"He Bites!"

There he was, huddled in the corner of his kennel, tail between his legs, shaking uncontrollably.  He was, I thought, the most thoroughly unatractive dog I had ever seen.  Theresa had seen his picture in the paper before we headed down to Missouri, and asked me to go take a look at him.

Kodak was in a "No Kill" shelter in Osage Beach, Mo.  According to the folks at Dogwood Animal Shelter, he had been there about 6 months.  He had received some kind of abuse in his previous home (one of the shelter workers said they had "bad kids" there).  They told me he wasn't housebroken, and "they told us he bites".  Wonderful!  He was, according to the vet records, a "Husky Mix" - most likely mixed with some labrador.

After seeing him from a distance - and hearing about his issues - I was pretty sure I wasn't interested.  We already had two dogs, and a third would be a major headache, even if the dog was extremely well-behaved.  Bringing home a dog with issues would be impossible.  Since I had gone to look at him at Theresa's request, I figured I might as well take him in  a room and see what he was like.

They brought us in a large, empty room, and left me alone with Kodak.  He immediately went to the extreme opposite corner and sat there, shaking.  I was smart enough not to chase him, so I just sat on the floor with my hand held out.  Every time I looked up, he was a little closer, but would jump away when he saw me move my head.  I turned my head and sat very still with my hand held out.  After about 15 minutes, I felt a cold nose touch my finger.

At that point, Kodak would let me pet him, very gently, under his neck.  Any fast movement on my part sent him packing.  After a few minutes of that, I sat in a chair, sending him back to his corner.  He came back soon, and from that point on, he'd run over to me every time I called him.  He still wouldn't get close to me if I was standing.

I petted him for a while, and we became reasonably friendly (as long as our idea of friendship is to stand at extreme arm's length from one another, with just your fingertips touching his fur).  The kennel worker came back in and I let them take Kodak back to his cage.  I visited for a few minutes with the staff, and decided to leave.  As I was going, one woman said to a middle aged man, "He's thinking of taking Kodak!"  The man looked to be near tears, and said, "Are you really going to take him?"

By that point, I knew I had absolutely no interest in that ugly, terrified dog, but I didn't want to hurt the guy's feelings.  I said something like, "I have to talk to my wife", and got out of there.

When I got back to our place, Theresa asked what I thought.  I told her, very definitely, that he was too much of a project for us to tackle.  We already had two dogs - Charlie was old and lame, and Cassie was still a handful at times.  The only way a third dog would make any sense at all is if he was already trained and had no bad habits.  We didn't need to take a dog that might bite, wasn't housebroken, and had who-knows how many other bad habits.  She agreed.

Unfortunately, I have a soft spot in my heart (head?) for strays.  I kept telling myself we were better off without that dog, but I couldn't get him out of my mind.  I also couldn't forget the reaction by a couple of the staff members at the shelter - why were they so excited for Kodak to find a home?  I went all day, getting more and more bugged about it.  My wife - who is usually smarter than me - really did not want to go look at him.  Finally, I told her it was going to drive me crazy until I took her over to see the dog.  I was really hoping she'd just put her foot down and say no, but she didn't.

We drove over to check out Kodak.  When you walk in the front door at this place, you're up to your elbows in dogs - 30 or so dogs are just running around in the lobby.  They're jumping on you, playing with each other, and generally looking very adorable.  There were several in the lobby that were much more appealing than Kodak (he didn't ever get to come up there, since he was so afraid).

Theresa and I went to the meeting room, and they brought Kodak in.  I was surprised that he "kind of" remembered me - it only took him a minute or so to come to me when I sat on the floor.  Even more of a surprise, he went to Theresa much quicker than he had to me - it only took him a few minutes to go over to her.  He was very sweet - he really liked her to pet him.  When she'd stop, he'd nudge her hand with his nose to get her to pay attention to him again.  Of course we decided, regardless of what made sense, that we'd adopt him.

After we filled out the paperwork and paid the fee, we took him to the car.  Here came my first concern - he wouldn't jump up, so I had to lift this strange, biting dog up into the car.  I was a little surprised when he let me lift him up - as afraid as he was, there was no sign of biting or growling.

We were a half mile down the road when we discovered the next problem - he smelled bad!  Every dog I've adopted from a shelter has been really stinky, and he was no exception.  We decided to stop at Petco to see if they could bath home before we took him home.  They were able to get him in, so we left him there and went to get a bite to eat.

When we came back, we were pleased to find out that Kodak had been good for grooming - no biting or acting up.  He was pretty scared, but that was it.  We bought him a leash and a collar, and headed home.  He seemed to enjoy the ride, and let Theresa pet him as we drove.

Kodak, on the ride home the day we adopted him.

My next concern was introducing him to the other dogs.  Charlie wasn't a problem - she knew how to act around other dogs - my only concern was protecting her from a potentially aggressive dog.  Cassie, on the other hand, can be touchy with strange dogs.  I've found the best way to introduce her to a dog is to let her see Theresa or I interact with the dog, then to walk the two dogs, letting them get progressively closer.  Once she's used the a strange dog, she's fine.

To my surprise, Cassie's response to Kodak was muted.  After a couple of minutes, I was able to take both of them for a walk without incident.  Five minutes after that, Kodak was in the house, sitting between my two black dogs, waiting for a treat!

Cassie (L), Kodak (C), and Charlie - Minutes after coming in the house for the first time.

My two most serious questions about Kodak - did he bite, and would he get along with my other dogs - had been answered more positively than I could have hoped!  Charlie was, as expected, fine.  Cassie and Kodak took a great shine to each other - there was no issue whatsoever between them.

I still had the housebreaking concern, but I was confident that I could get that done with minimal effort.  Towards that end, I kept Kodak on the leash in the house at all times.  If I couldn't watch him, he'd go to his kennel.  Of course, being at our lake home was a bonus, since I had time to work with him.  Much to my astonishment, he never had a single accident in the home.  It probably helped that he has a bladder the size of a basketball - he can hold it forever!  It took him a little time to understand he had to go as soon as you took him outside, but he understood immediately that he wasn't allowed to go in the house.  It looked like our "problem" dog was going to be OK.

Kodak adjusted quickly to living in our home.  It took him a couple of days before he'd eat (but then he quickly made up for it), and he soon quit running from Theresa and I.  Initially, he followed me around wherever I went - probably because I fed him - but eventually became extremely attached to Theresa.  Now, after almost 2 years, he follows her around and sits in her lap or beside her most of the time.

He's still really afraid of strangers, although he's much better now than when we first got him.  He'll bark at guests when they first arrive, then sneak up and try to get petted once they sit down.  When we have overnight guests, he'll make friends with people, only to forget them by morning (we joke that he has short-term memory loss, like Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates).  Sometimes he'll bark at Theresa or I, if he's not expecting us.

Kodak has very few bad habits.  He likes to play with toys or balls, but throws up when he does, so those are definitely outside activities.  He likes to chase squirrels, and he'll chase our cat if she comes out of her room in front of him.  He howls when you're fixing his dinner, and eats his food very fast.  We've had to work with him to get him to take treats nicely.  Kodak took basic obedience, and did OK, but he's a little nervous about being in the strange place with strange people and dogs.  He's pretty good with strange dogs, but gets wound up if Cassie does.

Kodak has a curly tail - the happier and more excited he is, the more it curls.  A few months after we got him, we took him to a farmer's market down in Missouri.  He was afraid, but did OK.  When we stopped at one booth, a woman said, "Oh my God, is that Kodak?"  It turns out she worked at the shelter, and remembered him from when he was there.  We decided to take him over to the shelter to show him off.  At the shelter, they were amazed - they said they'd never seen Kodak with his tail up!  He was afraid of most of the staff, until they called the woman from the back who had taken care of him - he was very excited to see her, and went right over to her.


As I've said before, Cassie can be touchy around other dogs, but she and Kodak are great buddies - they never snap or even growl at each other (Kodak is the only dog that can get away with stepping on Cassie while she's sleeping).  If you take only one dog, the other is very upset while you're gone. 

Kodak is very easy to take care of.  He's kennel trained, but we almost never lock him up anymore.  We used to leave the dogs in the office downstairs when we left, but lately we've just left them out.  Kodak doesn't mess up the house, chew, or cause any problems when left alone (or with Cassie).  He's quite a watchdog - especially when the doorbell rings on TV!  Far from being a biter, it's almost impossible to imagine him biting someone.  He keeps himself very clean, and loves to be petted and fussed over.  When you get tired of petting him, just say, "Go lay down" and he'll go to his spot and lie down.

Cassie and Kodak Today