Traditionally, when Kody sees another dog he gets so excited that he can't help but bark. In the past, he has felt insecure, but recently it's mostly about excitement. But he has noticed that his barking tends to put other dogs on edge and I don't think he likes that.

Today, when he noticed Winston was out by the pool instead of barking he whined politely. Then when we went out he stayed quiet and Winston felt good about coming to greet us. Even after I opened the gate and we went into the pool area Kody was a gentleman.

He didn't try to engage Winston in play, but he also didn't seem at all shy. There was lots of sniffing by both dogs. It was really good. I guess I would describe it as normal, and more importantly fun and relaxing.

There's a pond behind my house and consequently this spring my backyard has been filled with wildlife: baby ducks, a rabbit, a raccoon, squirrels, chipmunks, a mouse and most often, this baby goose and its parents. Just about every day in the morning the parents and the goose are eating grass in my backyard.

Kody, my dachshund, usually alerts me to their presence by asking to go outside. He's been conditioned to be fairly used to them so he doesn't bark, but he's still very interested.

Once we get outside, though, he's reserved and keeps his distance. He was taught a lesson last year by a mother goose, luckily he was not injured. When we're outside we both keep to our areas and the geese let us know to keep it that way by hissing at us.

I put Kody inside and went out to take some pictures. The geese will usually head into the water if I get too close. Which is what happened today.

Kody just ignored then, for the most part. He didn't bark at all. However I think he was excited by a combination of the person and the Goose scents he was tracking. I tried calling him to me but he ignored me. His brain was clearly occupied.

So I walked around behind him and herded him away from the person which he didn't seem to think was a big deal.

Two geese have been around and very protective of what I consider to be our territory. They always swim up near us and they hiss at Kody. Today they started making more moves toward us. They must have some eggs hidden nearby.

Kody has taken the hint and keeps his distance. He had a run in with a goose last year which I'm sure he doesn't want to repeat. This is good, but I hope they don't expect to take control of our back yard.

I'm very protective of Kody though and won't risk a confrontation with him outside.

I figure it must be a raccoon because Kody doesn't get quite that excited over squirrels once they are gone.

Last night, we went outside and again Kody rushed over to the area where the raccoon has been. All of a sudden he let out a series of barks and I heard the sound of something scampering up the tree.

I went over and used the flashlight to look in the tree. Sure enough, the raccoon's bandit face was looking back at me.

Now I keep Kody pretty close to me at night. I don't think the raccoon is much of a threat with me around, but I do think if somehow he felt it was safe he probably has better fighting skills than Kody and I don't want anyone getting hurt.

Kody will definitely act as if he can win a fight, true to his dachshund heritage. However, as he learned with the mama goose last year, he can't always back it up.

Kody has been needing more warmth too as I can tell from the way he chooses the warmest positions, which is nice for me too. His favorite is between my legs if I'm on my stomach, and next is if I'm on my side with my knees bent he'll curl up in there.

The other night I got cold enough to get another blanket. I grabbed this one that is not even big enough to cover the bed, but as a supplemental blanket its fine. It's fleece and while very light totally does the trick.

Kody loves this blanket. He'll bunch it up into a pile and lay under it which he likes to do with other blankets. But with this one he just seems so content. He kind of obviously luxuriates in it all stretched out on his back with a mellow look on his face. I can see why: it's very soft and fleece does insulate very well.

One wonderful surprise to me is that they didn't fertilize the grass right behind our house so Kody can walk across it. They probably did it feeling that fertilizer added to dog pee is not the best thing for grass, but whatever the reason, I'm very happy.

Nevertheless, Kody likes to explore a little more than our small patch of grass. So today avoiding the fertilized grass he walked over to another flower bed and bush that he normally pees on. He lifted his leg, to pee, but instead went poop. His leg stayed lifted the whole time.

I've observed that Kody doesn't appear to be fully aware of the difference between the feeling of having to pee or poop. He just does what his body tells him to do. A lot of time this shows up when I know he has to go poop but he's not quite ready. He will go outside to pee just a little bit a couple of times first. It can be frustrating for me, but I understand he's not quite as aware of his body's intentions as humans are.

It reminds me of when Kody was a puppy. Even at eight weeks he would sometimes seem surprised at having to poop. Then he'd seem shocked at what was happening. It was very cute, but I felt bad for him. For dogs, I think those simple body functions are a lot less about thinking and more about doing. Obviously dogs can hold it, but aside from that, I think biology takes over.

The post talked about how an elephant had a baby and was kicking up dust onto the spot where the baby was born to hide the scent. Well, since elephants do it to hide their scent it doesn’t make any sense that dogs would do it to advertise their scent. Kicking dirt over an area either hides or enhances a scent, that doesn’t change for each animal.

But it’s interesting though, why do dogs seem to want to mark their territory with pee, but not with poo? Or is it that they don’t want to mark their territory with pee, but they realize they don’t have much choice in the matter? And isn’t it contradictory that dogs want to mark their territory with pee, but they want to hide their own identity by rolling in other dogs’ poo?

There is probably much we don’t understand about this. The story about how elephants scratch up dirt to cover their scent at least tells us what dogs are probably doing, even if we don’t understand why. The modern dog is very ineffective at this behavior anyway, aside from the fact that a human follows them around picking up the poo. Interesting, now that I think about it, because of human intervention modern dogs are much more effective in hiding their poo.

I’m not sure if he’s barking to warn other people of the snow, if he’s warning them that he’s still protecting the two of us (from them), or just complaining that it’s too darn cold!

To a point, it’s kind of cute. Whenever we have a guest over and go outside he does the same thing. I’m fairly sure that barking is because he’s excited to show them off or letting everyone know he’s protecting them too.

Wolves rarely bark, so this behavior must be new to dogs. Since dogs have really become dogs because of their interactions with humans it’s hard to say why they bark, although researchers are studying the different types of barks. Kody definitely has different types.

He has the signs that he’s allergic to something. I guess it could be the cabbage I give him for a treat at night, but I’m doubtful of that also. I guess I can cut it out and see what happens.

The snow has thrown him off his game and now places he wouldn’t normally pee are open to him. On the patio, on the barbecue. I don’t scold him because I understand the snow blurs the lines between grass and patio, it’s not that big a deal.

Really, who among us hasn’t peed on a barbecue when it snows?

Consequently, Kody is laying under the covers in the warmer bedroom. When I go in there, he looks at me as if to say, “Daddy, when it gets cold like this you’re supposed to burrow and hunker down! You’re doin’ it wrong!”

Of course, he’s right.

In the spring when he starts shedding the winter coat he gets a mohawk of black on his back for a while.

This morning Kody was intensely smelling the leaves. I knew he was smelling the raccoons. It was making him upset. He walked around disgusted as if to say, “Don’t those raccoons know that they aren’t allowed here? I made it clear! But they’ve clearly been here!”

Kody like vegetables too. He likes carrots and they’re a great chew toy. But he loves lettuce especially ice berg lettuce. I don’t normally wash ice berg lettuce though, and believe it or not, if I don’t get organic it makes Kody itchy. I noticed this a couple of times before realizing it, since I rarely get non-organic. Pesticide issues are common with dogs and vegetables, so thorough washing is good and organic is better.

Anyway, organic ice berg lettuce is actually hard to find, since most organic fans are too snooty for it. So I’m currently trying out some vegetable adventures. Right now I have some red kale, which is kind of tough and has hard spines you cut out of the leaves. You chop the leaves and use a dressing containing lemon juice and olive oil, then toss the dressing in and let it sit to let the leaves soften.

The spines of the leaves are like sticks. I accidentally dropped one on the floor and Kody stole it, chewed it up, and ate the whole thing!

Now I think this is awesome. He didn’t like the Kale leaves, so it was hard for us to share Kale like we used to share our lettuce salads, but now this is the best possible thing and those spines are going to be great for his teeth as well as being a fun toy.

Kody is still a bit of a hand full, and there are still situations now and then that confound me. Last night Kody asked to go out a couple of times but then didn’t want to go out because it was raining. I don’t blame him, but I wasn’t sure what to do? Did he have to go to the bathroom really bad? I guess if he did, he would have gone out, but I can’t help but worry.

The door knocking is moving slowly but surely. When someone knocks at the door I just have to freeze in place until Kody is calm, only then will I move to get his door treat. If I move before, he won’t stop barking, my movement seems to encourage him. If I stop, he calms down, comes to me as if to say, “Why aren’t you reacting to the door?”, and then runs to the mat and will stay calm while I answer the door.

Well, he’s looking at me to go outside right now, let’s see if he goes.

I think it’s just their attitude. They always thinking and working. I was outside with Kody the other day, and one of our neighbors that Kody loves looked down at him and said, “There’s something really different about dachshunds isn’t there. It’s like he’s somehow just different from other dogs.”

This is a story about a dachshund that definitely felt he was the dog who needed to fix the situation.

Neighborhood heroes

Whether you believe in God, spirituality, or the flying spaghetti monster, I think we all feel the same way about our dachshunds. They bring events into our lives that help us process and get through some tough times.

I personally can’t imagine my life without Kody. The way he interacts with the world is full of lessons for me.

FURRY FRIENDS: The Dachshund And The Dragonfly

After I shut the cupboard door, I hear Kody scurrying down the hall out of the bedroom after which he runs straight to his mat, sits and looks at me. (By the way, mat training obviously going very well.) How did he know what I just did? I mean obviously it must be the sound of that particular cupboard door but it has rubber bumpers and he heard it all the way from the bedroom. I didn’t even hear it and I was right next to it.

If you have any stories about your dog’s amazing senses, please share them in a comment. I’m fascinated by this.

This link is to the tall tale of how an eight week old dachshund named Donut picks winners in a football game.

I still think they’re better left to guarding the back yard from intruders.

Also, I’ve tried numerous times to get pictures of him while he’s sleeping because he’s so cute, and every time I do, no matter how quiet I am, as soon as I turn toward him he opens his eyes and starts wagging his tail.

If he sees another dog, he’s fascinated, but quiet… unless the other dog moves. It doesn’t matter if it’s away from him or toward him. He’s not mad at the other dog or scared, it’s his excitement bark. He wants so badly to interact, but he has no idea how. But the fact that we can be relatively near another dog with some bit of calm is great progress.

Along with the calm I’ve already described, his is a little more calm about toys and treats as well. He still likes them, but unless it’s something really special, he doesn’t get too excited.