Cooper

My husband Eric volunteers with the local Sheriff's department doing radio support. He really wants to volunteer with Search & Rescue, so when the opportunity to adopt a Hound/Lab mix came along we thought it sounded like the perfect dog!

Unfortunately, Eric doesn't have a whole lot of spare time so instead of a working dog for him we got a pet for me. 

This is Cooper. Eric named him after the font Cooper Black. (If I had my way he'd be named Sirius.) 

He's a super sweet dog, but he's also a pain in the butt. Let me tell you all about him. 

First of all, we had to kennel train him. He is a chewer. He also gets separation anxiety. Even with the kennel, we can't even leave the room without him getting upset. When it's bed time I either have to kennel them right as I'm going to bed or put one of the kids in my bed or he will freak out. 

He's very vocal. That's the hound in him. He knows when it's time to get up and he will whine until we let him out of the kennel. There is no such thing as sleeping in. If somebody gets up and lets him out then I can grab a few more hours, otherwise I'm up at 6:00 every morning. Oh, and he doesn't understand Daylight Savings Time. It takes him a few weeks every fall to adjust. Not fun for me. 

Did I mention he's a chewer? Oh yeah. Anything left down is fair game. He rips apart normal dog toys. Even ones made for "Power Chewers". The only thing we found that he can't completely destroy is deer antlers. They're pricey, but worth it. We have a hard time keeping him out of the garbage. If he isn't right next to me then it's a good bet he's gotten something out of the trash and he's hiding somewhere trying to eat it. 

He has an affinity for rocks. I can't even begin to understand this one. Every once in a while he'll come in from outside carrying a rock about the size of my fist. 

This is one of his smaller ones.

He'll just carry it around the house. Sometimes he brings it to me. When I'm knitting he'll try and bury it in my lap. Usually he curls up next to it. Eric hates it, but I actually like when he's rock obsessed. It keeps him from getting into other kinds of mischief. When he's got a rock in his mouth it means he isn't eating something else! Oddly, he doesn't chew on the rocks. Thankfully! I don't know we could afford to deal with broken teeth.

Lately we've been having a problem with Cooper's ears. He shakes his head so hard that the tips of his ears split and bleed. I keep finding blood splatters all over the walls. Dexter would have a field day analyzing this place. (We've taken him to the vet and there isn't much we can do about it.) 

We clean his ears, then bandage them. Unfortunately the bandages don't stay on their own. Either he shakes them off or sits down and scratches them off. We have to lay his ears down and wrap them against his head. 

First we started with an elastic bandage, but he would rub his head against the floor until it scooted down his head far enough to let his ears out. Now we use athletic tape. 

I feel so bad for him, but it's the only way to get his ears to heal! 

He's a major pain, but he's also great to have around. He's a world class cuddler. If I let him, he sleeps right on top of me. If not on top, then as close as he can get. 

This was a day when Joey was home sick from school. 

He's great with the kids. He'll fetch a ball until I'm scared he's getting heat exhaustion. When we take him to the dog park he becomes a dog possessed. All we have to do is turn the corner heading towards the dog park and he starts going nuts. We have to muzzle him when we're in the car. He just gets so excited!

Basically that sums him up. He's just so excited. All the time!