So what has happened in the last 7 months?
For starters, we have spent most of that time in Chicago at our Lincoln Park residence. Kodi, as always, and we think due to the fact that she has always been traveling, immediately adapted to her "new" (but in this case very familiar) surroundings.
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| Kodi on the revetment in Belmont Harbor |
Kodi's most significant accomplishment during the summer was her mastery of off leash walking. Not withstanding the fact that having a dog off leash is illegal, I decided that the training benefit far outweighed the risk of a $200 fine. Also, and this is not insignificant, we've noticed decreased police patrols in our neighborhood. Perhaps this is related to the increase crime (e.g., murders) in other parts of the city. Good news for walking off leash. Bad news in terms of security. I've also noticed that the police are not overly concerned when they see us walking together.
I use the following commands when we are walking off leash:
- Heel (she walks at my left side) Left hand with index finger pointing down
- Walk with me (she keeps pace)
- Stop (she stops her forward motion or sits down)
- Slow (she slows down allowing me to catch up)
- Street (she sits at curbs)
- Wait (she waits until I release her with a "forward" command) Left palm down
- Forward (releases her from the sit to cross a street) Left hand moves forward
- Touch (she catches up and touches my held down left hand) Left hand in a fist
- Touch High (she touches my left fist while it is held at shoulder length)
- Turn Left or Right (self explanatory)
- Carry (she carries a designated object in her mouth - most often the Frisbee)
- Leave-it (she stops what she is doing)
- Leave the dog (she walks around a dog)
- Drop-it (self explanatory)
Current Score: Responds to 117 commands. Understands in excess of 175 words.
Kodi continues to get smarter. Based on my experience with Kodi I've often theorized that dogs have some degree of symbolic thought. I constantly test this premise and I am always amazed at how she understands and acts simply from the use of language. Here's an example.
Kodi knows the names of thirty or more objects and regularly retrieves objects from her toy box as part of our morning feeding routine. The key here is the word "routine." She knows that in order to get permission to eat (and a super treat - cheese) she has to retrieve the correct object. Where it gets interesting is when I ask her to retrieve an object outside of the routine. Example: From any place in the house, say from the third floor, if I say "go to your toy box and get your _______ (e.g., snake, squirrel, etc.) she will reliably execute the command 80% of the time. Execution requires that she go up or down one flight of stairs, locate her toy box, identify the stated object and then bring it me.
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| Kodi's toy box with a few of her toys |
If I asked her "how old are you?" prior to her birthday (October 6), she would respond by taping her paw 5 times. On her birthday, I converted the count of 5 to a count of 6. It took three repetitions to "cement" the new count. Now she counts to 6 when asked her age.
Having an intense interest in dog intelligence, I found the following article about Chaser, a border collie trained by John W. Pilley, Ph.D. a psychology professor at Wofford College, particularly interesting. Chaser can reliably identify 1022 objects.
http://ideas.time.com/2013/11/05/your-dog-is-a-toddler/
Much of what Dr. Pilley talks about as it related to the dog's understanding of language is consistent with my own experience. For example, Chaser when shown an object will get one just like it when Dr. Pilley gives her the instruction to find another one. With Kodi I say "find my shoe" and she searches for the shoe, locates it and brings it to me. If I say "get the other one" she will immediately locate the other shoe and bring it to me. The concept is called "matching to sample." Kodi is a whiz at this. Read the article. It is definitely worthwhile.
Kodi and Amelia:
Kodi has definitely has a new friend, my granddaughter Amelia Myrna Shapiro-MacBeth. But this was not always the case. In June when Amelia visited us in Chicago she was fully aware of Kodi but not initially comfortable. After 6 days that had begun to change.
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| Amelia at 9 months and Kodi (June 2013) |
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| Diana, Amelia & Kodi (October) |
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| Amelia at 1 year takes her first ride (October) |
Update on Doc:
In the April 16th article (Furry Kid Update) I described the relationship between Kodi and Doc, the Southeastern Guide Dog in Training being raised by our friends Marjorie and Dick Singer. Kodi met Doc when he was 8 moths old (and 85 lbs). Their "romance" lasted all winter and was terminated when we headed north on July 9 for a "cool" (as compared to Florida) summer. You may recall that I categorized Kodi as a "cougar" due to the 5 year age disparity.
Soon after we left, Marjorie and Dick returned Doc to Southeastern to begin his guide dog training. Guide dog training lasts approximately six months. Doc it turned out was a super star and completed training two months early (sort of like a kid that skips two grades). In October Doc was matched with a visually impaired person (David) and together David and Doc completed the final 28 days of team training. Doc graduated on the last Saturday in October.
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| Dick, Marjorie with David and Doc on Puppy Raiser Day |
Marjorie and Dick are now raising a new puppy named Sotheby (guess the sponsor). Kodi will meet Sotheby this December when we head for Sarasota. I wonder if Sotheby and Kodi will "hit it off?"
Post Script: We learned that Teddy, a guide dog raised by Marjorie and Dick Singer for Guiding Eyes (New York) died at age 12. We never met "Teddy the Terrible" but were regaled by stories of his growing up. Teddy retired 7 months before his death. The owner, like many visually impaired guide dog users, got another guide dog. Teddy stayed on as a pet There is something amazingly special about the guide dog culture. Our condolences to Marjorie and Dick.
Ambassador Kodi:
Kodi and I with the help of our friends raised over $7,000 for Southeaster Guide Dogs. A large portion of that was our fund raising effort for the Sarasota Walkathon (where "Team Kodi" was named as one of the 10 top fund raisers). Additional monies were raised a result of presentations Kodi and I made at various service clubs while we were in Sarasota (I did most of the talking. Kodi entertained the audience with her wide range of behaviors).
The funds raised for the walkathon enabled us to sponsor two puppies and, best of all, to give them their names. There is now a Guide Dog in Training named Kodi and another named Lady Bear (after my sister's chocolate lab).
Kodi, a yellow lab, is being raised by a young lady named Kaden (who's last name also starts with a "K"). Kodi was born on April 29, 2013. Kaden reports that Kodi is getting smarter every day. With a name like Kodi that should come as no surprise.
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| The puppy named Kodi |
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| Lady Bear |
Written by Les.
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