Kodi

Many of you know I lost my longtime friend and companion, my dog Kodi, this past Thanksgiving Day. After many months of progressive stiffness and painful walking, he was finally unable to get up that day. A visit to the emergency vet confirmed that his hip was displaced and there was nothing to be done but to put him down.


He was 14 1/2, and had lived long past his expiration date. Yet, he was still a puppy in his attitude and love of life. He continued to have a big, big heart, and delightedly played with his toys until the end. He would stockpile them and guard them between his legs, a big, goofy smile on his face.


I will miss him terribly. I still catch myself thinking I see him out of the corner of my eye, or hear his collar jingling.


Kodi never took a good picture. He almost always barked at the camera, and his eyes always glowed like a wolf's in the flash. So pictures don't do him justice. He was a mutt, probably with some husky/shepherd background -- but people used to stop me on the street to tell me how beautiful he was and ask about his breed.

Kodi loved me, but his loved his boys like nobody else:

And he loved to sneak up on the couch, where he wasn't allowed, and then look at you with this "Who, me?" look.



In his last year he got to know his dog "cousins" and enjoyed hanging out with them, especially Archie, his soulmate:

Ah, why do dogs have such short lives? I'll never know, but I know it has been a privilege to be his "mommy" for fourteen years, and he'll live in my heart as long as I do.