Back in December, Kodiak had surgery to repair a cruciate tear, the equivalent of a torn ACL in humans. The immediate aftermath left him with a gimpy leg in a bright blue cast.
It also required us to lay down ugly gray office carpet on all non-carpeted floors to avoid him slipping and hurting himself while he healed. The healing process was to take 4-5 months and in that time he could only go outside on a leash. No more puppy freedom — running, barking and jumping in his precious yard. He was not the only one who suffered. I took for granted a dog that could go outside on his own to use the bathroom.
It was a long winter.
As the weeks went on, the cast came off and Kodiak slowly stopped limping. Although he appeared much better, we still had to wait until the final sign-off from the surgeon before letting him out on his own again.
The final appointment is in two weeks!
As we’ve gotten closer to the appointment, the weather has changed from a wintry gray to warm spring air and sunny afternoons. And boy, does Kodiak know it. He spends his days with his nose pressed up against the window screen, yearning for the outside he knows and loves.
I too am yearning for him to play outside, as he is now blowing his winter coat, leaving hair ALL OVER my house (and all the additional rugs we’ve had to add) and causing the need for vacuuming to occur at least every other day, which is three more times than normally necessary when he is shedding normally.
Kodiak does not like the vacuum. Or maybe he loves the vacuum. I can’t tell. Either way, he thinks it’s fun to chase it, jump over it, lie down in front of it and anything else that makes it difficult to clean a house.
Observe (and please ignore my pajama get-up of sweatpants and Michael’s shirt.) (Also, there’s no sound so don’t worry about turning on your volume. All you would have heard anyway is the sound of the vacuum and me asking Kodiak to please stop lying down in front of it.)
Kodiak and the Vacuum (I’ve had the WORST time trying to post this video so just click on the link to see it!)
After cleaning I decided to do the only thing I could think of that might buy me an extra day without vacuuming: brush him out. So out to the deck we went, brush in hand. Which resulted in this:
No, it’s not a small animal.
Because the day was so beautiful and with proper supervision he’ll stay put on the deck, we decided to sit outside with him while enjoying our morning Starbucks. Gratuitous puppy cuteness ahead.
Of course later, he not-so-cutely begged for my Poptart while showing off his giant eye boogie.
Oh, dogs.
39 comments
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April 27, 2008 at 11:37 pm
poodlegoose
Good Lord, that’s a lot of hair. And Kodiak is as big as you are! I have that problem, but Zoe is white, and we have navy-ish carpet.
How did he tear his ligament?
April 27, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Alison
Awww he is toooooooooooo cute! What kind is he? Love big dogs.
April 28, 2008 at 12:33 am
legallyheidi
so cute!!!
it’s pictures like that, that make me quite thankful for our short haired puppy. she still sheds but not nearly as much as my old long haired dog. Yikes!
April 28, 2008 at 12:41 am
Dani
Nothing better than a giant eye boogie!
April 28, 2008 at 1:43 am
tia
ok, first of all, i did not realize how GINORMOUS he is!! holy crap. that’s a whole lot of doggy to love.
but i’m so glad he’s (almost) all better!! and he’s so cute.
April 28, 2008 at 3:09 am
tiedtogetherwithasmile
I was not expecting him to be that huge!! I hope he’s better soon!
April 28, 2008 at 7:28 am
Jess
Um, I was already craving a dog and this post did NOT help. I love Newfoundlands! And Kodiak is the cutest.
April 28, 2008 at 7:53 am
L-bug
i never realized kodiak was. that. huge. GOOD LUCK! 🙂
we have a min pin, i think kodiak could eat it in one bite. and that fur ball — it’s the size of our whole dog 🙂
April 28, 2008 at 8:42 am
Viviane
Haha I suppose I am not the only one, but I had no idea how huge that dog was until I saw the video! Still a cutie!
April 28, 2008 at 8:47 am
Mandy
Sooooo cute! I love dogs!
April 28, 2008 at 9:01 am
dreamgrrl
your dog is HUGE holy shit!! and so adorable with the little cast and all. so cute!
April 28, 2008 at 9:04 am
Hazel
Wow, he is huge! I never realized it until I saw him on the video!
April 28, 2008 at 9:23 am
Jessica
Yikes! That is a big fur ball. Much better to brush it off than clean it up off of your floor.
I want to smush his face and give him kisses! Awww!
April 28, 2008 at 9:34 am
Becky
I have to agree with everyone else in that I didn’t realize how huge he was until I saw the video! But what a cute dog! I’m totally jealous that you have a huge dog. I hope he feels better and is able to go out on his own soon.
April 28, 2008 at 9:43 am
chasingparadise
Aww, poor Kodiak! After watching the video, my vote is that he totally LOVES the vaccuum. He is having way too much fun. Also, he is ginormous! But totally cute and lovable too 🙂
April 28, 2008 at 10:35 am
caitlynintherye
I am madly in love with Kodiak. I wish you lived closer so he and Willa could have a play date!
Willa also sheds crazily- I wash my sheets at least two or three times a week because she sleeps in my arms at night and she sheds everywhere.
April 28, 2008 at 10:36 am
Ashley
i could just smush his face he is so damn cute. and that furball looks sort of like the hair that sits atop your lover Hans’ head.
a little less quaffed, maybe.
April 28, 2008 at 10:37 am
littlespoon
Seriously Kodiak is the cutest dog. I’m sure Ozzy would chase the vacuum too but he gets shut up when I bust out the vacuum. 🙂
April 28, 2008 at 10:43 am
sizzle
These pics are so cute. I miss my pooch.
April 28, 2008 at 10:59 am
Katie
Ohh, I couldn’t see the video because it was blocked at work. He’s such a cutie though! All that hair!
April 28, 2008 at 11:08 am
Kari
He’s so cute! You definitely need to get the Furminator. We used to have to vaccum at least once a week. But now, with that brush, we brush the dog every other day and we only have to vaccum every other week. It’s pretty awesome.
April 28, 2008 at 11:11 am
Anna
So funny. What a loveable hairball he is!
April 28, 2008 at 11:49 am
Britt
God he’s cute. If you ever need a dog babysitter in canada…I’m your girl!
April 28, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Peter
He was totally going to curl up at one point and you chased him with the vacuum.
Entrapment!!
April 28, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Are You Willing to Change
Wow! He sure is a BIG dog! And so much hair! I wish I had a dog though…outside only.
April 28, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Stacey
My vote is he likes it. My dog hates it and it’s obvious because she runs from it! 🙂
I agree with the above comments, holy crap he is GINORMOUS! I didn’t not think he was that big! Love it!
April 28, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Jess
Oh and also I agree with others who have said they think he likes the vacuum. My black lab growing up HATED the vacuum and you could tell because he whined and put his tail between his legs and backed away whenever he saw it. Once he lay on his belly and crawled under a desk to get away from it when I accidentally boxed him in. He would never have acted playful with it like Kodiak does in that video.
April 28, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Missy
ahhhh your dog is so freaking cute! I love him!
April 28, 2008 at 5:32 pm
alyndabear
Lookit those eyes. I’m turning to mush!
April 28, 2008 at 7:33 pm
B2G
Oh my God… he is huge! I had no idea.
April 28, 2008 at 8:27 pm
katelin
aw he is so cute.
April 28, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Princess Taj
I have those same slippers!!!!
April 28, 2008 at 9:19 pm
eyesaswindows
Poor lil puppah! Oh he’s so cute…. and uber big! And man what a shedder, at first i thought 3x a week whoa! but then i saw the video… okay i get it. hairy lil cuteness!
April 28, 2008 at 10:01 pm
prettikat
It took me awhile to figure out that it was all tufts of Kodiak’s fur on the carpet that you were vacuum-ing up!
But of course I immediately spotted Seasons 1 – 7 of Gilmore Girls in the shelf behind you 🙂
April 28, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Valerie
Oh my goodness that dog is leaving a lot of hair on your rug! He is too adorable and is without a doubt my favorite dog. Ever. I hope he gets the okay to run around outside because I don’t know how long that vacuum is going to last with all that hair.
Oh and I missed talking to you all day long today.
April 29, 2008 at 10:18 am
elizabethews
I just want to hug and sqeeeeeeeeze him!!!! When do I get to mee the big bear????
April 29, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Sassafras
Holy moly! First he is so CUTE! Second, I would be in serious trouble if Kodiak lived at my place – every other day vacuuming?
I hope the 2 weeks comes quickly and he gets the OK from the doc. Otherwise it might be a longer spring/summer than it was winter!
April 29, 2008 at 3:47 pm
JenBun
I LOVE your doggie!!! SO cute!
I watched “Must Love Dogs” this weekend (heh, I’m cool!), and there was a Kodiak-dog in it, and I thought of you guys! 😀
I do NOT miss vacuuming dog hair constantly (I have all tile floors now)– and my dog has SHORT hair! I couldn’t even imagine.
Glad his poor little paw is feeling better!
May 2, 2008 at 10:37 am
Froggy
I have actually brushed a similar amount of hair off my CAT before (and she’s small enough Kodiak could eat her… not that he would, of course, but you know what I mean…); however, that is a CRAZY amount of fur on the carpet… I feel your pain!!
Also, I think we have the same couch.