Emptying The Storage Unit

Moving day!  Cooper enjoyed the moving truck VERY MUCH.

He was very well behaved and totally recognized much of the stuff he hadn't seen in a long time.  

It seemed to be what Cooper needed to go from liking the new house to loving it.  Once we started to carry stuff in, he seemed VERY content.  

He liked having our stuff in the new house

Moving Boxes

We had boxes everywhere that we had given to us when we were packing to move from our apartment to our new house.  Cooper loved all the excitement and fun of all the empty boxes to play in.  

One day Jesse was bringing in a new bunch of boxes to fill.  Cooper was in the box, so Jesse picked up the box, Cooper and all.  What fun for this happy little dog.

Too Tired To Play?

After a long day of packing and moving boxes Jesse had no energy left to play with Cooper.

Do you think Cooper is happy about it?  

While Mama Makes The Floors Shine

The weekend before we moved into the house I spent a lot of time cleaning the house.  We washed wood work and swept and washed the floors.  Cooper was really accustomed to being in the new house but never had anyplace soft or comfortable to lay.  I brought a chair for him from our apartment.  I think he really appreciated it.   

What do you think?

Basket Ball Boy

Cooper LOVES any kind of ball.  He  always ruins them in a relatively short time.  

He will flatten a whiffle ball in an hour.  

Base balls loose their skins as do soft balls.  

Foot balls loose their ends first.  

Foam balls are bitten into tiny pieces.  

Soccer balls are no match.  

Super balls get bitten in half.  

Tennis balls are a fairly difficult, but not impossible ball to conquer. 

The only ball we have found for Cooper that he can't ruin is a basket ball.  If it is under-inflated he is able to get his teeth into it and that is the end of that ball too.  Well-inflated basket balls will bounce well.  He has to chase the ball down and use his body to block the ball to stop it.  Playing fetch with a basket ball is more like a soccer game.  He can stop the ball and move it by pushing it with his paws, but he can't figure out how to give the ball a direction.  Usually we bounce the ball high for him to chase and block it while we catch up with him and try to kick the ball while he tries to block our attempts.  He blocks the ball with his body so when we kick it, he can hold it from going anywhere.  Sometimes he puts his chest and one arm on the ball and barks to challenge us to get it from him.  He plays this game like a sport.  He's very competitive.

This year we got him a new ball to replace the ball we got him a couple years ago.  

The old ball became under-inflated and he got his teeth into it.  He was able to bite a small hole in the ball that he worked on for a long time.  He ended off gnawing a big hole in the ball.  He's so happy when he tears apart a ball that we seldom stop him.   

Lunch In The New House

Desiree and the kids came over on one of the days I was cleaning the house.  They brought their lunch from McDonald's.  I knew they were going to do that so I brought my folding picnic table for the kids to sit at while they ate.  

It was fun for them.  

Cooper was curious.

1st Meal With Mama At Our New Home

I was cleaning the new house one night, getting it ready for us to move in.  It was late and I started getting hungry.  I called a local pizza place to have them deliver a pizza to me.  I have a back pack in my car with Cooper's things in it.  There is dog food in there too, so he was able to have dinner with me.  Our first meal together in the new house.    

Just Him and Me.

No Soft Place To Lay

When we were waiting to pass papers on the new house we had to do inspections. Also, because it was a bank owned property, it seemed no one was making sure the house didn't run out of fuel oil to heat the house.  We had to go make sure the heat was on low enough to conserve what we had left, but high enough not to allow the pipes to freeze.  We visited the house every other day.  

Cooper became accustomed to our visits and began to perch up high on the back stairs that go up to the second floor.  

He could see us up stairs and down, and could see the door we would leave by.  

He was most comfortable there on his own personal look-out. 

Happy Anniversary to THIS BLOG!

Today makes one year since the introduction of this blog (view first entry here).  With an entry every single day for the last year, I'm proud to claim more than 10,000 views in my first year, in 14 countries around the world.  


This is such an accomplishment for me.  I'm really happy to have been able to share so many cute and funny stories with Cooper's fans.  I'm not done yet with my commitment.  I'm going to keep going.  Folks seem to love the stories and Cooper is such a little celebrity.  I have every reason to keep telling his stories.  

SO, You keep reading!  I'll keep writing! :)

Shopping In Saftlers

Back in June, I decided to get some sewing items to take on my road trip with me.  I knew that I would be getting patches that I would want to sew on my riding shirt, Cooper's harness and Jesse's vest.  So I went to one of my favorite places to look around.  Cooper wanted to go too.  The owner had a dog too and asked me to put Cooper in a carriage until his dog met him.  I guess his dog has been aggressive before and he wanted to make sure their meeting was controlled.  I really appreciated the insight.

I put Cooper in the carriage and went to browse for what I needed.  I found the perfect combination of items that would fit together in the palm of my hand which included needles, a thread cutter and thimble all contained in a little tube. I was amazed to find all those things that went together so well.  

My Travel Sewing Kit

Cooper was curious about everything I did.  If he was on the floor he would have been smelling everything and keeping himself completely occupied.  Having to be in the carriage caused his attention to focus on me.  

Cooper was happiest when we were rolling through the isles looking for things.  He loves the ride.  It doesn't matter at all what he rides... he just loves to be on the move.

Waiting For What?

Cooper knows this trunk to have wheels under it.  Notice how he chooses THIS item to sit on as if waiting for something to happen.  

He wants a ride!  Can you imagine what planning must go through his mind to weasel his way to all these fun vehicles?  He's very smart you know.

What Puddle?

You can say, "Stay out of the puddle." and they will say, "ok, I'm just going to play in this water in stead."

Kids and dogs... they don't care about getting wet or tracking mud all over.  You tell them to stay out of the puddle, but water is too much fun to explore.  It feels good on a hot day.  It's fun to play in.  

Puddle?  What puddle?  I'm just playing in the water.

Visiting Jesse's Brother Dave

These are just some nice pictures taken of Cooper last time we visited Jesse's brother Dave in NY.  He has beautiful property that Cooper loves to investigate.  He feels very 'at home' when we're at Dave's house.

Bummer I can't turn this piture

It's the last house on a dead end street with acres of land and a stream.  If it weren't for the coyotes known to live there, we would be fine with just letting him out on his won for a little while.  Unfortunately, Cooper is just small enough to be in danger of becoming a meal for a coyote.  We can't have that, so we never let him go out alone.

Water

Nothing makes a nature walk better than if you come across a stream.  The water's edge may smell like another animal.  The water carries it's own smells.  Wet feet feel great.  

Cooper LOVES water.  He could play in it for hours.  Especially if there is something to look at under the water.  It will provide hours of fun for him.  I wonder if Dogs get water-logged. 

Remembering Snow In July

I remember this day.  It was a really hot July day in Oregon, but the higher the elevation, the cooler it got.  It wasn't long before we started seeing patches of snow in the woods.  Little did I know that it would become more and more snow until it was plenty deep enough to play in.

It never became cold enough to need warm clothes, but the snow was plentiful.  I don't typically like the snow.  I'm sick of it most of the time.

But on this one day... I loved it!  And so did Cooper.

If you look back in the blog to a post on 8/14/11, you'll see video of Me, Jesse and Cooper playing in the snow on this day.

I'll remember it forever. 

As Good A Place As Any

 

When we were traveling  cross country last summer, Cooper developed a way to let me know he needed to get off the bike.  He would push the side of his nose into my back and push upward.  Kind of poking me as he did this.  This was GREAT since we rode so much that sometimes maybe he needed to get off the bike to pee or stretch his legs, or get a drink.  I was so happy he learned to do this.

I remember one day when we were in the middle of NO WHERE somewhere in the US.  I don't even remember now where we were.  He started to 'poke' me a little.  I got on the CB radio to tell Jesse, "He's poking me.  We should stop soon."  

Jesse spoke back to me saying, "Lets see if there is a store somewhere near here so we can get something to eat." 

I agreed, but Cooper didn't.  He poked me again... and again...

"He's still poking me." I told Jesse about five minutes later.  So we pulled off to let him take his break.  To him, this place was as good as any.

Me taking a picture of Jesse who was taking a picture of me and Cooper.