Is Kodah Depressed? Cracking the Kodah Code
Hi, I’m Dr. Karyn! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my five funny dogs, Poppy, Bailey, Kodah, Ned, and Fred.
When we adopted Kodah at 11 weeks old, we were expecting a German Shepherd. That meant that we were expecting a loyal, intelligent, loving dog, who would occasionally scream the house down and keep a watchful eye on the neighbors, delivery drivers, and windblown leaves.
What we didn’t expect was that he would turn out to be more than just a little bit Malinois. We later found out that the people he came from also bred working Belgian Malinois dogs, and we have to assume that there had been an opportunistic male leaping fences at some stage. And leaping is definitely something these athletic dogs are built for.
So, in addition to meeting our German Shepherd expectations, Kodah was a tightly wound ball of energy in constant need of stimulation, and raising him has been a massive learning curve.
More Than We Could Chew
The first six months with Kodah were a dream. As expected, he was a quick learner, easy to please, and I don’t remember him toileting in the house even once (unlike two Chihuahuas I know, who shall remain nameless). Then, when he was around 9 months old, dreaded adolescence struck, and Kodah went from being a dog we could take anywhere to one who was overstimulated by everything and screamed at everyone. The screaming was enthusiasm, but try telling that to other dog owners! Kodah’s excitement levels were so intense that nothing we did or said seemed to get through to him, and it got to the point that we started to dread taking him anywhere. Fortunately, there is a dog field nearby that we could hire for an hour to let him and the others have off-leash adventures without disturbing anyone else.
