CODY

One day I hope to have lots of foster children. It breaks my heart to read about people who, for whatever reason, basically throw away their children. Every time I read a story about a person who injured and/or neglected their child, my blood boils and I want to reach out and hug the poor kid, who no fault of his/her own, got a really raw deal.

I am not really in a position right now to have a foster child. My apartment is too small, my work hours too insane and my social life too important to me. But, despite all these factors, Husband and I have decided to become foster parents of a different sort.

Meet Cody.



Cody is about 18 months old and comes from upstate New York. His previous owners surrendered him to a shelter where he was adopted out to a family with a handicapped child. This family clearly knew nothing about Shiba Inus and allowed their handicapped child to walk Cody on a leash by herself. Cody saw another dog, pulled on the leash and was returned to the shelter as “dog aggressive.” He was scheduled to be put to sleep (PTS) within a few days. NYC Shiba Rescue was contacted and since there was nowhere else for Cody to go, Husband, Tiki and I welcomed a new member into our pack/family.






I was really nervous about how Cody would do. Dog Aggression can be serious and I had no idea what was in store. However, it has been an amazing few days. However, this is not a dog aggressive dog!


Tiki and Cody took to each other immediately.











They wrestled, played and napped together. They went on walks together. Not only was Cody not dog aggressive, he was sweet, submissive and fearless. He is willing to share food and toys (which makes him better behaved than Tiki) and explores everywhere. The hardest part of walking him is that he tries to kiss every person and dog that he sees. Do I believe he pulled on a leash to get to another dog? Sure. Do I believe there was any aggression in that act? Not a chance. Oh, and maybe the adoptive parents should have tried this, but Cody will “heel” when asked. Hard to pull a leash when you are walking in step with the leash-holder.

Cody loves to snuggle. He kisses us constantly.

Cody was clearly once well-loved. He has the best recall of any dog I have seen in a long time, knows his name, has a perfect sit, down, roll over, shake and can catch treats and toys in the air. He won’t come up on furniture unless invited. He will “drop it” or “leave it” as you command. Anything to please. Oh, and he is completely gentle with the children who live upstairs.

I have no idea what happened that made someone give up this sweet and loving soul. I don’t know how you can look in Cody’s eyes and live with yourself after letting him down. And yet someone did.

But we can’t foster forever. As much as we would love to, our landlord is not so keen on the idea. And Cody does have some separation anxiety (really, who wouldn’t after twice thinking you found your forever home only to end up back at a shelter on death-row) so he wouldn’t be happy with Husband and my unpredictable work schedules, something Tiki handles in stride.

But I am invested. So if you are interested in being that person who won’t let Cody down, head to NYCShibaRescue.org and fill out an application to adopt him. I will have a hard time letting go, but it will be a lot easier if I know he will really has found his forever home this time.