How do I tell a story about our beloved Cody.
He was the best dog in the world.
We got him as a pup in Feb. 1988 as a graduation present
for our daughter Kathy.
We had lost our dog Skippy in December of 1987.
He was 12 years old and died of heart problems.
We were hesitant to get another house dog because Skippy
was a wonderful dog and figured we could
never have another one like him.
But we answered and ad and
we picked Cody out of a litter of 8 pups.
He was part terrier part blue heeler part ?.
He was mostly all black but his chest area and his paws
were a mixture of black white and gray.
He had two little white hairs coming out of the tip of his tail.
He was so cute.
He sat there looking at us while his litter mates
were jumping and running.
He was straight haired and we felt
that he probably would not shed and
he would be a fairly quiet dog to have in the house.
Boy were we wrong!
He was one wild little puppy when we got him home.
He loved to run and run fast and he was always wrestling
with my husband and playing when he was a pup.
As he got older he would chase me and
try to untie my shoe strings.
He shed like crazy but you know we didn’t care.
Over the years the pleasure
that Cody has given us has been overwhelming.
Eight years ago we got another puppy.
Our daughter brought him home and put him on our bed and
he made himself at home right next to Cody.
They became fast friends and buddies (brothers my husband says).
Where one was the other was.
Cody weighed approximately 50 lbs. and Mickey over 100 lbs.
They both slept with us until a year or so ago
when Cody couldn’t get up on the bed any longer
because of arthritis.
We bought him a pillow bed and put it by my side of the bed and
put a warm blanket on it and t
hat is where he slept until Wednesday.
He loved his little bed.
Over the years Cody has done some funny things.
He used to love to take my father’s socks off and
also my husband’s socks off.
I don’t know how we started that but all you had to say was
“Cody take my socks off” and he would.
He loved everyone. He loved children especially.
He never harmed anything or anyone in his life.
Well except maybe my glasses.
I had left lay on a small table and while I was out of the room
he chewed on them. Not a good thing!
But I forgave him. He brought such joy to our lives.
As he got older the heat bothered him in the summer and
the snow bothered him in the winter.
It was hard for him to get up and down our deck steps.
My husband even put up a flood light up last year
so Cody could see at night to go up and down.
Cody suffered a stroke some years back and
we helped him recover from that.
We thought we were going to lose him then
but thank goodness he recovered.
Then he had a broken left back leg and had a big cast on that.
Didn’t bother him though.
This last year has been hard on him but his spirit was great and
he had a good appetite.
We noticed he had been panting quite a bit lately mostly at night.
A couple of nights we shut him out of the bedroom
because he was panting.
Oh how I wish we hadn’t done that.
He slept out on the living room floor those nights.
He was also drinking quite a bit more water.
Then Tuesday night the 26th I let him out about 10:00 p.m.
before we went to bed.
He was out for a short time and
then I heard him bark that he wanted to come in.
He was so spoiled that when he barked I went out and
stood behind him to help him up the steps.
There were only 4 but sometimes he had a hard time getting up and
we didn’t want him falling backward or hurting himself.
He was so smart he knew I would come help him.
I would always stand behind him and say
“Get your little buns up the steps and be careful.”
He always seemed to know what a person was saying.
When I went out to get him I saw the blood on his mouth.
I brought him in and wiped it off and tried to figure out what was wrong.
The bleeding stopped and he went back to his little bed and
I went to bed also.
Lately (probably the last 4 months or so)
he was constantly licking the tops of his paws
not the bottoms but the tops.
We kept telling him to stop. We didn’t know why he did it.
Any his breath was getting very bad
especially when he was licking his paws.
Anyway he licked his paws during the night that night and
a couple of times I told him to quit and go back to sleep.
In the morning about 6:00 a.m. I got up and
there was more blood on his bed and blanket.
I called the vet and we took him there right away.
I petted him and talked to him on the way to the doctor and
he was bleeding pretty bad the whole way there.
I know he was scared.
He very seldom had to go to the vet.
The vet checked his mouth and said
that there were no ulcers and cuts or tumors.
He said is was probably the liver not working right and
something about his bone marrow not producing clots.
He said with his age and he had cataracts too
that we should probably have him put to sleep.
That even if we spent a lot of money doing tests and
transfusions and such that he would probably still die.
We had to make that awful decision.
My husband (who also loved Cody dearly) made the decision.
I told Cody good-bye and petted him and kissed him and
he looked at me every time
I started to leave with his big brown eyes.
I was just crying so bad.
He knew that things were not good I know he did.
He never wanted to be a problem or anything.
He was such a good dog.
We left him there and went home to dig his grave.
We brought him home then and buried him
where the sun would shine most of the day on his grave and
where I could look out my kitchen window and see him.
He was always laying
in sun beams on our living room floor.
No matter how big the sunbeam was he would try to lay in it.
He was always laying somewhere in the house.
That is why it is so hard for me now.
My husband misses him terribly
but I miss him even worse than that.
He was basically my dog my Cody dog.
He was always following me from room to room and
always laid by my chair when I was at my computer.
I would reach down and just touch him.
It was so comforting to touch him and hug him and
sometimes I would bury my face in his fur.
He loved rubbing up against me and having me pet him.
I just can’t stand the fact that he is gone.
Fourteen years is a long time to have someone so wonderful
in your life and then have him be taken away.
I will always wonder if we did the right thing.
I think if he had passed away during the night on the 26th
I would not feel so guilty.
But having to have him put to sleep is bothering me so bad.
Well Cody I could write volumes about you and
how wonderful you were and
that you were such a good friend and companion.
You were my little Cody and you will always be my little Cody.
I will love you forever you will always by in my heart.
We take our loved ones for granted sometimes and
maybe our pet loved ones even more.
But that does not mean that we don’t love them.
I know that there wasn’t a day go by that I didn’t hug him or
tell him that I loved him.
I keep trying to think back to the few days before he died and
I keep thinking did I tell him I loved him and
did I pay enough attention to him.
He knew how much I loved him and
I know how much he loved me.
He loved us all.
Sometimes you could just look at him and
the way he was looking back just made a person smile.
My husband always told him he looked regal.
Good-bye our sweet little Cody dog.
The love companionship and trust you gave us
will never be forgotten.
Pat & Daryll
| Cody |
| Pat & Daryll |