COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | DECEMBER 2, 2021 | 5A Pet Tips‘n’ Tales: Cody’s Naughty Christmas Tail … errr … Tale By Mary Ellen “Angel Scribe” Chris and Bill inform guests of the “Cody Rules” because their 85-pound, yellow Labrador-able Re- triever, Cody, retrieves all year long! Shoes remain either out- side or locked safely in a room. Bathroom doors re- main closed preventing toi- let paper from mysteriously “walking off ”. He stealthily sneaks under the dinner ta- ble and steals the “napkin on your lapkin”. “Our bedroom closet is always closed because Cody has an affinity for bras! His worst offense was parading my bra to our male guest. “Since Cody loves food, we ask him, ‘Do you want a job?’ He licks his lips mean- ing, ‘Yes’. For his paycheck of a piece of cheese, he must bring us the ‘baby’ we ask for. “You might think that Cody has his own Toyland account, because he has 40 purr-sonally named stuffed ‘babies’: Allie, Crock, Crow, Ducky, Ellie, Frog, Gator, Hershey, Octo, Pink Piggy, Purple, Racer, Santa Baby, Socky, Squirrel, etc. (Bill and I hope to prevent Alz- heimer’s since we, too, must remember all these names.) “The room with his basket of babies is down a long hallway, so Cody must leave us and search for the right toy, then return with it for his paycheck. One evening while watching the news, something purr-posterous was reported and I invol- untarily shouted out, ‘That’s a CROCK of (. . .) !!!!’ The next thing we knew, Cody was standing before us with his “CROC”odile baby pa- tiently waiting for his piece of cheese.” Hungarian researchers asked “gifted” dogs to fetch a toy by name. Most dogs can memorize the name of a few toys but “gifted” dogs recognize ten or more. Cody is clearly “gifted”. Cody’s sock fetish leads him to s-t-r-e-t-c-h socks off a person’s foot. So last Christmas, their grand- daughter lovingly wrapped two freshly laundered socks for him. His unusual multi-col- ored lined oversized hand- bag was Chris’ friend’s, who let Cody carry it when she arrived and left. He’d proud- ly hold the purse’s handles in his mouth, as he walked her to or from her vehicle, the purse would drag between his feet, and all the while he would grin and happily wag his tail. The friend knew how much he loved it, so she gave it to him for Christmas. Chris purr-oudly hangs Bill’s, Cody’s, and her Christmas stockings on the mantel. Last year she found a cuter one for Cody, (Note: her husband gets to keep his old one!), so she hung up the new one “with care”. A few days later, Bill and Chris were chatting when she saw an empty spot where Cody’s stocking “was supposed to be”. “The crazy part,” said Chris, “is that the hanger was still in place — and our two stockings hadn’t been disturbed. I asked Bill if he’d moved the stocking. ‘No.’ He asked if I had. ‘Of course not!’ So, we started a room-to-room search for it, with Cody. “Then I had an ‘Aha mo- ment’ and went to the bed- room. The missing colorful, now wrinkled stocking, all nestled in for its long win- ter’s nap, at the foot of our bed, on our comforter. “Cody had ‘retrieved’ his new stocking, brought it back to bed, and slept with it! It doesn’t look new anymore, but it’s obviously loved.” “Whether Cody was checking his stocking early for presents from Santa or mad at it for not being his traditional one, we’ll never know, but it is back hanging on their mantel — for now. How he extricated his stock- ing without that heavy hook tumbling down still aston- ishes us.” Not only is their home and Christmas tree decorat- ed for Christmas, but so is Cody. Chris places a Christ- COURTESY PHOTO Cody is “creative” all year long, but this Christmas he qualified for Santa’s Naughty list! mas collar adorned with a bell on it around his neck. Obviously, the jingles were not loud enough to wake the sleeping couple during their dog’s recently planned theft! P.S. The latest news just in from Cody’s “Never a Dull Moment Land”. “This Christmas Cody was up to it again!” ex- claimed Chris. “I’ve been on Jury duty and he has been ‘needy’. At least that’s his excuse so I’ll exonerate him. I hear my husband call, ‘Oh! Chris, Cody . . .’ This is our ‘code talk’ for ‘Cody has something in his mouth’. He had tissue paper from a gift bag under our Jingle Rush 5K offers fun, healthy start to holiday season Cottage Grove tradition returns as an in-person holiday happening COTTAGE GROVE – For over a decade, area runners and walkers have kicked off their holiday season with the Jingle Rush 5K, and will be lining up again this year on Sat- urday morning, Dec. 4. These days, fun tradi- tions that can take place safely are more important than ever. With this in mind, the folks at Run CG Run – a Cottage Grove- based group of running/ walking enthusiasts that organizes events that showcase their community – will host this year’s Jin- gle Rush, which starts and finishes at Cottage Grove High School. A true family event, the Jingle begins at 8:30 a.m. with a choice for kids of either a one or two-lap warm-up run around the high-school track. The 5K begins at 9 a.m. The event begins and ends behind the Cottage Grove High School track. Participants are encour- aged to work some of their COVID stress out in a way that will benefit partici- pants (exercise reduces stress, after all) while help- ing others (this year, the proceeds will benefit the Cottage Grove area Tree of Joy and CGHS Key Club, 6-day weather forecast FRIDAY SATURDAY 55° | 41° 54° | 38° AM Clouds/PM Sun Mostly Cloudy SUNDAY MONDAY 54° | 43° 53° | 44° Mostly Cloudy Showers TUESDAY WEDNESDAY 51° | 41° AM Showers 51° | 43° and they will support Run CG Run’s efforts to provide positive, healthy events for the community.) The course offers a loop of mostly paved roadways in surrounding neighbor- hoods, and Run CG Run would love to have partic- ipants tag them and post their times and photos on Facebook and Instagram. The 5K walk/run is ‘economy priced’ at $5 or $10 for participants 18 and younger. Participants can sign up at cgjinglerush2021. eventbrite.com. For questions about the race, call Jim at 541-968- 2392. tree. He usually picks one gift to rob each year. At least we know which one it is this Christmas! He is like a little child, excited for Christmas morning.” Christmas Pet Tips If you only drove to the dentist, you would hate car rides as much as your cat who only goes to a vet. Train your cats to love car rides. We take ours to look at Christmas lights. When they see a house with lights, they run between car windows for a better look. “I teach my therapy cats,” said Nancy a Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales reader in California, “that car rides are an adventure. I take them to places that are ‘cat fun’; ducks at the park, stores full of fish, rodents, and bags of kitty treats, see- ing Christmas lights, so on their next adventure they are purr-fectly happy.” Note: Keep a litter box, in the same location, in the car, because car rides are con- nected to a cat’s plumbing. Tell us your funny pet sto- ry! angelscribe@msn.com Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales on Face- book. www.facebook.com/Pet- TipsandTales Adopt Loving Pets www.PetFinder.com Cottage Grove Humane Society for Neuter/Spay As- sistance Program: 541-942- 3130 Santa Claus is coming to town Santa and Mrs. Claus are making plans to stop in Cottage Grove to help kick off the Christmas season on Saturday, Dec. 4. In a partnership between Downtown Cottage Grove, the Chamber of Com- merce, the City of Cottage Grove and other communi- ty organizations, Bohemia Park will be packed with activities starting at 5 p.m. when Santa’s parade and tree lighting begins. The evening will be filled with carols, stories, warm re- freshments and a tree raffle. Free raffle tickets can be obtained from the Cham- ber of Commerce booth. Photos with Santa will be available from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. LORANE COUNTRY NEWS Contributed by Lil Thompson for The Sentinel • After a long Thanksgiving, everyone is back in school. The high school basketball teams play in Waldport on Fri- day, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. • The Cougar Mat Wrestling Team is doing very well at the tournaments they have attended. They are playing with great sportsmanship and competitive spirit. • S.A.N.T.A. Toy Giveaway for 2021 is on Saturday, Dec. 11 from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Veneta Elementary School Gym. Participants are required to show proof of residency in the Fern Ridge or Crow-Applegate-Lorane School Districts. Also, proof of age for each child. No income requirements. No infants or children are allowed inside the gym during giveaway. S.A.N.T.A. provides gifts for families during the SOUTH LANE COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE The Only Emergency Medical Transport Service in South Lane County Cloudy Save your money by bundling home & auto. (541) 942-0555 Call 541-942-4493 for info. FOR EMERGENCY DIAL 911 Serving South Lane County. www.southlanefi re.org Christmas season. • Holiday Helpers need information from organizations in the Lorane and Crow area. Angel Trees will be in the Lorane Family Store and Applegate Elementary for chil- dren birth to 18. If your family or a family you know needs help, please call Marissa Cooper at 541-517-6608 or Pau- la May at 541-729-3999 by Dec. 8 so Santa’s helpers have time to shop. • Lorane Grange meets next on Thursday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. Unfortunately, no Christmas Dinner, Bingo night, or movie night in December. Bingo will return in January. • The annual Community Food Boxes drive will be in front of the Lorane Deli on Dec. 11 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. If you need a Christmas Food Box, contact Jennifer or John Long. Turkeys are needed, so call them or Pam Kers- gaard if you wish to donate.