Dogistting

I'm watching Fox's dog, Jack, while he's in Texas for work. Jack is a 7 year old cream shiba inu who's pretty mild mannered. Cooper was super excited when Fox dropped him off Sunday night and somewhat excited Monday, but yesterday he wasn't having Jack in our house any longer. First he wanted to play with Jack but Jack was too sad that Fox left him to do anything but mope by the door. Then Cooper tried to dominate Jack which resulted in harsh words from me, a few whacks on his butt, and time out in his kennel. Yesterday Cooper tried to attack Jack (which really is him growling all mean-like in Jack's face and opening his mouth really wide and snarling) and Jack retaliated by snapping at Cooper and I'm worried that he'll draw blood.

I've come to notice that Cooper's just jealous and protective of me. He always positions himself between Jack and me and keeps a wary eye on Jack when I'm petting him. He still doesn't care when we go for walks, but as soon as we're in the house he's herding Jack away from me or trying to intimidate Jack as far away from me as possible. I'm also getting worried because Jack feels more comfortable in my place and is attacking Cooper when Cooper gets in his face. I'm fine with that to some degree because Cooper needs to learn that he can't dominate and rule every dog out there, but I don't know if Jack will actually bite Cooper or not. I know Cooper well enough and know for a fact that he'll NEVER bite a dog or a person because he is just too afraid to do that. He definitely talks the talk but can't and won't walk the walk.

I guess at this point, Cooper definitely has to be the only dog. He gets too jealous or insecure and that creates too much drama for me to deal with. It kinda sucks because his only dog friends are Pickle, Jack, and Leila and Pickle and Jack are along the same lines; too much anxiety and too mellow for play, and Leila is so hyper active you can literally see Cooper getting dizzy from trying to keep up with her. I wish I could find another dog with his energy level that can stand his ground so Cooper can actually play with the dog. Oh well, sometimes things just weren't meant to be.

Cooper loves my macbook

Cooper's 4!!

Wow, time flies! My little Choo Choo is 4 years old today...and in honor of his birthday, he didn't have to wear his bark collar today! Hopefully we don't get evicted...

Hike

Yesterday was a nice, kind of cool day so my friend Fox and I decided to go for a hike near Evergreen, CO. He was bringing Jackson, his shiba, so I thought I'd bring Cooper along since it wasn't too hot and I figured he should be ok. I always worry about Cooper and the heat since he has a heart problem and he's just a lazy asshole who hates walking in general. I was prepared to either carry him up and down the mountain or take many breathers until he felt like walking.

Fox came to pick us up and I was a little nervous since Cooper isn't a huge fan of Jack. Luckily, Cooper sat in the back seat while Jack sat in my lap and both ignored each other. Once we got to the hiking area and let the dog out, they promptly ignored each other the entire time. Neither cared who was in front, they didn't sniff each other and get in each other's faces, and didn't try to pee on the same spot that the other peed on.

I was super proud of Cooper for ignoring Jack and every other dog we met on the trail. I was also puffed with pride because the little guy kept up the entire time and not once did he beg me to carry him and not once did he lie on the ground as dead weight making me drag him. He got tired after awhile, but hell, so did I and I was so so thankful that I didn't have to carry him.

I think he ejnoyed the hike. He was so godawful dirty and dusty at the end of it; I wouldn't let him in the house for awhile until he shook himself out enough. But, I was glad that Cooper kept up, glad it wasn't too hot, and glad to know that I can take him out for future hikes.

Sirens

I live half a block from the State Capitol which means there's always police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks that scream by every seemingly half hour. It's awesome and I've adapted to the wailing of sirens to the point where it makes me suspicious if I don't hear that constant noise.

My apartment complex has an interestingly large amount of dogs. There's several on my floor and one of them is this annoying fat beagle. He howls and yowls every time it hears a cop car or whatever with a siren go by. It's terrible, it happens too often for me to think it's funny or cute.

Cooper, my super Cooper, doesn't howl at sirens. He doesn't yap when all the other dogs are yapping in the apartment complex. He marches to his own beat and thank god that tempo has nothing to do with all the other asshole dogs in my apartment.

Choices

Cooper has turned into a pretty stellar dog. Took him close to 4 years, but he has been so sweet and caring since the break up. I was crying today, sitting on the floor and talking to Cooper and Pickle because I'm dogsitting for Corey and while Pickle cowered in the back of his kennel, Cooper came out and sat next to me and leaned up against me.

He's been lying down next to me for the last 10 minutes. His head is constantly under my hand and I am so glad that I chose to keep Cooper over Pickle when Corey and I broke up.

Good dog

Sometimes I don't give Cooper enough credit when credit is due. Tyson and I broke up last Tuesday, but before we did we got in a motorcycle accident on Sunday. I have really bad road rash on my knees and hand on the right side and one of my biggest worries was that Cooper would want to smell and lick the wounds and they might get infected or something.

Surprisingly, he did sniff at them and I was getting ready to yell at him to back up, but all he did was sniff them and stare at me with the most pitying expression on his face. Obviously, I'm really depressed about the break up, I've been crying a lot and just lying in bed. Cooper keeps his space and when he thinks it's especially bad, he lightly jumps up on the bed and lays next to me. I think it's really sweet that he tries to comfort me and I also like that he gives me some space and can keep himself entertained.

He is a good dog in his own way. I have been comparing him to Sari, my first dog, and I never gave him a chance to be himself and accept him for the dog he is and not the dog I want.