Codi's Journey
An Inspiring and Heartwarming Story about an Amazing Best Friend
About Codi's Journey
Early in his relationship with his beloved Border Collie, author Jeff Maziarek had a sense that "beneath the fur" there was a sentient being with far deeper insights into life than commonly thought. And, in their last year together some mystical events completely confirmed the accuracy of that feeling. In Codi's Journey, Jeff describes these events within the context of an inspiring and heartfelt narrative illustrating the very challenging circumstances Codi faced during the final 12 months of her life. Any dog owner who has ever shared stories about the "humanness" of their pet, as well as any adult who has ever loved and lost a beloved animal companion, will surely find this work captivating.
To provide even greater depth into Codi's story, Jeff details how this feisty canine became a part of his family. He likewise shares many engaging anecdotes about her personality and several of her more memorable adventures over the years. A charming photo gallery with 42 captioned images further brings Codi to life, featuring snapshots from the night she arrived as a 10-week-old puppy to the final week of her life.
Jeff is an inspirational speaker and author. His first book Spirituality Simplified provides an ideal starting point for anyone with a sincere desire to pursue a path of personal and/or spiritual growth. To contact Jeff via email please click here.Codi's Journey on Facebook
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CODIPUP.COM
Welcome to Codipup.com
Welcome to Codipup.com, a website dedicated to my book Codi's Journey, a heartfelt story about an awesome dog who touched our family in profound way. (CLICK HERE to read a PDF file with two sample chapters). If you have any questions regarding a particular subject on this site, please send me an email by clicking here. I also invite you to visit the Codi's Journey Facebook page by clicking on the link located on the navigation bar to your left. Below is a list of radio interviews that Jeff Maziarek has done on behalf of Codi's Journey:
- Steve Dale's PetWorld Show on WGNRadio.com. Click here to listen online or download the MP3 by right mouse-clicking on the link on that page and choosing "Save Link As." Jeff's part begins approximately 26 minutes into the file.
- The Donna Seebo Show (click on this link and a page will load that includes an audio player;this file is not downloadable.)
- The John St. Augustine Show on WGN AM 720 Chicago. Click here to listen online or download the MP3 by right mouse-clicking on the link on that page and choosing "Save Link As."
- Starr Weldon's Walk In Cafe Radio Show. Click here to listen to the show in archive.
- Exploring Unexplained Phenomena Show of February 25, 2012 hosted by Scott Colborn on KZUM radio in Lincoln, NE. Click here to listen live, or download the MP3 by right mouse-clicking on the link on that page and choosing "Save Link As." My part begins about 25 - 26 minutes into the show.
When I wrote down the results of three sessions Codi had with an animal communicator during her final year, I felt compelled to produce this book because those sessions clearly demonstrated to me that dogs (and other animals) truly are sentient beings. By "sentient" I mean they are perceptive beings who are, at some level, fully aware of their surroundings. They also feel and demonstrate and wide range of emotions, including love, sadness, fear, and in some respects anger, but in not in the self-righteous way that humans do.
From my perspective, this sentience is something that must be carefully considered by humankind within the context of how animals are cared for on this planet. In practice that actually means changing how animals are treated in the support of human industry (e.g., food and agriculture, cosmetic & pharmaceutical testing), and pet-related commerce (e.g., puppy mills, pet stores, etc.).
My primary vision for Codi's Journey is that it ultimately can play a role in raising the awareness of animal sentience, so that larger numbers of people are sensitive to the importance of providing dignified treatment to all animals currently used in support of humans. With increasing numbers of people demanding better treatment for animals, it is my sincere hope that the companies in those industries could then be compelled to modify their business practices.
Critical Acclaim - Codi's Journey – How Angels Touch Our Lives
"I've experienced the extraordinary love and grievous loss that comes when we're lucky enough to share our lives with amazing creatures. Codi's Journey tells that story with candor, joy and tears. Because they cannot stay long, our four-legged kids teach so much about the importance of honoring each and every moment we're given with them, a lesson we might do well to apply elsewhere. A friend once told me that dogs are angels sent down to look after us. Codi's Journey affirms that belief!"Catherine Crier, Acclaimed Author, Former Judge, Award-Winning Journalist, & TV Broadcaster (ABC News, CNN, Court TV, Fox News Channel)
Critical Acclaim - A Touching Tribute
“For anyone who has experienced a spiritual canine connection, Codi's Journey is a must read. It’s a touching tribute to a man’s search for a very special pup and the heart-warming life journey they shared.”
Eugenia Last, Internationally Syndicated Astrologist and Author
Eugenia Last, Internationally Syndicated Astrologist and Author
Critical Acclaim - A Story Told with Great Heart
“Codi’s story is one told with great heart; you will care about this dog as you
think about your own dogs. Anyone who has ever loved and lost
canine companions will definitely identify with this work.”
Steve Dale, syndicated radio host: WGN Radio; "Pet World;"
syndicated columnist (Tribune Media Services), USA Weekend Contributing Editor
Codi in Action!
Thanks to the efforts of a local video production company that converted some old VHS-based videos to digital files, visitors to this site can now see Codi in action! This sure brought back lots of good memories. I hope you enjoy it!
Buy Codi's Journey
Codi's Journey is available in print and as an eBook for the Amazon Kindle, the Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Sony Reader. (Please
note that the "Nook" version of the eBook file also can be used on any
e-reader that supports a standard ePUB format file.)
PURCHASE a Signed Copy via Copdipup.com through PayPal
To purchase the paperback edition of Codi's Journey and receive a personally endorsed copy of the book directly from the author, please use the secure PayPal "Buy Now" link below. The book retails for $15.00 (U.S.) plus $3.00 for shipping & handling (U.S. orders only). Orders from outside the U.S. have higher shipping rates. Please note that PayPal will not require you to set up an account in order to make this purchase; they will simply process the credit or debit card transaction.
PURCHASE a Copy via Amazon.com's CreateSpace subsidiary
Please click on the logo below to purchase Codi's Journey via CreateSpace, an Amazon.com company specializing in print-on-demand publishing.
PURCHASE Codi's Journey as an eBook
Please click on the appropriate image below to purchase the eBook version of Codi's Journey you need for your particular e-reading device.
Amazon Kindle Apple iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch Barnes & Noble Nook
Sony Reader
PURCHASE a Signed Copy via Copdipup.com through PayPal
To purchase the paperback edition of Codi's Journey and receive a personally endorsed copy of the book directly from the author, please use the secure PayPal "Buy Now" link below. The book retails for $15.00 (U.S.) plus $3.00 for shipping & handling (U.S. orders only). Orders from outside the U.S. have higher shipping rates. Please note that PayPal will not require you to set up an account in order to make this purchase; they will simply process the credit or debit card transaction.
PURCHASE a Copy via Amazon.com's CreateSpace subsidiary
Please click on the logo below to purchase Codi's Journey via CreateSpace, an Amazon.com company specializing in print-on-demand publishing.
PURCHASE Codi's Journey as an eBook
Please click on the appropriate image below to purchase the eBook version of Codi's Journey you need for your particular e-reading device.
Amazon Kindle Apple iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch Barnes & Noble Nook
Sony Reader
Really captures the emotional bond with a pet
"I do not have much time to enjoy reading for other than business, but once I began reading Codi's Journey, I couldn't put it down. Having had pets myself, interacting with them and sadly losing them I could completely empathize with the author's thoughts. He really captured the emotional bond that exits between a pet owner and their pet. Codi's Journey is extremely well-written, and is a book that should be read by non-pet owners as well."Keith S., Woodford, Wisconsin
Buy Codi's Journey Print Copy from Codipup.com & We'll Donate $5 to Animal Rescue
When you buy a copy of the print version of Codi's Journey (read the Introduction here) directly from this website by using the secure PayPal "Buy Now" button below, we will donate $5.00 of your total purchase amount to the animal rescue organization of your choice. All you need to do is provide the organization's name, city, & state on the second page of the PayPal check-out process where it says: "Add special instructions to the seller Add", click on "Add" and type in the information (e.g., Come Bye Border Collie Rescue, Highland, IL, National Mill Dog Rescue, Peyton, CO).
Codi's Journey retails for $15.00 (U.S.) plus $3.00 for shipping & handling (U.S. orders only). Orders from outside the U.S. have higher shipping rates. Please note that PayPal will not require you to set up an account in order to make this purchase; they will simply process the credit or debit card transaction. The Buy Now button below will take you directly to PayPal. Thanks!
Codi's Journey retails for $15.00 (U.S.) plus $3.00 for shipping & handling (U.S. orders only). Orders from outside the U.S. have higher shipping rates. Please note that PayPal will not require you to set up an account in order to make this purchase; they will simply process the credit or debit card transaction. The Buy Now button below will take you directly to PayPal. Thanks!
Artfully Written and Lovingly Presented
His dog-tale is studded with humor, sensitivity, and most of all, the spirituality that his first book, Spirituality Simplified, demonstrated so beautifully. His joy and delight in Codi’s personality and "beingness" is intermingled with the tears and anguish that all of us feel when a loved one is in pain and we prepare for their passing. Artfully written and lovingly presented, Codi’s Journey is a gift for the soul."
Joyce Naylor, New Jersey
"Codi's Journey" is Awesome
Any book that can stir laughter as well as tears is a wonderful story. Codi’s Journey is awesome."
Terri Wernert, volunteer, Great Lakes Border Collie Rescue
Leaves an Imprint on Your Heart & Soul
Codi’s Journey will leave an imprint on your heart and soul long after you put the book down.”
Will Murtha, author of "Dying for a Change"
A Journey of Meeting and Growing to Love Codi
"Jeff Maziarek has woven a panoramic view of a couple’s love for their dog, a Border Collie girl named Codi. In Codi’s Journey you get the full emotion of learning their pet is seriously ill, and the hole it leaves in their hearts as Jeff seeks help from allopathic means and holistic practitioners. Jeff takes us on the journey of meeting and growing to love Codi, and when she passes, we truly feel the loss."
Sara Sgarlat, publicist and author of "Eating Your Way To Better Health"
(Rivanna Health Publications)
OptiBalancePet Formulas
The following summarizes the advanced Dog and Puppy Formulas available from her website at OptiBalancePet.com:
- Fears & Phobias - Restores calm and confidence, and resolves even chronic fears of unusual or extreme circumstances such as storms, fireworks, crowds, or unfamiliar people or surroundings.
- Separation Anxiety - Safely restores calm and comfort.
- Aggression Relief - Gently shifts imbalance, fear and trauma that can cause misdirected aggression.
- Boarding & Day Care - Alleviates the stress and trauma that a pet may experience with outside caregivers or other changes in daily routine.
- Hyper Dog - Helps eliminate high-strung behaviors and improve overall well-being by supporting confidence, self esteem, and the ability to relax.
- New Home - Provides calm, confidence, and a willingness to create new bonds, helping to ensure quick and successful adjustments.
- Love Lost - Revives a dog’s zest for life while resolving despondent and/or depressive behavior due to loss of or extended separation from a companion or caregiver.
- Training Formula - Supports behavior modification and provides greater patience, focus, and overall receptivity and responsiveness to learning and conditioning.
For more detailed information regarding all of these products, I highly recommend that you visit OptiBalancePet.com.
Taken in by the Depth of Love and Honesty
Very Well-written Story
This book is very well-written and I am amazed at the level of detail the author recalls over a period of years. I highly recommend this book to those who have pets, and to those who would like to experience the years of joy (albeit eventually with some sorrow), that a pet can bring to a family.”
Todd Savitt, California
Unforgettable in Every Way
As I read I couldn’t help but remember a small French Poodle our family adopted when he was about 4 months old. My daughter promised to train him but who do you think was outside at night training Bon Bon? – Me of course! He turned out to be a very clever and affectionate dog. Back then we had a wall in front of our garden & another at the side. I trained him not to go over the walls. Sometimes he used to sit on the outside wall and look around to see if anyone was watching and jump over the wall. As soon as I shouted "Bon Bon come inside" he immediately returned to the garden. In summer I used to give him a bath and put him outside on a table. I used to say to him "wait there until I return." He always waited patiently. I then dried him with a hairdryer, which he loved.
I could go on and on about my beloved Bon Bon, but unfortunately the time came when we had to have him put down. My daughter and I attended, and when our veterinarian put the needle in his leg he quickly passed away. The vet, our great friend, took us in his arms and all three of us cried like babies.
Thanks for the opportunity to share this story, and, for all the love and effort you put into writing Codi’s Journey."
Babette Herman, South Africa
Let us all Hope We Are Remembered With Such Love
On top of it all "Codi's Journey" is a very good read. Let us all hope we are remembered with such love."
Susan Ross, England
I Loved Reading this Book
Mary Lou Meader, Washington
Book Excerpt: Introduction to "Codi's Journey"
If you’ve picked this book I can safely assume that at some point in your life you have had the pleasure of sharing your home and life with a dog (or dogs). Perhaps you’ve been close to dogs your whole life, or maybe it’s only more recently you’ve discovered the joy of having canines around. Either way, it’s likely we share a deep and abiding affection for them.
In my case, the earliest recollection I have of interacting with dogs dates back to the spring of 1968, when my best friend’s dog had a litter of puppies. Even though I was 11-years old at the time, this was actually the first opportunity I ever had to see and play with such little pups. In the few weeks that followed that initial visit I would come to spend many hours there having fun with them, and just reveling in their love and attention. Eventually, I became fascinated with a particular black and white female who always paid me more mind than any of the others. She wound up joining our family in June of that year after my mother finally gave in to my constant pleading.
Since that time over four decades ago, I’ve had one or more dogs sharing a home with me for nearly 35 of those years. While each of these dogs genuinely touched my heart, it was Codi, a certain feisty little Border Collie, who affected me most deeply. Not only was she my best friend in every sense of the term, she also turned out to be an amazing spiritual teacher. While some might scoff at the idea that a dog could actually teach anything to an intellectually superior human being, the truth is intelligence is just one aspect of any creature’s abilities. The dog’s unwavering loyalty, its unique ability to live totally in the present, and its unmatched capacity to give unconditional love even under the most challenging of circumstances truly makes it an ideal spiritual role model.
From early on in my relationship with Codi, I always felt that beneath the fur there was a very sentient being. And, in the last year of our time together some very mystical events ultimately transpired to completely confirm the accuracy of that feeling. Within this book, I explain each of these events within the context of a detailed narrative describing the very challenging journey Codi faced during the final 12 months of her life. To provide even deeper insight into her story, I also recount how she came to be a part of our family and likewise share many engaging anecdotes about her personality and some of her more memorable deeds over the years.
In telling this story my foremost intention is to share two key messages. First, that our pets (dogs in this instance), actually are “sages with fur” who have a far greater understanding of life (and us) than commonly thought. Second, that it’s perfectly normal to feel intense and long-lasting grief at the loss of a pet, and particularly so when that animal served as an adult's primary companion for many years. In this regard, I sincerely want any reader who also has experienced such a loss to know that someone truly does understand the sadness and emptiness they felt when their beloved pet passed on. Finally, it’s my hope that such readers come to understand how important it is to fully process their feelings of grief by really feeling them, and then letting them go rather than holding them inside.
In my case, the earliest recollection I have of interacting with dogs dates back to the spring of 1968, when my best friend’s dog had a litter of puppies. Even though I was 11-years old at the time, this was actually the first opportunity I ever had to see and play with such little pups. In the few weeks that followed that initial visit I would come to spend many hours there having fun with them, and just reveling in their love and attention. Eventually, I became fascinated with a particular black and white female who always paid me more mind than any of the others. She wound up joining our family in June of that year after my mother finally gave in to my constant pleading.
Since that time over four decades ago, I’ve had one or more dogs sharing a home with me for nearly 35 of those years. While each of these dogs genuinely touched my heart, it was Codi, a certain feisty little Border Collie, who affected me most deeply. Not only was she my best friend in every sense of the term, she also turned out to be an amazing spiritual teacher. While some might scoff at the idea that a dog could actually teach anything to an intellectually superior human being, the truth is intelligence is just one aspect of any creature’s abilities. The dog’s unwavering loyalty, its unique ability to live totally in the present, and its unmatched capacity to give unconditional love even under the most challenging of circumstances truly makes it an ideal spiritual role model. From early on in my relationship with Codi, I always felt that beneath the fur there was a very sentient being. And, in the last year of our time together some very mystical events ultimately transpired to completely confirm the accuracy of that feeling. Within this book, I explain each of these events within the context of a detailed narrative describing the very challenging journey Codi faced during the final 12 months of her life. To provide even deeper insight into her story, I also recount how she came to be a part of our family and likewise share many engaging anecdotes about her personality and some of her more memorable deeds over the years.
In telling this story my foremost intention is to share two key messages. First, that our pets (dogs in this instance), actually are “sages with fur” who have a far greater understanding of life (and us) than commonly thought. Second, that it’s perfectly normal to feel intense and long-lasting grief at the loss of a pet, and particularly so when that animal served as an adult's primary companion for many years. In this regard, I sincerely want any reader who also has experienced such a loss to know that someone truly does understand the sadness and emptiness they felt when their beloved pet passed on. Finally, it’s my hope that such readers come to understand how important it is to fully process their feelings of grief by really feeling them, and then letting them go rather than holding them inside.
A Story of Love and Extraordinary Friendship
Based on some of the stories shared it’s very apparent that Codi’s "work" in life was to continually perfect the ability to chase, catch, and retrieve a Frisbee, and she was as determined as any good athlete in perfecting these skills. Even as she aged and her health deteriorated, she maintained this zest for life, and in the process taught her humans about the importance of getting the most out of life no matter what stage of it one is in.
If you ever have owned, loved and then lost a cherished animal friend, Codi's Journey will awaken memories and reminiscences of your animal companion and may bring on a few tears - happy tears for having owned and loved an animal that loved you back tenfold. You won't want to miss this story of love and extraordinary friendship."
Peter Cunningham, Florida
A "Must Read" for Dog Lovers
Codi's Journey is well-written, and a definite "must-read" for dog lovers who have lost a dear canine friend."
Pete Koerner, author of "The Belief Formula"
A Compelling, Heartfelt Work
“Codi’s Journey” is a compelling, heartfelt work about the unquestionable love between man and dog. I loved the Codi conversations especially, although I loved every word. It truly is a love story. While the loss of such a dear friend is so much to bear, next to all the love we are given, it is little. What a labor of love this book was; I can imagine the tears that were shed in the writing."
Gloria Wendroff, author of Heavenletters"
Book Excerpt: Codi's Comedy
This wasn’t just a quick gallop from one end of the abode to the other and back again. No, this was a sustained burst of pent-up energy that included jumping on and off the couch, crawling on her belly under the cocktail table, rising up again and sprinting down the hall to the bedroom, leaping on and off the bed, circling a padded chair, then repeating the same process at least twice more until she finally got it out of her system. It essentially happened so fast that all we could do was stand back and laugh hysterically as this wild-eyed Border Collie treated our entire house like it was the setting for an agility competition!"
Written Straight from the Heart
It’s almost as if Codi herself wrote the book through the author so the rest of us “dog parents” can feel that it’s Ok to feel as nuts about our canine kids as we do. In fact, it’s perfectly normal to have such profound love for a four-legged being that we are willing to leave no stone unturned in order to keep them both happy and healthy.”
Kristen Damolaris, Illinois
Book Excerpt: Seeing Codi for the First Time
