Kody

Kody is a two-year-old female Whippet-Rhodesian Ridgeback mix who is Kat’s primary cat detection dog and an unlikely pet detective. A mischievous mutt, Kody was unwanted and on her way to the animal shelter because of her love for digging, chewing, and jumping on people. But when Kat evaluated Kody for cat detection work, she saw everything she wanted in a search partner—an intense love for kitties, a desire to play hard, a willingness to do anything for a treat, and a love for people. Kody quickly became not only a great search dog, but one of Kat’s best friends! Kody lives with Kat and, because of her brave temperament and small size, is the dog that will accompany Kat on her book tour in 2004. Kody is a prime example of how unwanted, naughty dogs can be saved from doggy death row at animal shelters and trained to rescue missing pets.

Here is how Kat Albrecht describes Kody in her book (partial excerpt from The Lost Pet Chronicles):

It was a wild little forty-pound, yellowish-gold, whippet-mix with sweet brown eyes, a black mask, and triangle-shaped ears. Her color and facial features reminded me of Disney’s Old Yeller with a pointy needle-nose. Kody had an exuberant love for people, other dogs, and cats. Even though she jumped up on people and was hard to settle down, Kody's charm immediately earned her a chance to go home with one of our volunteers.

Kody played harder than any dog I had ever seen. Every evening she transformed my backyard into a made-for-whippet racetrack and transitioned from Kody-the-search dog to Old Yeller-on-methamphetamine. Kody would grab her "Giggly Wiggly," a soft plastic ball toy that made an odd, warble-like chirping noise when it moved, and she would run around and around, zipping past me, in a yellow flash. I called this the Zoom-Zoom game because as she streaked past me I would lunge for the toy, which was exactly what Kody wanted, and I would make a "zoom-zoom" noise as her toy made a "chirp-chirp" noise.