Favorites

I know I'm not supposed to have a favorite dog out of the two I have but sometimes I just can't help it. Corey's really good at liking both Pickle and Cooper equally but sometimes I see myself favoring Cooper more than Pickle. I play with both equally and give them the same amount of treats but I just like Cooper better.

True, Cooper has a lot of problems. He chooses to listen to you and rarely does anything you ask of him unless you have a treat in your hand. You can see the little wheels in his head turning when I tell him to sit. "Hmm, do I really want to do that? She doesn't look like she has anything in her hand...I don't smell anything...ugh, that stupid Pickle is looking at me...wait, what did she want me to do again? I'm itchy; I'm gonna sit down and scratch myself." By then I get exasperated and either tap his butt to make him sit or ask him to do something else such as a high five. "High Five? Does she have the nail clippers? I hate getting my nails trimmed, it hurts. It makes me feel weird. Hmmm, I'm hungry, when was the last time I ate? Ugh, there's stupid Pickle!" Seriously, I think that's how Cooper thinks.

Anyway, I think I like Cooper more because obviously I've had him longer. Not only that, he was my only friend when I moved out to Iowa last November to be with Corey. He kept me company while Corey went out every weekend with his buddies and obviously he didn't invite me. When we broke up, I moved to Colorado and left Cooper behind for a few months until I got settled in with all intentions of having him flown out to me. Corey and I tried to get back together again and he came out with Cooper and left him since he was returning on my birthday. Well, long story short, we broke up again for a long time and Cooper was my main company while I lived in Downtown Denver. I was very depressed and had absolutely no motivation to do anything but lay in bed and cry. The great thing about Cooper is he really could care less about my problems. He would whine and scratch at the door to be let out. He refuses to poop anywhere near where we live and makes me walk him 8 blocks before he considers pooping. If I don't let him out quickly enough he will drag over my coat, shoes, whatever to make me get out of bed. He refused to show that he cared, never cuddling, licking, or anything. Everything he wanted he had to have and I existed to make him happy. Needless to say, if I didn't have Cooper I would have been a complete shut in.

I suppose that was Cooper's way of telling me that hey, life goes on. Sure it sucks ass that your boyfriend/fiancee dumped you twice in 6 months but look outside! Snow! Let's play in it! And hey, look, it's spring! Let's go sniff all the flowers and you can pick me up to sniff the cherry blossoms! And ooo, the crab apples are falling off the branches, let's chase them! Cooper always managed to cheer me up regardless of how badly I felt about life. Also, if anything were to happen to me, who would take care of his cute little face? Cooper lives a very pampered life which includes tons of organic chicken treats, peanut butter and cream cheese filled kongs, organic chicken breast cooked with rice once a month, and organic free range beef with rice every month as well, and all the free range bully sticks he wants. That doesn't include toys every few months, long daily walks where people will chase me for blocks to pet him, and not to mention all my friends downtown who have dogs and we have random doggy playdates.

That being said, I have a lot to be thankful to Coop for. He showed me that it's ok, you have to live your life even if it's boring and only involves work but hey, let's go outside and chase things. He is a very wise little guy and I guess he has that going for him.

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself but obviously, Corey and I are back together. Maybe third time's the charm for us. He moved out to Colorado to be with me and we are pretty happy. We're working on our issues and it helps that we have Mr. Man to make us laugh and set aside our differences and anger to fulfill his every need.