Tearing Up The House With Nate

As we know, when Cooper and my son Nate get going they really tear up the house. 

Here are a couple video clips of them doing just that.


We start out slow...

And THEN...

He Wants To Wear His Jingle Bells

Cooper is really funny about wearing things.  He doesn't really like to wear a jacket outside even if his hair is short and he will get cold easy.  When he was having skin issues I had a shirt on him most of the time, but he would rather not have had to wear it.  He hates hats.  But give him a collar and he's a happy boy!

This year I got this cute little hat and jingle bell collar for him to wear to Christmas parties.  He won't wear the hat of course, but the collar is his favorite thing these days. 

We take the collar off at night so the bell won't ring every time he moves.  We leave it on the floor by his crate so he can get to it when he wants to wear it again.  

This video starts after he brought the collar from where we took it off him at the door of his crate.  He brought it to me, jumped up on the bed next to me and was barking at it then looking at me.  I told him to go get it, so he jumped down to get it again and put it in my hand.  Watch what he did next...

Tearing The Talking Tubes

Cooper LOVES cardboard tubes.  He tears them up every time, but more than half the fun is when we talk into the tube.  It's really funny because he likes to chase the tube around and bark at us as our voice comes out the end of the tube.

Usually he likes paper towel tubes but I have resorted to rewashing rags rather than using up paper towels.  I've decided to be more eco friendly.  He used to get a paper towel tube every week or so.  Now he gets one about once every three weeks.  It really is a big money saver.  

Toilet paper rolls are fun to tear up but I can't talk through it, so it's not a big game really.

At Christmas time is EXCITING because he gets the LONG tubes from wrapping paper. Sometimes when he's biting at the end of the tube I can get my mouth to the other end of the tube without him realizing it and speak into the tube.  He's so surprised by it and my voice makes the tube vibrate, he jumps up and barks at the tube as if it just came alive.  It's a lot of fun.  Look for yourself.

Christmas Package In The Mail

A package came in the mail with Cooper's name on it.  It was from California, so I know exactly who it was from. Chopper is one of Cooper's K-9 biker buddies. 

 You can see my other blog posts of Chopper here...

7-21-11 July 6 - Part 2 - BBQ with CHOPPER

10-16-11 Book Signing With Chopper

Cooper doesn't waste any time getting into packages I give to him.  He has gotten things in the mail before so he's sure he'll like what's inside.  

Watch how he makes short work of this task...

Oh Christmas Tree

I was WAY too busy to put a tree up this year.  I had expected to go to my daughter's house for Christmas, so I wasn't too concerned about it.  The only thing I was missing was taking a nice christmas picture of Cooper.  I had thought I would have plenty of time to get some good shots of him in a Christmas setting, but by the day before Christmas Eve, I still hadn't gotten any good shots.  

SOOOOOOO.....  Andy and I teamed up and he let me borrow his tree.  Lights and presents included.  They always have a beautiful tree.  I have taken Cooper's picture in front of their tree many times.  

These are some of the shots.  I'm glad he's so cooperative...

Andy's Christmas Party

Andy's day program had a Christmas party.  We had a great time visiting with people I knew there, meeting new people, and introducing EVERYONE to Cooper.  He had never met anyone there, so I was able to tell his stories over and over. 

Cooper and his best pal Andy

Cooper was so very well behaved and loved all the attention.  He was able to be off leash some of the time.  I put my coat on the floor so he knew where to be if I told him to stay as I visited with people afraid of dogs.  

We all know how Cooper loves to have his picture taken.  Take a look at all the new friends Cooper made.

Barbara and her mom Barbara

Eileen and her mom Judy

Neil

Erin

Bobbie-Jo and her foster mom Theresa

Jaime and her mom Roz

I hope our new friends leave a comment on this blog as they read.  We had a great time at your party.  We hope to visit again some day.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all Friends Of Cooper

This Santa's name is 'Skinny', a biker Uncle of Cooper's since he was a tiny puppy.
I cherish this picture because of the life long friendship Skinny and Cooper have shared.
We love our Skinny Santa!

We hope you have a joyful day with your families.

Christmas to our family this year will be about sharing time rather than gifts.  We want to get back to the basics of giving of self with home made gifts and promises of services that will be appreciated by the recipient.  This is something a bit more like what Cooper does every day of his life.  He gives the gift of happiness so naturally.  I'll follow his lead this Christmas Day.  Perhaps it will also be my New Year's Resolution :0)~

2nd Annual Biker Ball - Christmas Celebration

Cooper and I went to the 2nd Annual Biker Ball the other night.  It was kind of a Christmas party of sorts.  It was put on by some of the local bike groups for all of our South Shore biking community to enjoy.  

Cooper got to meet a lot of new people, as he always does.  He also got to see Aunties and Uncles he hasn't seen in a little while.  We were shoulder to shoulder at our table having fun and talking.  Cooper did a little bit of lap surfing.  He really likes to visit other people sometimes.  Other times he will just chill in his own chair, enjoy the occasional petting and pose for a picture every now and then.  That's the life for Cooper.

Riding season is over but this won't be the last time we see a big group of our friends since we try to get together on occasion during off season.  Warm days might revisit and if they do, we may get out for a ride. Those days are a gift. 

Poor Cooper.
We put his Christmas collar on his head like a hair band.
He loves the attention.

Jesse's short trip to the hospital

Jesse had been sick for a few days with high fever and sweats.  He was sore from head to toe with a head ache and he couldn't eat anything.  

Handsome even when he's sick

He developed a rash all over his body, which probably headed him toward getting the help he needed.  Cooper and I brought him to the hospital.  They took him right in and gave him all he needed to get him feeling better.

Cooper stayed right with Jesse.  He laid with him on the bed while the nurse drew Jesse's blood.  Jesse was cold from his high fever, so having Cooper there was great.  He acted as a little heating pad for Jesse.  They huddled together under piles of blankets.  Jesse just couldn't get warm.

Doctors and nurses came and went.  Everyone got to know Cooper and got to pet him as they talked to and cared for Jesse.  We were there for hours while Jesse was diagnosed.  They also gave him three liters of IV fluid for his dehydration.  

 We thought Jesse would have to stay over night but he began to feel much, MUCH better.  He got an appetite for the first time in a couple days.  He was given dinner.  Cooper ate dinner in the hospital too since we always have his food in Cooper's back pack for just such an occasion.  

Checking out the Oxygen sensor on Jesse's finger

A short time later we were able to bring Jesse home.  Cooper sat happily on Jesse's lap, seeming completely satisfied with our trip home.  So was I.

Keeping Jesse Company While He's Sick

Jesse picked up a bug or a flu.  He had been feeling a little un-well for a little while before that.  The sickness became aches and pains, then a fever.  Little by little he got worse.  He developed a head ache, weakness and would sweat so much he had to change his clothes a number of times every night.  

Cooper spent a lot of time sleeping with Jesse while Jesse tried to sleep off his ill feelings.   He was very tolerant of having to be in bed all day with his favorite playmate while I worked.  He didn't try to entice Jesse to play.  He seemed to understand that Jesse wasn't feeling well, so he allowed him to rest all day and night.  He's such a good boy.

Washing Cooper's Blanket

Cooper sleeps in his dog crate.  He loves his crate.  It's where he is comfortable in that he knows exactly what to expect.  He has his pillow and his blanket that he expects to have in there when he goes to bed.  No toys are in his crate and he likes the door to be closed.

As anyone would strip their bed and wash their bedding weekly, Cooper's blanket and pillow case are also washed.  His pillow is in a water proof case too  to protect against the occasional accident.  I wash that sometimes too, but not every week.

When I take the bedding out of his crate he comes running.  He wants to watch my every move.  I put them in the washer, cooper is there to supervise.  When I put them into the drier, there he is again.  

When the blanket comes out of the drier, all warm and smelling good, Cooper likes to visit with it on the couch or on my bed.  I don't fold fold it any more.  He wants it right out of the drier,  so I toss it on the bed or couch and Cooper lays on it, rolls on it, likes to be covered by it.  He will lay with it for an hour if nothing more pressing captures his attention.

When it's time for me to put his bed back together he watches me closely.  I put the pillow case on his pillow, then fold the blanket so it fills just right into the crate.  

I put it all back into his crate while he watches, and when I'm done, he moves in for a close look.  Occasionally we will go in and lay down for a few minutes.  

On the night of the clean bedding Cooper will go to bed early.  He enjoys it so much that rather than laying in bed with me and Jesse while we watch tv or read, he would rather be in his own bed enjoying his clean bedding.  I'm glad he gets such pleasure from  his clean blanket.  It feels good to do something nice for him that he clearly appreciates.

He brings his brush when he's itchy

Cooper has a toy box for his toys.  He's like a kid who goes to his toy box to take out what he wants and brings it to us to play with.  I also have his leash hanging out of his toy box so he can bring it when he needs to go out.  His jug is in there that he can bring if he wants a snack.  And last but not least he has a brush that he will bring if he wants to have a good, all-over scratch.  

We don't brush Cooper really, but when we use a brush on him it's to scratch his back, sides, belly, legs, neck, chin.  He loves when we scratch his whole body like that.  So he gets to ask for that kind of attention by bringing his brush to us from his toy box.

He's so funny when he brings it.  He hands it up to us then steps back to wait for us to invite him up.  We will either have him get on the couch or our lap, or we might get on the floor with him and scratch/brush his hair backward and scrub him back and forth while he rolls around so we can reach all his best itchy spots.  He makes it clear that he REALLY loves this activity.