Miss Scarlett

We had a new little lady join our family two weeks ago. Meet Miss Scarlett:

After having lost both Stormie and Breezy last year, I wasn't sure that I was going to get any more dogs. In fact, I may have even gone so far as to tell my husband that I would not. But, he knows me pretty well and didn't bat an eye when I told him recently that I was looking for a new puppy.

After a LOT of dead ends and disappointments, I was put in touch with a breeder in Kennewick, Washington, who happened to have this little one available;

I mean, seriously, how do you say no to that face????

So, arrangements were made and we headed north to bring her home to live with us.

She was not impressed with the car ride, even puked on me a few times. But having raised 6 children, and one that we are still raising, I have been puked, pooped, and peed on more times than I can count, so it didn't faze me much.

(Her ears are taped to help them stay in the upright position. At this age, they tend to get floppy, and if not assisted to strengthen the cartilage, they can stay floppy - like Cooper's)

Scarlett is a pretty sassy little thing, and she had no troubles getting settled right into our household and winning over everyone (except Cooper) with her extreme cuteness.

She has definitely learned how to pose for pictures!!!

Kaelynn is in love with her, and spent the first few days sitting next to the puppy pen and reading bedtime stories to Scarlett.

She listened very intently.

She is always on the go. ALWAYS...One of her favorite places to sit, and take naps, was the toy basket.

She seemed a little overwhelmed that the box of toys that arrived from Bark Box was really all for her.

She didn't stay that way for long and the toys were soon scattered all over the kitchen.

Shimmer has accepted her with a good spirit, but Cooper is SERIOUSLY bent out of shape. I don't think he likes losing his youngest standing and now has to be the middle child. Her energy level freaks him out and for the first week he would not come out of his crate. He is slowly warming up to her, but still spends a lot of time hiding from her.

She loves the new cow bed that we got from JennaPets. We may be having to get another one, at the rate she abuses it though.

She does have a little bit of an evil streak in her. I'm not really sure what Wonder Woman said or did to insult Scarlett, but she ended up face first in the water bowl.

And I think Miss Scarlett looks a bit smug about it, don't you..?

She has her quiet, sweet moments too.

I swear when she looks at me like that, I turn to mush. She has the sweetest face in the world!

I put her first shirt on her this morning. Other than spinning in circles for about one minute, she has acted like it's not even there. I caved to pressure and taped her ears back up as they were getting very floppy. Between the two, I think she has been a bit sulking today, even laying down and refusing to come inside at one point.

I really look forward to life with Miss Scarlett. I expect that she will do great things, that Cooper will come to love her also, and that she will be a great addition to our family.

October is almost here, and it will prove to be a great month for us here at Cody and Company. We have some big things happening and some exciting news coming this next month!!

New Doggie Door

We have a very spacious kitchen and dining room, which is the heart of our home. It has a laminate floor, easy access to the back yard, tons of natural light and is just everyone's favorite place to gather.

All of this also makes it the perfect place to corral the dogs when we need to keep them in one place. While many Chihuahuas can be well house trained, mine seem to do really well when in this area, but when they are turned loose in the rest of the house, they don't hesitate to mark their territory. It can be very frustrating!

I didn't want them to have to stay crated all the time, so we figured a way to gate off the two entrances into the kitchen/dining area and let the dogs have free run.

This last year we got a new, larger refrigerator and lost the ability to slide the gate between the wall and fridge at the main entrance into the kitchen. Fortunately, there was a sliding pocket door at one time in that doorway! It had been broken since before we moved in, and sealed up.

Enter, Shawn-the-Wonder-Guy!

He tore open the door frame and pulled out the old sliding pocket door. He then created THIS:

This is the view, looking into the kitchen from the entry hall of our house. He created a mini sliding pocket door! He even made this side to match the bead board wainscoting we have in the hall way!

Look how easily it slides open and into the wall:

This is pretty critical because whoever designed this house, did a really stupid job right here. It is not spacious, with the refrigerator on one side and a cabinet on the left. There is just no room for a baby gate that swings open.

I am so happy with this door! When completely open, it sits flush with the door frame and most people don't even realize that it is there.

The dogs enjoy complete freedom to roam around in the kitchen and I don't have to worry about them going into the living room or other areas of the house while I am busy in the kitchen.

Does that little Cooper just have the cutest face or what...??? 

I didn't get a picture of the doorway that is on the other end, but it leads into the living room, is much wider, and we have a swinging baby gate there. It is visible in a lot of the videos and pictures that I post of the dogs wrestling in the big bed.

This height is perfect. The dogs can't hop over it, although most everyone in the house except short-legged me can step over it if they want to. Although you don't have to bend that much to grab it and slide it.

Pretty cool, huh?

Mr. Cooper

Hello! This is Cooper! I have taken over the computer. Mom has been pretty busy lately doing canning of all kinds of fruits and vegetables, so she hasn't had time to write a new blog post. Her last one was all about Shimmer. I have waited patiently for her to write one about ME, but finally have decided that I could actually do a better job filling you in all about ME than she could, so here I go.

I started life with my first Mom, Liz, in Spokane Washington. Here is me with my brothers. Yes, I am the incredibly handsome one in the middle.

When I was three months old, I came to live with my new family and Mom became my Mom. This involved a very loooong car ride home, but I spent the time getting acquainted with my new sisters and my Mom and Dad

So, now some important details about me.

I have many nicknames:

Super Cooper

Cooper Pooper

Super Cooper the Paratrooper

Cooper Trooper

I have always been a very handsome little dude, although often times I am referred to as 'Cute'. Seriously, I probably am, but handsome sounds so much more macho.

Shortly after I came to call this place home, the family adopted a Tiny Human. She and I are only two months apart in age (I am the older brother!!). The Tiny Human and I have always gotten along very well, have enjoyed growing up together and are pretty good buddies.

I especially enjoyed the snacks and treats that she would toss down to my sisters and me. That is me, front and center, making sure she didn't forget that I was waiting.

I tried my hand paw at the modeling stuff that my sisters were so good at, but it really was just not for me. I am a very active guy, and holding still for the camera is not my strong point.

I was amazingly cute, though, huh?

Things that I like to do:

I like to chew on things. We have baskets and baskets of toys all over the house, but I prefer the crunchy taste of furniture. Mom does not support this love of mine and seems to take a dim view of the 'distressing' that I have done to much of the furniture.

I like to take the role of protector of the premises very seriously. I loudly proclaim to all squirrels, birds, people walking by the fence, dogs walking by the fence, and certainly anyone who has the audacity to knock on our front door, that I am here, I am mighty, and I WILL do damage to your ankles.

Ok, maybe not really do damage to any ankles, but I bark. A lot. Mom gets frustrated with that sometimes, but a guy has gotta do what a guy's gotta do. 

Besides, if Mom gets frustrated, I just turn on the charm and give her THE LOOK. It melts her heart every time.

See? It works so well that she takes pictures to remember my cute face!

When I was still little, my ears were pretty big. Everyone commented on them.

Mom wondered if I would ever grow into my ears. They eventually got heavy and tipped over on the ends. Mom tried taping them to stay up, but my sisters liked to rip the tape off - OWIE!!! So, she gave up and let them tip. She actually loves them this way.

Every once in a while my ears seem to disappear! It kinda freaks me out, but somehow Mom always finds them again.

I'm a pretty happy guy, but one thing that I really do not like is to have a bath. I hate it! So demoralizing to look so pathetic.

Unfortunately, I get a pedicure every week and a grooming and bath once a month. Mom has a really good memory for this and never forgets. I still keep hoping!

I have really gorgeous chest floofs, if I do say so myself. The girls all love to pick me up and run their fingers through my chest hairs. Everyone likes my fluffy ears too.

Along with my guard dog duties, it is my responsibility to inspect any packages that are delivered to the house. My favorites are the ones that come from Chewy, as that is usually FOOD and TREATS. I also like getting boxes from the Barkshop, as those have TOYS and more TREATS!

I am a very happy dog, my tail wags all the time. In fact, it is kinda hard for Mom to get a picture where my tail-end isn't a blur from my tail wagging. Hehehe

One of my talents is that I can get my tongue completely up on top of my nose. Really, can  you do that..???

So, I think I have done a pretty good job of telling you about myself. I think I might have some serious skills in this blog writing stuff, what do you think? And, my page is longer than Shimmer's! Hahaha!!!

However, it has made me very tired. So I will sign off now and go take a nap. 

Good  night.

And thanks for reading!!

Meet Miss Shimmer

Many years ago I did some blog posts called Meet the Models, which gave our customers a chance to know a little bit more about the girls that modeled our designs. We are no longer producing our clothing line, and two of the girls have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, but I thought it would be fun to do this again, giving our new fans a peek at the adorable ones we still have.

First up is Miss Shimmer!

Shimmer will be 12 years old next month, but is still such a puppy at heart. She lived her first few years with Liz Moore of Diadem Chihuahuas, coming to our home a year after we got Stormie. When Liz decided to re-home Shimmer, she contacted me and we tried to think of a good excuse for us to bring another little Diva into our home. We finally settled on the fact that the dark colored clothing designs would show up on Shimmer much better than they did on Stormie, whose coat was black. It was a stretch, but it worked and Shawn fell for it. Hahaha. I don't really think he 'falls' for anything. I just think he's the greatest husband on the planet!

Shimmer's personality is so fun. She's a very happy little dog, but mostly only shows that for the family. When visitors come, Shimmer likes to be in the room, but won't let people pet her. She is absolutely a mama's girl. 

When Shimmer wags her tail, it spins in circles, making her look like she is ready to take off! When she is excited she will sneeze/snort like crazy. The more you make a similar sound, the more she will do her 'sneezing'. It's pretty funny. I'm not sure what is the most fun: watching Shimmer do the sneezing, or watching me do it with her!

Shimmer has the yummiest, softest coat of all the Chihuahuas we have had. I could just sit and snuggle and pet her all day long. She is predominately white in color and when she is out in the sun, she does literally shimmer.

When we had all four dogs Shimmer was not one to get into the mix and play, but now that it is just Cooper and her, there is a lot of playing that goes on. The zoomies are the best part. She will come running up to me and I will scratch/tickle her on her rump. As soon as I stop, she takes off, zooming all over the house or yard. Then she comes running back for me to do it again. She and Cooper run and play together quite a bit too.

She is a bit of a hoarder. She doesn't ever really chew on toys or chew sticks, but she will take anything she finds and bury it under the blanket in her crate. It can be a dog toy, a baby toy, or pretty much anything she finds on the floor. Whenever we are looking for a missing item, we always check her crate!

Shimmer is our little sun worshipper. She will find a patch of sun whenever she can and plop down in it. She loves to be outside! Whether it's raining, snowing, or sunny, she will dash out the door and race all over the yard. She bounds like a little deer, with her feet barely touching the ground. She exudes sheer joy and it is a delight to watch her. She has slowed down a bit over the years, but she still bounds all over the yard, tail wagging the entire time.

Shimmer has a fun talent - she smiles!! She is always tipping her little head up at me and smiling. It is just so perfect and goes right along with her sweet, happy personality.

She really only has one bad trait -- she cannot hold her licker! Oh my goodness, that dog will lick every surface of the house if she could. When she gets up on the couch with me, before she settles in to snuggle, she has to lay there and lick the couch. Yuck! I am constantly making her stop as I don't want the furniture to smell like dog breath!

Shimmer did have some puppies before she came to live with us. In the pictures I have seen of them, they look just like her. Sometimes I think it would be fun to have a reunion for Shimmer and her pups.

So, that is our Sweet Shimmer. I think she is pretty happy to be retired from the modeling career, as it was never her favorite thing to do, but the treats made it worth it! She always did a pretty good job though, don't you think?