Collared today: Cody
NAME: Cody
NICKNAME: The Codester, Shepherd Pie
OWNERS: Jen Badie (The Baltimore Sun's Education Editor) and her husband, Darius
HOW THEY MET: Darius' sister adopted Cody as a puppy but didn't realize that he would enjoy herding her 8-year-old daughter every chance he got (she was the size of a sheep back then, after all). When she told us she was thinking about finding him a new home, we volunteered to take him because he was such a good-tempered dog and we thought another dog might alleviate our beagle's separation anxiety.
AGE: 8
HOME: Owings Mills
BREED: Australian shepherd
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Playing with Baxter, his beagle brother (especially if it involves putting a paw on his head), running around in the backyard (the muddier it is, the better), standing guard at the front door, following us from room to room, getting a belly rub
BEST TRICKS: Herding beagles; imitating Tigger in the yard when it snows (it involves a lot of bouncing)
FAVORITE FOODS: He recently got ahold of a raw almond and now when we have the jar out, he practically jumps in our laps to get one from us. But he's also kind of taken on some beagle traits, in that he'll eat just about anything.
FUNNIEST MOMENT: A few years ago, our pet sitter fell through at the last minute and my friend, who works for a vet, offered to watch Cody at her house for our weeklong vacation. But we decided it'd be best if he met her three dogs first, to make sure everyone got along. So we took Cody over there, he met the dogs, everyone was getting along smashingly. We let him back into her house, and it never crossed anyone's mind: THE CAT! Cody got one look at that cat and went streaking across the room after it and Darius had to lunge after him to stop him. Obviously he'd never seen one before and was very interested in playing with it. It goes without saying, that arrangement didn't work out.
IF CODY HAD A MOTTO FOR LIFE, IT WOULD BE: "Born to herd."
Photo by Jen Badie
To see other pets that have been featured in Collared, click here.
Want your pet to be featured in Unleashed? Click here to download the Collared questionnaire. Fill it out and email it to us, along with a web-sized jpeg, at unleashed@baltsun.com.
Comments
I've had the pleasure of meeting Cody, and I must say that he is perhaps the kindest, sweetest and dearest dog ever. Yes, I do still want to dognap him, Jen!
Posted by: petlover | May 19, 2009 10:08 AM
Cody is adorable! Does he help with your beagle's separation anxiety? Unfortunately that is one of the toughest dog issues to deal with, and some dogs are worse than others. I read that separation anxiety is one of the top reasons why dogs end up in shelters. It does require so much time and work and patience.
Posted by: Audrey | May 19, 2009 10:52 AM
Hi, Audrey. Unfortunately, nothing has seemed to help my beagle's separation anxiety -- and we have tried just about everything over the past 10 years. Cody has picked up on some beagle traits (like food) but thankfully he doesn't have anxiety. He goes with the flow and is very loyal.
Posted by: TerpsJen | May 19, 2009 11:27 AM
Cody is a really nice dog -there's not a mean bone in his body. He happily greets everyone and the only bad thing I can ever say about him is his abundance of hair, and he does like to herd anyone of the appropriate size -- all traits of his breed. He made the mistake one time of trying to herd my beagle Lucy who is much smaller than he, and she reacted in such a way as to let him know, "there's no herding of this beagle." Cody is a very sweet dog.
Posted by: Lucy & Sara's Mom | May 26, 2009 7:28 AM