Special

There are times when I'm deliberately mean to Cooper and I tease him with treats and his toys. Sometimes I poke him when he's asleep and try to discreetly trim his nails. But all in all, I really love that stupid, stinky dog and I make sure he knows it.

He might not understand words. It's all noise to him but everyday I tell him that I love him, I tell him that he's beautiful or handsome depending on the day, and I tell him that I know he tries and I appreciate him.

And maybe it has something to do with the fact that I grew up and struggle with extreme low self-esteem that I have to make sure he feels validated because I don't get enough of that myself. I know how it feels to be underappreciated or feel like I don't matter and that's something I never want Cooper to feel.

Hopefully he gets that.

Walking Cooper

I moved a few months ago and the difference of 6 blocks is quite amazing. I live in what feels like suburbia as there are 500 other people walking their dogs at the same time I'm walking mine. All of them have their dogs on flexi-leads or no leash at all which I think is dangerous as there are several busy roads every block. Not to mention a leash law but whatever...

Cooper usually does a fantastic job of ignoring every dog he encounters. After talking to the vet about why every dog hates Cooper, I make an effort to make eye contact with a dog's owner so I can say, "My dog doesn't like other dogs in his space." Not saying he doesn't like other dogs, he sometimes does, but I don't want to stress him out when it's pretty obvious that he doesn't want to make friends.

He used to like other dogs. I made the mistake of taking him to a dog park a few times and he ended up getting mobbed by every dog in there. They started chasing him, which he liked, but then he got his head stuck in the fence because he wasn't paying attention and that's when all the dogs swarmed him and attacking his hind end while he screamed and tried to get away.

The most frustrating part of that experience was that the other dog's owners stood around not doing a damn thing while I tried to pull off the mutts without getting bit. Luckily, all that happened was they pulled some loose fur out but Cooper was traumatized for life.

I know, I could make him relax and be more comfortable but I'm not going to. He isn't aggressive towards other dogs and I just don't want to stress him out or put him in a situation where the other dog could turn agressive and attack him. Maybe that makes me a bad dog owner, but I'm really putting Cooper's feelings of safety and his well being first.

As it is, when we have to walk on the same sidewalk with another dog that is straining on its leash trying to get to Cooper, I walk between them. Mostly because it's easier to sue someone when their dog bites you rather than your dog, but also because I'm willing to get hurt for my dog. And that's how much I love him. And it actually happened last week, a dog took a pretty good nip at my thigh trying to get to Coop and gave me blood blisters and broke the skin. Oh, I didn't sue the owner or anything, I just gave her a dirty look and made sure I wasn't bleeding too much. She didn't even apologize and in hindsight, I wish I at least told her off.

Happy 5th Birthday!

Cooper is 5 today! Time does fly...

He is still a little itchy from allergies but it doesn't seem as bad as it was a few weeks ago. The weather has been nice and cool and that seems to help more than anything. His winter coat is growing in so that's covering up the super pink spots and his fur is growing back on his knees.

I got him one of these bad boys for his present and he really likes it. It's way cuter than a Kong and it actually does smell very pleasant, almost a vanilla scent. And a part of the proceeds goes to helping some random cause, I wish I paid attention when I picked one out but I'm happy with the green one I got him as it goes to preserving nature or something to do with nature. I thought the blue was for prostate cancer so I decided against it; not that I don't think prostate cancer isn't worth donating to, but apparently it goes to helping homeless animals. Damn. He likes it though, the opening is a lot smaller than a Kong so either you have to really tear the treats down to tiny strips or I just fill it with kibble but it takes longer for Cooper to get everything out. The squeaker isn't that loud, but he never really bites at squeaky things anyway. Overall, I give this toy a 3 out of 5 because I doubt Cooper will destroy it, it is more challenging for him to get treats, smells awesome and proceeds help out society. I don't like that the food holder area doesn't hold as much as a Kong, it is really hard to smear peanut butter in there, and because it's that rubbery-texture, it picks up every particle of dust and lint and I'm constantly rinsing it; although Cooper doesn't care about that.

Anyway, Cooper's still super. I hope he stays healthy and it looks like I'll end up taking him to get another echocardiogram sometime in the near future to make sure his heart's still ok.

Vet visits

Cooper's allergies have been bothering him so two weeks ago I took him to the vet. Normally, Cooper was on Temeril-P but this new vet told me that the steroids in the drug can cause kidney and liver failure. Cooper has been on and off Temeril P for the last, 4-ish years and this was the first time any vet mentioned that it could cause liver and kidney failure.

This freaked me out since Cooper already has enough health problems as it is. I wouldn't want to put the poor dog on dialysis and alas, if he had renal failure, it'll probably be the end of him.

So the vet gave us a 2 week trial run on Atopica. For the first week, Cooper seemed ok. He didn't have diarhea nor did he throw up, his poops were a bit softer than normal but still looked like his normal poops.

After the first week though, his allergies got really bad. I don't know if there were more allergens in the air or what, but he was scratching and rubbing himself raw. He started losing fur aorund his eyes and he was missing a lot of fur from his chest. His paws seemed ok though, he wasn't chewing on them like he did during past years.

So we went to the vet again over the weekend and for once, I got the same vet that examined Cooper the last time. We are putting him on a mild steroid and antihistamine regime. The vet recommended that I give him the steroid pill every other day, every two days with antihistamines in between. Hopefully this works and as I took out a month's supply, I hope the weather cools down so my poor little Choo Choo isn't so miserable.

On an interesting side note, I asked the vet why every dog Cooper encounters want to attack him. Walking Cooper is a nightmare because every dog, big or small, lunges at him while snapping their fangs while Cooper dutifully hides behind me. The vet said it's a shiba thing (and Chows and other more primitave breeds). Apparently, most dogs like to pay attention to each other and shibas like to ignore them and that pisses off other dogs. Go figure, my diva dog will not pay attention to the lesser creatures.

Dance

I make Cooper dance with me. Just last night I made him dance to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" only changing the word "ladies" to "Coopers." Yes, my poor dog...

But at last I'm not this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idsnx9iM4V8&feature=player_embedded

Poor little shiba.

If Cooper were a real boy...

He'd be that teacher's pet that every kid makes fun of. He would probably wear glasses and would need an inhaler which he would have to wear around his neck. Because of his severe food allergies, he'd be the reason why kids in his class can't eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He would answer every question correctly or repeatedly ask "Why?" in class.

I imagine him to be endearingly sweet and over joyed with everything in life though. I imagine that even though he would be annoying and his voice would never change, everyone around him will secretly like him.

I also imagine his personality to be of my 5 year old cousin, Brodie. Brodie isn't the cutest kid in the world, and I can say that since he's my cousin, but he more than makes up for his lack of looks with his awesome personality that is both ridiculously cute and hilariously sassy. Here's a pic of Brodie when he was 4:

For awhile his favorite thing in the world was Thomas the Engine or Train or Locomotive. All he would say to me was "Can you help me? (ie clean my room for me)" and "Will you play with me?" Such a sweet kid, thank God he has his mother's personality because my uncle's a dick.

Brodie has such a sweet musical voice and if Cooper could talk, he would have Brodie's voice. So adorbs. I also haven't told my aunt and uncle that I like to imagine Cooper being Brodie. I think they might be offended.

I asked Brodie if he'd like to meet Cooper one day and he said No. Too bad, I think they would have had so much fun together.

Confession

I got Cooper to fix a broken relationship. Like many people who have children hoping it would salvage a relationship, my then fiancee and I got a dog. We kinda lied and told people that Cooper was my early Christmas present but really, he was our last resort to try and make us a "family."

Needless to say, getting a dog didn't make things easier for us. Both of us wanted to get a dog at some point and we did discuss breeds and what we wanted from a dog so technically, Cooper wasn't an impulse purchase. Both of us had more than enough money for all the puppy expenses and we both had dogs before so it wasn't like we weren't used to picking up shit or training a dog. What we lacked was...I don't know; I guess "making it work," whatever that means.

We got Cooper at probably the lowest point prior to breaking up; I was incredibly lonely in the hell-hole of Iowa and I had no friends or anything to do in that barren state. It was also winter so that didn't make my moods any better. Corey was always going out with his friends getting wasted and I was home alone with nothing but cable and movies. I think he agreed to getting a dog sooner than we planned because he figured it would keep my entertained and I'd have company.

Having Cooper added some bright points and happiness but there were probably more low points. From finding out about his health problems to the little fucker peeing and pooping all over the place regardless of putting him on a schedule, put more strain on our relationship. The pooping and peeing got better after we got him neutered but there were still resentment. We agreed that Cooper was "our" dog and that we would both work on training him and getting him excercised. Of course, that only worked for like, a month and it was left to me to do everything for Cooper.

Because I had resentment toward my ex, I have to admit that when Cooper chewed on his shit I didn't stop him. Cooper also had a habit of peeing on everyone who came through the door, probably from being excited, regardless of taking him out mere seconds before someone came over, and Cooper would piss all over Corey and I would just sit there with a smile on my face thinking, "Good dog." And because Cooper's a little bitchy, he would wait until Corey picked him up to about face-level and pee all over his face and chest.

I guess because I was the one who fed, walked, trained, loved Cooper, he chose me as his person. Sure Corey played with him and he gave him treats but Cooper listened better to me and was more responsive.

In ways I'm glad we didn't decide to push forward a wedding and get pregnant hoping a kid would fix our mess. Knowing how little Corey helped with the dog made me realize that I could never have children with that guy. Also, having a puppy was stressful enough; I couldn't imagine the stresses a baby could be. Even though Cooper was a band aid for a relationship going south, he was the best "impulse" decision I made that year.