My dear Kuvasz Kodi has been diagnosed with osteocarcinoma.

Well, this is a dog diary.............................

bunch of love bugs, that group, though not at any given time as a group....

Some time ago was mentioned (I think) that Kodi was born on December 25th so I want to add "happy birthday" to the Christmas wishes here!!

That's wonderful! Yes, Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to Kodi and his family!

Seasons Greetings from the Kuvasz Ranch!

Kodi is a big thirteen today. I was not betting any money in September that she would see this day. So this is a great day, especially when she looks so good. She had a great little birthday party with lots of tasty treats (mostly turkey with stuffing, and a little cranberry sauce… a touch of vanilla ice cream too). The other dogs dotted over her as I gave her a birthday grooming.

She is getting around as good as she has been lately and is walking up and down the ramp better than she has been in a month. So, that is good to see. The last two nights I have had her inside at night since it has been cold and wet outside. .. I can see that she is dreaming about chasing rabbits or her sister Aja like in the old days, because every so often you can hear her growl in her sleep and her back feet begin moving a mile a minute.

Raja now sleeps as close to Kodi as he can (without her snapping at him). So he has acclimated to the pack hierarchy now, even though he is getting beat up once in a while by Abba, Doc, or Luckie; Aja usually just barks at him ands he leaves her alone. The others actually use corporal punishment on him… and Little Bit still uses her Chihuahua Kung Fu on Raja.

Last night, I just sat on the floor with Kodi on a sleeping bag and groomed her. Whenever it looked like she was falling asleep and I began to get up she throw her big paw out to stop me and the brushing would start all over again. Having the other dogs falling all over me for attention was a trip, but each dog also got a good brushing before the end of the evening.

I cooked my turkey last night so the treats started about 10PM Christmas Eve when I pulled the turkey out of the oven, and the pack got to eat their fair share of some turkey.

This morning I gave the pack their Christmas presents, three squeaky toys and six rawhide strips and they went wild. Each ate their own rawhide strip, then Aja grabbed one squeaky toy and ran away with it. Kodi barked and pushed her way to another, and then collected the other and sat guarding them from squeaky toy rustlers for the better part of two hours, until she got hungy when she smelled me microwaving some turkey and stuffing.

I brought Kodi in at sunset she and ate dinner with me and Little Bit. (I pushed out the other dogs from the house and gave them biscuits so Kodi could eat in peace in the kitchen).

Then afterwards, each other dog got a small bowl of dog food mixed with some turkey, a piece of sweet potato, some stuffing and a touch of cranberry sauce.. but NO turkey skins (that flatulence problem again!).

We all (even Little Bit) took a long walk around the fence perimeter as the sun went down to walk off our big dinner and even Kodi walked a fair ways, (sneaky gal, she knows the short cuts). We had a lot of tree damage from the ice storm last week and there are two fallen pine trees and large limbs strewn all over the far back yard.

So now they are all lying around the house like a bunch of well feed lions, and I can hear Kodi snoring as she sleeps on the sleeping bag in the living room.

It was a good day for her. I am glad she made it to her birthday. Now we have another goal and that is for her to make it until springtime!

Now for Kodi's Christmas pix!








HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!





MMMMMM……..TURKEY!




WHAT? YOU RAN OUT OF TURKEY?!




MORE RUM PUNCH! MORE RUM PUNCH!




I HOPE TO SEE YOU NEXT YEAR! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS!

Merry Christmas Kodi! And to your family also! What beautiful pictures!

Merry Christmas to your entire family there Kuvie. I hope Kodi continues to smile and do well. Thanks for the Christmas card!

and to you and yours, Momma Angel.

you folks have really shown your measure with your support for Kodibear. I wish someday to have the honor and pleasure of meeting all of you.

the good pix come from good subject matter!

and to you and yours good buddy.

and take care of those knees!

You bet! I saved off the pics. I've got a little picture printer I'm going to print a couple with. I'm putting her on the reef with the rest of the fam!

Bailey and Cleo and the rest of the hamburger pack send belated birthday greetings to Kodi.

Kuvasz I'm just catching up on the family news and loving your descriptions of the interactions of all the personalities. I especially love the mental image of Little Bit giving Raja a chihuahua kung fu hit. That's a laugh out loud picture.

Kodi looks beautiful, her charater and braveness shine through in each photo.

From New Mexico, Dys and I, are sending you belated Christmas wishes and best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year for all the Kuvasz family. You are all beautiful and an inspiration for all of us who have read along with you and Kodi and the rest of the funny, wacky Kuvasz crowd.

Kuvasz, add another late happy birthday to Kodi's collection. Sorry to have missed it. I'm very glad to see all is well down there in GA.

....will be offline for some time but thinking of the K. family and hoping to read your news soon

It's extremely good to hear that Kodi is feeling so well. The pictures of the pups make me laugh. We are still nursing Sadie back to health after her surgery. She still has to go swimming a few times a week to build up her leg muscles and stamina. The hospital told me to feed her lots of chicken or beef with rice to provide the calories needed to heal properly. I know she is not eating any skin, but she does have that problem you alluded to. Is there anything you can give dogs when they are on a meat and rice diet to avoid the air of rudeness perpetrated all day long? It's pretty cold right now and I can't open the windows.

Hi glitterbag. i hope Sadie is getting better. my thoughts go out to you both.

Purina One dog food makes a lamb and rice product that does wonders to bulk up a dog. none of my dogs were flatuent when they were on it.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info K. We are in desperate need of less hot air around here. Sadie is doing much better than we expected and the surgeon and her primary vet are giddy. Just this week she attempted to climb the stairs to get up to our room. She got up easier than before the surgery. Getting back down, well, that a little trickier. But her face looks so relaxed, she is wagging her tail all the time and generally getting into all the trouble she used to get into.

You should see my personal calendar. Mr husband said the other day, when he was checking for a particular date, when did you join a spa? I said, I didn't join a spa, and he said but it says right here, Monday...swim and massage. The truth is that Sadie has a more interesting datebook than I do, because the swim and massage is for her.

glad to hear Sadie is recovering, and I salute you for the care, sacrifices and attention you are givng her. I am sure it helps her immensely.

as to steps. once Kodi began to have trouble climbing the steps to my front and back door I built ramps at both entrances for her. all it took was going to the Home Depot, cutting the proper length and width of good, solid timber door material and nailing down the ramp to the steps. so now she can walk up an incline of about 30-40 degrees with ease. also, I covered/nailed down to the ramp astroturf so she had something to grip with her feet as she walked up and down the ramp.

just befor Christmas, I received a birthday card from the U of Georgia Vet school for Kodi, the vet and his students had taken a pix from this thread, and cut it out and put a funny birthday hat on her and glued it to the card wishing her a happy birthday!

I will keep that card as long as I live, as a memory of their kindness and how Kodi warmed their hearts as she has mine for these past thirteen years.

Kodi goes back in for a checkup on January 16th for x-rays and perhaps another IV dose of pamidronate. I have my hopes that the cancer has not spread. We have been very lucky so far.

she is doing so well lately, barking up a storm at Raja and walking the property with all the other dogs.

Hello K, I have some more information regarding my dog's health and what we did to correct some problems. A lot of the stuff would be boring to others, but I still don't have PM privileges. Many dogs with Sadies problem are misdiagnosed and usually euthanized. I have written a piece for the Conestoga Vizsla Club, but anybody with a larger dog should know what to look for. I'm off now, broke my knee about 6 weeks ago and need to put on my face and do my hair so I can get to some stores when Mr. G gets back. Always good to hear from you and always good to hear a success story. GB

Kodi
Kuvasz -- I share your heartache. We have talked endless times over the years about your precious dogs, especially Kodi, and I know how much she means to you. It doesn't sound like there is any hope for her recovery, but one never knows - do one. Take solace that you have had her company for lo these many years and that your other guys will still be with you when (if?) Kodi goes to that Great Kennel in the sky. Your pal, Old Dog.

I'm originally from Austria and have met many many Kuvasz dogs as they arrived to Europe with the Hungarians (remember we used to be the Austro-Hungarian empire and populations are very mixed) who kept them as guardians for their flocks of sheep.

They DO look like sheep in many ways too, until they swing into action --- sweet personalities but their little sheep charges better not even THINK of trekking too far away, there's danger out there like wolves and cattle rustlers and so on so they really only do it to protect their flocks.

They gallop over to the straying sheep, circle around to cut off the escape route, and then they neither bark nor in any way threaten the sheep --- instead they smile their wonderful doggie smiles and show a tiny tiny bit of the tip of their pointy canine teeth..... the sheep get the point a.s.a.p.!!!

Wonderful, wonderful dogs. Long way from Austria now --- and didn't even think anyone would keep them in Georgia, isn't it too hot?? --- but their loving memories stay with me and from the bottom of my heart I wish to sweet little Kodi a happy stay in this world with her loving family but it the moving finger has written a date already then that between now and this day she faces no pain or suffering. I don't know what else to say