# Kodi has arrived!



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I tried to post this last night, but it didn't work. Kodi (AKA Starborn Kodak Moment) is home, safe and sound. He is a fantastic puppy, and I can't speak highly enough about Tom and Pam King and their lovely dogs. It's amazing to walk into a room with (I think) 12 adult dogs, and have them all be so sweet and respectful. It was also pretty funny seeing the entire "herd" troop out through the dog door onto the enclosed dog porch at some sound, only to see them all troop back in again a minute or two later.

I flew down on Monday with my trainer/friend to meet the puppies and have Katey (my friend) do temperament testing. The bottom line was that Katey said that I couldn't go wrong... although each puppy definitely had his own distinct personality, all three had terrific dispositions and great conformation. One puppy had fantastic eye contact, and what melted my heart was his willingness to leave his brothers in the midst of exciting play to come over and say "hi" every time I called to him. To me, his face just said, "I'm yours"<g>

We spent the evening with Pam and Tom giving the puppies baths, and learning more about Havanese conformation with "soaped" puppies. Then Pam showed me how to brush out an adult Hav's coat, and how to trim Kodi's feet and nails.

Here are a couple of pix from Tom and Pam's house. One is Tom with Kodi in the living room, the other is Tom, Pam and Katey, with the dogs looking on as we prepared for puppy bath time!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

*Here are some photos of Kodi at home.*

Oh, and the King's method of getting the puppies litter box trained really works! Kodi has been reliably using his litter box. We have one inside his ex-pen, where he spends his unsupervised time, and another in the kitchen, where he is free to play with us. He has been great!

Even on the trip home, when he needed to go, he started whimpering in his sherpa bag. We pulled out the "puppy porta-potty" that Pam had set up for us (a pee-pad with some of his wood pellet litter). We set him down on the pad, said "go pee!" and voila! Mission accomplished. He did a repeat performance when we got off the plane at Logan.

He is confined to his sleeping crate over night. (Pam and Tom had started that for us too) He has been going to bed around 10:00 PM, sleeps through until my son gets up for work at 6:00 AM. My son lets him out of the crate and into the ex-pen, at which point he immediately pees. Then he curls up again and goes back to sleep for another hour or two.

We thought about naming him "Starborn Wold's Best Puppy Ever", but we thought there might be some people here who would disagree with us 

Karen


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## DAJsMom (Oct 27, 2006)

What a cutie! I think you're pretty lucky to get one of Tom and Pam's dogs! I know them only through posts here but I'm a little jealous of you!


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Congratulations! It sounds like your pup has gotten a great start! I love how Pam showed you how to groom both adult havs and puppy feet! I would have loved to have that instruction, not having any around to see myself. You'll have to show pictures of the litter set-up. I'm curious about that--don't the pups eat it?

Have fun!

P.S. Loved all the pictures! You'll fit in here great--keep it up!


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## trueblue (Jan 22, 2008)

Congratulations on your new puppy! He's soooo cute...love his markings. How lucky are you to get a puppy already well on its way to being trained? Can't wait to see more pictures of the adorable Kodi


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

Congrats on your new addition.
Much happiness with him.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

He's a beauty . . . and a gentleman to boot. Lucky you! Enjoy your new bundle of love.


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## Patti McNeil (Apr 20, 2009)

He looks like a sweetheart!


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

Oh, what a precious looking little puppy!

I'm sure that you'll be having lots of fun w/o too many issues, due to his excellent training.

Congratulations!


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## tabby2 (Jan 19, 2009)

Congratulations on your new puppy!


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## HavaBaloo (Mar 24, 2009)

Congratulations Karen, looks like Kodi is the right pup for you. What a total sweetie, love all the pics. Sounds like Tom and Pam are awesome breeders, and made sure you were well prepared.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Congratulations on your beautiful puppy. You are very lucky to have such a great back-up system in your breeder. And I just love the name you picked . Hope the two Kodis' will get to meet at the NE playdate. (We might have to refer to them as Kodi 1 and Kodi 2).


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## Jan D (Mar 13, 2007)

What an adorable puppy and from a very respectable breeder on the forum. Lucky you! Kodi has such a great start.


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## Renee (Mar 27, 2008)

What a cutie Kodi is! I love the picture of him curled up in his basket. Enjoy him...they don't stay little long!


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## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

You lucky duck. He is so cute and I think has got on the right start to being a great family member. I guess you got to see Fifth.....and I wanted her soooo badly as a puppy. I will have to check back to see if Tom has added any new pictures of her. What a great learning session you had with them. I will be looking for more pictures and stories as Kodi grows!!


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## Eva (Jun 20, 2008)

Kodi is adorable and looks like a little snugglebug 
I can't wait to watch him grow...enjoy your baby!


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

You received such awesome instructions! Kodi is off to a great start. Keep the pictures coming! Tell us the cute things Kodi is doing!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks everyone!

Sheri,

It's a "dog" litter box with a "doorway" rather than a cat litter box with deep sides. I don't know if other dogs try to eat it, but Pam and Tom don't seem to have a problem with it, and Kodi certainly hasn't tried. I also have two friends with litter box trained dogs, and they haven't had a problem with them eating the litter either. One tip Pam gave me was that dog litter, if purchased at Petsmart, etc., is very expensive. She uses wood pellets made for wood stoves (some people use them in horse stalls as well) this is MUCH less expensive, and has that nice pine-y smell as well. The spoon to the right of the ex-pen is what I'm using to remove wet spots from the litter. Then I just wrap it in a plastic bag and stick it in the trash. In the second picture, you can see what a "wet spot" looks like... it's pretty obvious, because the pellets, as they absorb moisture, break down. I've circled the spot so you can see it. It's easy to remove with a big spoon. We are working on getting him to poop outside, but I haven't really been able to pick up on his "signals" for that yet, so it has been about 50/50. However, as long as he goes in the litter box, (and he has reliably done that) it really isn't a big deal to just pick it off the top (he doesn't bury it like a cat) and flush it. He's funny about where he naps in the ex-pen. Sometimes he goes in his crate, sometimes he snuggles with his stuffed animal (which Pam sent along, as it smells like his siblings) and sometimes he sleeps flat on the vinyl mat under the ex-pen. Once in a while, he even pulls the pad out of the crate and sleeps on that.<g>

Karen


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

irnfit said:


> Congratulations on your beautiful puppy. You are very lucky to have such a great back-up system in your breeder. And I just love the name you picked . Hope the two Kodis' will get to meet at the NE playdate. (We might have to refer to them as Kodi 1 and Kodi 2).


I didn't know there was another Kodi! I saw that there was a Cody, but not the other spelling. What is your Kodi short for?

Karen


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

LuvCicero said:


> You lucky duck. He is so cute and I think has got on the right start to being a great family member. I guess you got to see Fifth.....and I wanted her soooo badly as a puppy. I will have to check back to see if Tom has added any new pictures of her. What a great learning session you had with them. I will be looking for more pictures and stories as Kodi grows!!


She is gorgeous... though I told Pam and Tom her name should be "Peaches" instead... she had parts that are really peach in color, and Pam had a little peach bow in her hair... she was adorable.

...But then they all were! I bet Tom and Pam did a head count before we left to make sure we hadn't stolen any extras!<g> You should have seen me packing Kodi's stuff for the flight home with all the puppies loose in the room. It was pack something, unpack a puppy. Pack something else, unpack another puppy...<g>

Karen


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

HavaneseSoon said:


> You received such awesome instructions! Kodi is off to a great start. Keep the pictures coming! Tell us the cute things Kodi is doing!


I'll keep up with the posts and pix, but if I told you all the cute things he does, I wouldn't be able to do anything but play with him and type!

He's smart too... He's already got "sit" down pat, and is pretty well along on "down". We've got to get those puppy classes started soon!

Karen


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## fibtaylo (Jan 14, 2009)

Congratulations on your new puppy!


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## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

OH MY GOD, what a sweet face!
Congratulations!


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Karen~ Congratulations! Kodi is one adorable little guy!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Welcome to Beantown Kodi! Congrats Karen and family. What and adorable little boy. I can't wait to meet you and Kodi... just let me know and we can have a small unscheduled play date. (YAY puppy breath)


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

We really enjoyed Karen and Katey's short time with us. They came late one afternoon and left early the next morning. Of course we stayed up way late talking. We like it when we have visitors that love the dogs and the dogs do too. They got a whirlwind tour of our farm and animals, including one of the Bald Eagles, but we were talking about the animals so much that we didn't even get to go out on the lake. 

The wood pellets are actually for wood heaters. It's a little different than the ones sold for horse stalls. The pellets for horse stalls have some sort of chemicals or perfume added to them and cost more. The Pellet Heater ones are just wood. I think ours don't get the urge to chew on them because they are started on them before they have teeth and they only recognize it as a potty area. Tractor Supply has them out on the floor during heating season but they usually have a pallet of them in the back during hot weather, so if you ask, they might have them. 

The Petco litter works fine, but the wood pellets are twice the volume for half the price and they have the best/least odor.

The 10 week olds have the run of our living room now and with two litter boxes have still had zero accidents.


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## Mraymo (Oct 30, 2007)

Congratulations. Kodi is so handsome. I can't wait to meet him.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

krandall said:


> I didn't know there was another Kodi! I saw that there was a Cody, but not the other spelling. What is your Kodi short for?
> 
> Karen


Hi, Karen
My Kodi was Kodiak. I was going to name him Casey, but Kodi just king of stuck with him. Kodi is 3yrs 9mos old, a gold/sable/cream who has gone through a few color changes. He is now a caramel/white/cream. Your Kodi is so cute. It will be neat to see how he changes.


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Very cute puppy, sounds like he's settling it at home so well!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

irnfit said:


> Hi, Karen
> My Kodi was Kodiak. I was going to name him Casey, but Kodi just king of stuck with him. Kodi is 3yrs 9mos old, a gold/sable/cream who has gone through a few color changes. He is now a caramel/white/cream. Your Kodi is so cute. It will be neat to see how he changes.


I can certainly understand the name "Kodiak"... they do look like little bear cubs when they are puppies! And I love sables! But I don't pick horses based on color, and wasn't going to pick a dog that way either.<g>

My Kodi's mom is a parti belton, just like him, and she has a LOT of silver (I don't know if that's the right term... it's black and white hairs mixed) in her coat on her back now. He's already got a lot of freckles on his belly. He doesn't have as many dark spots on the skin of his back now as his brothers do (we got to see them all wet during bath time!<g>) but it's likely that he'll do some color changing too.

Karen


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Tom King said:


> We really enjoyed Karen and Katey's short time with us. They came late one afternoon and left early the next morning. Of course we stayed up way late talking. We like it when we have visitors that love the dogs and the dogs do too. They got a whirlwind tour of our farm and animals, including one of the Bald Eagles, but we were talking about the animals so much that we didn't even get to go out on the lake.
> 
> If and when I ever get another puppy, we'll plan on spending more time. (I think Katey will insist on coming along whether I need her or not!<g>) In fact, the area AND your property is so beautiful, and the company so good that you might find us camped on your doorstep someday just for the heck of it!!!
> 
> Karen


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

*New adorable Kodi pix*

What is there to say?


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## Patti McNeil (Apr 20, 2009)

So sweet!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Oh look at those eyes! Karen I notice and wrote "if and when you get another puppy" to Tom. I am pretty sure you can remove the "if." LOL


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

Congratulations on getting an adorable puppy from such a reputatble breeder. Thanks for sharing the tips and information. Keep those pictures coming.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

krandall said:


> I can certainly understand the name "Kodiak"... they do look like little bear cubs when they are puppies! And I love sables! But I don't pick horses based on color, and wasn't going to pick a dog that way either.<g>
> Karen


Oh, I didn't pick him for his color, either. I was looking for a black/white puppy. He picked us when we went to look at the available puppies. He also had a twin sister, but we didn't like her personality. There was an all black available at he time also. It's just fun to watch them change colors. I love the new picture of your Kodi. He has such a sweet face.

His name came about because his mother's name is Alaska, so the litter was an Alaska themed one. There was Kodiak, Moose, Aurora, etc.


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## Mom2Izzo (Jul 1, 2009)

Just wanted to say what a GORGEOUS puppy Kodi is! Congrats!


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## stephb11 (Jul 5, 2009)

What a cute little pup! I love his coloring and sweet face! Enjoy!

StephB


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## Duncan'sMom (Apr 5, 2009)

He has such a sweet face!


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

Aww, Kodi is too cute!!!


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