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.