The problem with Kody is that he's an intense chewer, too intense. When he gets a chew he starts working on it and won't stop. But that's not all, he gets better and better at chewing them faster. In the case of the rawhide chews he finally learned he could just chew off gigantic pieces and swallow them.

This morning, he got one stuck in his throat. He started making the scariest noises. He coughed that piece up again, but then re-swallowed it. Just a few minutes ago, he threw up his lunch and in it was a big piece of rawhide. He did the same thing last night. That's why this is the end of chew toys.

It's so unfortunate, because he loves them so much. I hope I can find some good alternatives to chew toys that give him at least some chewing satisfaction. I mentioned there might be one exception which is that if I can find a chew toy that turns to mush in a bowl of water in a half hour, I might give that to Kody.

The truth is, I'm probably very lucky that Kody threw up those pieces of rawhide. Since he hasn't yet fully passed any food I'm not in the clear yet, either. But we'll just stop the chews altogether and hope things go well. He seems pretty happy, so I he's not clogged up.

In addition, once Kody has had enough of the sun, he finds a shady spot to lay in. He stretches way out in the middle of the floor and has the most peaceful look on his face.

It's funny how that look has an emotional effect on me. It makes me feel relaxed and calm and sleepy happy.

Kody has always been a fan of staying in his crate when I leave the house. I'm a good crate trainer. He gets a special treat every time I leave and he needs to go in the crate so when he senses I'm about to leave he runs into the crate without even being asked. These are crate only treats, I wouldn't call them "high value" treats, but he's used to them when it's crate time. He didn't spend much time in the crate if I was home, which is fine with me. But then one day things changed, and that's what this post is about.

In the past I had one of those typical crate liners in Kody's crate. The problem is it would sit for months before I would clean it because it had to be specially cleaned with something else in the washer so it wouldn't throw things off balance. The other washed item had to be something that was okay to wash with a dog bed, that is, not my fine white linens, or probably my clothes, or towels. It doesn't sound like a lot of work, but it was enough to keep me from washing it very often.

One day I finally I decided something had to be done. I use dog blankets to indicate whether Kody is allowed on the couch or not. I just folded up one of the blankets and put that in the crate. It was fluffier that the crate liner and I didn't know if Kody would like that it took up more vertical space. He didn't seem to mind so we threw away the crate liner. The dog blanket can be washed easily by itself without throwing the washer out of balance, so problem solved.

But then something interesting happened. Kody started spending time in the crate even when I was home. More impressively, he figured out how to burrow into the folded blanket like he likes to do with blankets on the floor. I don't know how he does this, just one more way in which he amazes me.

Currently, I think the crate is his favorite resting place. He used to split his time between the couch and burrowing under the covers of the bed. Now he spends time in all three places, but the crate is the most popular.

The fact that Kody likes his crate is something I never take for granted. It's so nice to be able to leave him at the house and not worry that he might get into something. In return I try not to leave him in it for over four hours at a time.

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.

A dachshund will never be a lab, and a lab will never be a poodle. This is okay. I've been working with Kody long enough to know there are some things that are just traits I need to learn to live with. He's a barker, that's his natural response to new stimuli. I can't change that.

For a long time I've been trying to train Kody, but I've also been trying to change him. I am beginning to see the parts of Kody that can't be changed and I'm starting to find ways to work with that and appreciate him for who he is. I know he's great, but like the straight parent of a gay child, I don't fully understand him.

Most parents get this, but I think with dogs, humans are still at the very beginning of the learning curve on how behavior, personality, and training interact.

For me, what I do know is that Kody can go from alarm barking to calm. So it's less about eliminating the barking and more about learning to communicate to him that whatever his requirements are for calm have been met. And that's the big thing, I still have to learn what those requirements are, and Kody's the only one who can teach me.

I'm so thankful to Kody for helping me learn all this.

Kody was a perfect gentleman, and even seemed oddly more socialized than the other dog. He did a couple of butt sniffs and a crotch sniff. The other dog wasn't that interested after the initial greeting.

It was interesting to watch because Kody seemed to know what to do more than I thought he would. I guess his fear had just prevented him from doing it before this.

Other than that, both dogs just seemed to mostly ignore each other. Kody would rather hang out with me. Which is actually what I've noticed most of the time with even well socialized dogs. They all tend to do their own thing, even when around other dogs. Although I'm not sure if it's the same with dogs that live with each other. I've noticed that they tend to hang out together, but I haven't observed it that much.

For those of you with social dogs this doesn't sound like much, but for me, this is the culmination of years of work. I thought I would be more emotional about it, but really I was just relieved.

Today Kody and I faced our biggest challenge yet. Right outside our back door five construction workers were making repairs to the siding and the fences. They were hammering on our walls and using nail guns. They were ripping down fences and dropping them on our patio and they were climbing up ladders. We were in quite a situation… this is our story.

I was shocked into the situation. Shortly after we got out of bed, Kody noticed the men. Kody is already accustomed to the leaf blower guy, but five guys at once, who don't leave? This was big. I had no choice, I just immediately started playing "look at that" and clicking and treating.

At any moment for two hours there was either a new sound or a new person or a new object present. We went through more treats than ever, which honestly, is totally okay. When doing positive training, treats aren't like ice creams sundaes, they're just really good food. So to make up for it Kody had a small dinner.

However, I will say that Kody is totally full. I set out some small watermelon pieces for him a little while ago and he just ignored them, I've never seen him that full.

He had his special cooked lunch, training treats, and a chewy treat all right near the construction. It was taking so long we added some mat training in too, so when Kody did get a treat, he was expected to be on his mat when he got it.

Two hours in, I was done and tired, and I just had to hope he could contain himself. And he did. He just laid by the window and watched the men hammer and build. Oh my gosh, was this my dog?

A funny thing happens when you do this kind of training right. The goal of course, is to say, "That thing you think is scary isn't scary at all, it's awesome because good things happen when it happens." So Kody had switched from being scared to being intensely curious about the men. He liked them. He wanted to meet them. He was sad when they left for the day.

No, he wasn't 100% sure they were awesome, but he was 90% sure. He was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

We did go outside one time on leash to pee, and he did well. I didn't want to bother the men and there was too much dangerous stuff for Kody to get into to stay out long. But I was happy with it.

I find it fascinating to watch the changes in Kody. He's a tough case, but I'm learning how to communicate with him in these tough times.

I've realize that dogs survived because they knew that being nice to humans would get them food. They knew that helping humans would get them food. Dogs have it built into their core to work for food, and it's on that basis that I communicate with Kody. It makes sense, and it works.

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 was behaving amazingly well around the ducklings today. He was growling out the back porch and I was waiting for him to calm down expecting there to be nothing there. When I finally looked, there were ducklings!

We played "look at that" and Kody was very excited about the ducklings then and stopped growling. At that point, he just wanted to play.

What I didn't get was pictures of was Kody being so good outside right next to these ducks. He was really good most of the time keeping a good distance but then at one point he started chasing the ducklings, but gently not like he was being predatory.

But they hung out by us again anyway. He didn't appear to ruin the relationship. Kody was very interesting in smelling everyplace the ducklings went, which was just about everywhere.

We have a lot of ducks and geese around here. The ducks are nicer than the geese. Yesterday there were two geese with just one baby gosling. Kody definitely keeps his distance from the geese. I have pictures of that too but they're not very good, the parents were shielding the gosling from the camera.

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.

Today I saw the most awesome episode of The Twilight Zone. I'll warn you now, this post has spoilers. However I doubt many of you are hiding from spoilers about old black and white TV shows.

The episode was about a hunter who loves his dog. One day they went out hunting together and were tricked into a pond by a raccoon. They woke up on the side of the pond a little while later.

As they headed back home they ran across two men burying a dog in the hunter's pasture. The hunter was upset that they were ignoring him but then left them alone when he found out they were burying a dog. He figured they were too distraught to talk.

You can see where this is going. You may get it, but the hunter didn't and was confused as to who's casket they were carrying out of his house.

As the hunter wandered his property he ran into a fence he didn't recognize. He followed it until he approached a man who greeted him. The man said he was Saint Peter and welcomed the hunter to heaven. But the dog was not comfortable. Saint Peter said dogs weren't allowed in this section of heaven and couldn't come in. He said there was a dog heaven down the road and he would take the hunter's dog there for him.

The hunter argued for a while and decided not to enter heaven without his dog. A decision all dog lovers totally get.

The hunter wandered down the road and ran into another man. This man knew his and his dog's name and welcomed them both to heaven. The hunter asked if this new man was Saint Peter and the man said he was just a regular angel.

The hunter asked the angel about the other guy and the angel said that guy was always trying to trick people even up to the last minute. The angel said the other guy wouldn't allow dogs because dogs can't be fooled like people and can smell the brimstone. They'll always guide their humans to safety.

The angel confirmed that the hunter's wife would be safe when she arrived and led him and his dog into heaven.

It was such a touching episode. I want Kody with me when my time comes. I had another dog named Mozart when I was young and I hope he's there too. I'm not a very religious person, but when it comes to dogs, I'm a believer!

At first we would just put the harness on and give Kody hot dogs. He showed the classic behavior of freezing on the spot that dogs exhibit when humans attempt to put costumes or other clothing on them.

At first, he just got hot dogs places where he could reach them. The next step was throwing hot dog bits a few feet away. After just a couple of days of this, Kody was excited for "the harness game" as we call it, a phrase he now recognizes.

His excitement did not extend to wearing the harness right away, just to the game and treats part. He quickly knew I was trying to lure him to get his feet to the place they belong so that I can gently lift up and buckle the harness. (These step-in harnesses are awesome.) At first he would try to refuse to even get near that position. Now he will usually leave one leg out awkwardly, but he gets more comfortable with it every day.

At this point after we buckle the harness, we walk slowly around the apartment with Kody on my right side giving him treats as often as it takes to keep him in roughly the correct position. The idea is to get him used to staying by my right leg facing forward as we walk.

Like potty training, it's intensive, which is why we do one short walk, of about 20-30 feet around the apartment and that's it for the day. Any more and he and I would get bored. But once he's good and reliable at that off leash, we'll attach the leash and do the same thing. After that we'll start just going out the door and back in and eventually we'll get loose leash walking, I hope.

The idea is that when the harness is on, being next to me will just feel like the right place to be.

Kody teaches me so much about patience, I really enjoy this, but I can see how it's not for everyone. Luckily most dogs are a lot easier to train than Kody, my wonderful Asperger's dog! I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

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.

Later I tried some other things such as flexible mesh harnesses, but nothing ever felt right. The leash attachments were either in the wrong place, they were hard to adjust, they pulled in uncomfortable places, and they just didn't makes sense.

It's just not in Kody's personality to walk on a leash without pulling. When I started clicker training with him and started really paying attention to him, I realized that. He's a dog that loves to smell, has high energy, and isn't afraid to keep trying if at first he doesn't succeed. This means if he thinks he can pull on the leash and wants to, he'll continually try regardless of the consequences.

I've tried no-pull harnesses with a front attachment and I realized that this is just torture for Kody. He'll get the message that if he pulls on the leash, he gets pulled sideways, but instead of just not pulling he'll get frustrated and depressed and shut down. That doesn't make me feel like a good dad, so we gave up on that pretty quickly.

We haven't been doing a lot of walking lately because Kody can go potty without a leash. But the last time I went to the vet I realized that looking at harnesses again would be a good idea.

The first thing I did was buy a flexible measuring tape so I could measure Kody's chest (19" – 20") and neck (13" – 14") and know for sure what size would work for him. I always seem to buy things that are too small.

I went to the big name pet store today just expecting to look, but they had apparently changed their whole perspective on harnesses. Almost every harness they had was of a type I hadn't seen before, the "easy step-in comfort harness".

This was a harness that actually made sense to me, and for the first time I could see Kody liking it and me using it. It had a correctly placed leash attachment and straps that would pull gently and evenly.

It's easy to put on, just lay the harness down, have your dog step into the right places, then pull the harness up around your dog and click. This is not a harness you have to fight with your dog about. Until Kody learns where to step I just lifted him gently to the right place. He's wary of the harness for now, but it was still so easy.

Today we just pretty much gave him treats while the harness was on for about 5 minutes then removed it. Once he sees the harness as a fun thing, we'll also train him to step in the right places himself. Eventually, he'll start looking forward to wearing the harness and then we'll attach the leash.

Then we begin the very slow and forgiving training to get Kody to be manageable on leash. I'll keep you updated.

For Kody, this training is going to have to be slow because there's so much accidental punishment in it. If you attach a leash and just start walking down the block, he would not like it. He wants to sniff and smell, and lets face it, he's a dachshund with attitude and I love him for it.

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.

I was just getting back into bed and like many crazy dog owners I was sliding my legs back on either side of the dog. As I pulled the covers up I saw that he was laying on his back with his feet sticking up as comfortable as he could be.

There's something so wonderful about seeing that much comfort. It makes me so happy. I always say it, but there's a secret to a happy life in appreciating a dog. I wish I could share it with everyone.

It used to be mainly the TV cart and the fireplace screen. Now we've moved his mat and it's the couch. But it's hard to get food out from under the couch. He's been concerned for days about the food under the couch so today I finally moved the couch and got the food for him.

It's not easy, so I'll be moving his starting point back to where it was before and the relatively easy obstacles to the strewn food.

First, he's super forgiving. Not just forgiving, but he still loves me and shows that love whenever he can even when I show my own imperfections. I realized religions never portray God this way, maybe they think it would make him look weak. But I realized how strong Kody is to love like that.

I thought about what a heavenly happiness Kody brought into my life. I realized it was a happiness that fell right in line with C. S. Lewis' book The Great Divorce. Dogs provide a happiness you have to choose. Many people have dogs but don't choose to see the happiness they bring. It's a shame, because it's right there waiting.

The scientific truth is that dogs were selected by our ancestors based on their ability to show signs we interpret as love and be nice. So by this time, that's all we know. But, I will say that even if it isn't truly spiritual, it is truly inspirational.

One thing I can do is just get on my hands and knees with him real quick and he really enjoys that. His play sessions don't need to be very long. When we have more time, we get out the hide-a-squirrel made cube shaped toy where he's learned to pull out the different pieces. We also do dinner from a canine genius every night, that was the best suggestion, he loves it!

He doesn't want just a toy though, he wants interactivity. He wants to play *with* me. Even with the canine genius he will sometimes wait for me to be present before playing with it.

It's the same dilemma every parent has. It's also a blessing we often miss that we have someone who wants to play with so often.

Learning to play with a dog is hard. They have real needs and they don't always work with how we think our schedule is supposed to go. At the same time, when I give in to play I realize I was an idiot for resisting. Kody makes me laugh and have fun in way that's pure goodness.