sniff and visit with one another.

Occasionally Lela gets involved in the play and an excited romp takes place between the three of them.

I really enjoy watching them play, they all seem to look forward to their time together at the fence. Kodi even takes his toys over to the fence and drops them there, as if to suggest he's sharing with his friends.

It's so relaxing, watching them, so carefree, so playful.

Filling Out

During our last annual physical the Vet informed me that Kodiak was a little under weight. I was a little shocked by her assessment, as her husband and partner told me previously that Kodiak was a 'lean husky', that some are more stout and some more lean, there was nothing to worry about, he didn't see a reason to change anything.

When the Vet told me she rated him at a 2 out of 5, 3 being healthy weight, 2 being significantly under weight, I was stunned.

The breed standard for a male Siberian Husky is between 55-65 lbs. by most accounts. Kodiak weighed 54.6 lbs. She had recommended that I find some sort of food to supplement his diet, whether it be canned cat food if he was wiling to eat that, peanut butter or unseasoned roasted chicken breast, anything that would inspire him to eat a little more, more regularly.

I'd asked if we could go back on the liquid vitamins Kodiak was on when he was a puppy, but each time I've asked, they said we could but they don't really think we need to.

Kodiak was eating sporadically, pigging out one day and not eating for 2 or 3 days, though he is high energy and exercises a great deal. The Vet said she thought his metabolism was exceptionally high, so he's burning off everything he is eating.

I tried canned cat food, but he would eat it one time and turn his nose up at it the next. I tried peanut butter, but that wasn't palatable when mixed with lamb and rice kibble. I started roasting chicken breast, shredding it and putting a handful in his dish with his kibble and that did the trick. He began eating twice a day.

I'm pleased to report that Kodiak now weighs 58.6 lbs.

Recently, when we went back into the bank for the first time in months, the tellers all commented about how he'd 'filled out' and how well behaved he was. We're playing outside 4 times a day, usually once after walking, then three other times throughout the day.

He's become a 'big boy'.

Come Out to Play?

About a week ago, as Kodi and I were sitting in the backyard one evening a young girl on a bicycle came to the driveway. She parked her bike and asked if she could play with Kodi.

He welcomed her, sniffing and licking her, jumping up and talking to her.

For about a half an hour, she threw his ball, tossed his Kong Wubba around the yard for him. It was nice, as she and I got to chat while they played.

When she was ready to leave, as it was getting dark, she told Kodi goodbye and I told her she could come over and visit whenever she saw us out in the yard. Kodi would appreciate having someone who could run around the yard with him.

Last night, there was a soft knock on the screen door. I called out, as I was getting up to answer, “hang on.” A meek female voice asked, “Can your dog come out to play?”

I nearly fell over as I crossed the room. Now Kodi has ‘friends’ coming over and asking if he can come out to play… ugh! LOL

I’m telling you, he’s more human than some humans I know.

At Odds

It seems that Kodiak and I are a bit at odds lately.

It's been terribly hot and humid outside. We are experiencing sustained temperatures in the upper 80 and 90 degree range with humidity above 84%. Our nighttime temperatures are in the mid to upper 70's, so it's terribly uncomfortable outside.

I'm trying to walk Kodiak in the mornings when it's cooler, but we don't go out in the yard to play much at all during the day. On several occasions he's vomited when we've been walking, drooling excessively, panting so hard, I knew he was minding the heat. I don't want to risk heat stroke.

We play inside, in the air conditioning, the best we can. That typically means bouncing a tennis ball for him to catch, playing tug-0-war with his stuffed animal. It's just not the same.

It's as if he translates the lack of walking and playing as me punishing him. He acts like he's afraid of me, ducks when I reach to pet him, growls at me whenever he's on the bed and I'm near the bed, as if I'm threatening him somehow. I'm really stumped about what's going on with him.

I've talked to a number of other friends who have dogs, service dogs, and they've told me they are experiencing something similar right now too. Their dogs are 'off', 'odd', not quite themselves.

I can think of no injury to his head, no symptoms of seizures, etc. I can think of no physical reason why he would have such a change in personality.

What is so puzzling, is that he's inconsistent. For several days, he's a doll, obedient, compliant, willing to do whatever task put before him, then he will take a sharp left turn and suddenly require a great deal of prompting, convincing and cajoling to get him to even 'come' when called.

I know that huskies, by nature, are stubborn dogs. They are very headstrong and have a reputation for being obedient, even for years, then suddenly behaving as if they've never heard their name before, don't know you, etc. I'm sure some of his behavior can be explained by his breed characteristics, but some of it certainly has to do with lack of exercise, boredom. Huskies can be very difficult, destructive, when they are bored. They need to be stimulated constantly, whether through interaction with humans, other dogs or toys that cause them to problem solve. They need to have a 'job' to do, something that challenges them.

Unfortunately, right now, my power chair is in the shop and I don't know when I could get it back, a motor seized up. We aren't even able to walk right now, it's been 6 days since our last walk. I don't know what else I can do to keep him active, keep him from being bored and crabby.

Right now, I guess we'll be at odds.... it's almost like he has a 'time of the month' when he's crabby and irritable. Is there such a thing as 'male doggy pms'? LOL

Attacked Again!

Yes, it happened again. Kodi and I were out walking, in an area we chose to walk in because we were avoiding another area where we had been attacked several times.

There is a stretch of road with no sidewalk, behind a ball field. Only the backs of houses face the ball field, so there isn't much activity on the street and portions of the road are shaded by old tree growth, so it makes for a quiet and serene place to walk.

We have noticed that one back yard is fenced in with a short decorative fence consisting mainly of a decorative lattice and a frame. There is a small boxer mix that has been in that yard on occasion, though she has barked at us, she's never attempted to jump the fence.

She jumped the fence! We were walking by, following (at a safe distance) a Samoyed and his owner who often walk the same route. As we were passing her back yard, she had her paws and elbows on the top of the fence, barking at us. We ignored her and kept moving.

We had just passed her property line, on the other side of the street, closer to the ball field, when suddenly I was startled by growling and barking, two snapping dogs. Kodi had spun around, pulled the Halti off his face and was defending himself.

I didn't have my pepper spray in reach (of course), so I swiped at her with my hand screaming "No! No!" and "Get away from us!"

She ran toward her yard as the man walking the Samoyed came back. He said she liked his dog and he would get her in her yard again.

A woman was sitting on the monument at the corner of the ball field who had witnessed the attack. She and the man, who had returned with his dog, asked if we were okay. I was getting the Halti back on Kodi's face and proceeded to run my hands over the length of his body. There was saliva on his back/shoulder, but there didn't appear to be any breaks in his skin.

I have to say I was shaken up. Kodi was too. Once we had moved on and were a good distance away from where the incident took place, he kept looking up at me and slowing down. I stopped my chair and spoke to him, as he put his paws up on my forearm and licked my face, rubbing the top of his head and nose under my chin, across my chest.

Clearly, he needed reassurance, as did I. We stayed there on the sidewalk, and took care of one another for 2 or 3 minutes, just letting cars pass us by.

When he was comfortable enough to put his feet back down, we continued on our walk.

I don't understand what it is that gets us attacked so often. I've had people suggest that perhaps it is the power chair, that some dogs are frightened or threatened by the moving chair, something beyond their realm of understanding or experience. I've also had people tell me that one dog can be prone to attacks depending on the way they 'carry' themselves. I don't know... I wish I knew what was prompting these attacks. This would make no less than 7 in about 2 years.

We are never going to overcome Kodi's insecurity if this sort of thing keeps happening. Short of constructing some sort of bubble around us to protect us, I am clueless as to how to avoid future attacks.

Our area in which we can safely walk has shrunken considerably, as I avoid places where previous attacks have occurred. We are becoming seriously limited as to how much exercise Kodi can get by walking.

I wish there were more I could do to protect us.

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.