Mellow Yellow

According to my friends who haven't seen Cooper since I moved to Lone Tree, Cooper has mellowed out. Who knew? To me he has been the same dramatic, bitchy little queen since the first day I got him. And I love him for that.

Anyway, my friend David was staring at Cooper when he came to help me move and Cooper was jumping on him and leaning against his legs asking for pets. I guess thinking about it now, Cooper is a little more affectionate. He still barks at strangers which is a good thing; I like nice dogs but at the same time I want a dog that'll at least try to be intimidating sometimes. Megan came over yesterday briefly and Cooper wanted to play fetch with her.

Perhaps the person's opinion that would affect me more is Fox's. Fox has had shibas in his life and currently has one named Jackson (who is the perfect dog in every way; Fox refers to him as the "broken shiba" because Jackson can be trusted off leash, comes when he's called, likes to cuddle, etc.). Fox noticed that Cooper is a lot more calm, mellow, and affectionate. I guess I can't see the difference because I'm around him all the time.

I don't know what that means. Maybe Cooper has finally matured into a calm adult dog and he's no longer a moody teenager dog. I swear, if he was a real boy, Cooper would be the most emo kid alive. Cooper's still a dick at times though, no way would he ever be a "perfect" dog and I accept him as he is. He still pulls too hard on his leash for the first 5 minutes and after being worn out from dragging me, he lags behind and tries to make me carry him.

This is a picture of "emo Coop" from about a year ago. I really should take more pictures of the little guy.

When I take him out for walks, everyone notices him and says, "oh! What a happy doggy! Look, he's smiling!"

I guess he is glad to be downtown and away from Pickle after all.

Cooper on Capitol Hill

For the most part, I am completely moved into my new place. Sure, I have about 3 boxes that still need to be unpacked but it's filled with books and I'm not in a huge hurry to unpack those. Plus, I don't have book cases yet.

Anyway, Cooper seems to be enjoying downtown again. He really is out of shape though, he gets tired and starts lagging behind after 4 blocks. Now that I really look at him, he is a little on the chubby side. I'm hoping that constant walks for at least an hour and a diet will help him lose some weight. I'm also not sure if it's because he's shedding right now and is "poofier" than normal. Either way, he needs to lose a few pounds and get back into shape, that lazy dog.

I can't tell if he misses Pickle though. Cooper just sits on my bed and naps all day and when I come home from work he's usually either in his house or on the bed staring at the door. I started to worry that maybe he's depressed but thinking about it, when I came home to my old place with Pickle, Cooper would be lying on the couch anyway. I don't think he's bored; he never played with Pickle much when they lived together. He seems happier though, he likes his daily walks and I'm sure his stress levels have gone down since he doesn't have an overenthusiastic Pickle in his face all the time.

I'm dog sitting for my friend David and at least for this weekend Cooper will have some dog company. I still worry about Pickle and I hope the little guy is doing all right.

Farewell to Pickle

I know I haven't written in quite some time. Mostly because I've been depressed but Corey and I broke up again and I am moving with Cooper this weekend. We're moving back downtown and I think Cooper will be fine with the move. Ironically I'm moving into my old apartment complex so it's not like I haven't been there before. In some ways I'm glad I'm moving there because Cooper and I already know the area really well and really, at some point it'll feel like we never left.

I'm going to miss Pickle like crazy though. I've had him for 8 months and watched him come out of his shell; at least around Corey and me. I'm going to miss his happy-go-lucky attitude and his quick, speedy responses to whatever I ask him to do. I'm going to miss the way he would curl up next to my legs whenever Cooper wasn't on the couch with me.

Because this is a bad split, I told Corey I want nothing to do with him but he insists on using me to dogsit Pickle for him when he goes out every weekend. While I can see his point since Pickle has an intense fear of strangers, I don't want Corey relying on me to watch his dog so he can skimp on his responsibilities. In my opinion, I think forcing Pickle into social situations might help him get over his fear. Of course I could be horribly wrong but I really don't think I can handle having to see Corey all the time.

Pickle has always been the kind of dog that wants to know what you're doing. If I go to the bathroom, he's one step behind me. Even if I close the door he opens it somehow (I suspect that the latch doesn't catch all the time) and sits in the doorway or on the bath mat. One time while I was showering I looked down and saw Pickle staring at me through the curtain. Kind of creepy when you're almost legally blind without glasses or contacts. Lately he's been staring at me with his big brown eyes and they look so sad. He has the puppy dog eyes down and it's really pulling on my heart strings. I just see his cute little face and it really breaks my heart knowing that he might not be well taken care of. A part of me wants to take care of him but the other part really doesn't want to have to put up with Corey. I know I'm being unfair to the dog but at some point we need to break contact. I don't think I'm at fault that Corey doesn't have any friends that he feels like he can trust to watch a dog for a day or two.

I know Cooper will be tons happier without Pickle. We've been keeping them seperated and Cooper just basks in the glory of having his own space. I feel bad for Pickle because he's always sitting outside the bedroom door whining and pawing at the door while Cooper growls at him from the other side.

Who knows, maybe I'll be the bigger person and take care of Pickle just this once but I really don't know, I'm so conflicted and the one who has to pay is Pickle.