A puppy's life

Cooper is a bit spoiled...big surprise right? But I must say he is more spoiled by his "aunts", "uncles", and "grandparents" than he is by us. He always has people stopping by to visit him. We have lived in our house for almost a year now and my Dad has never visited....until Cooper came along. I guess it's just that puppy charm. He is a cutie but definitely tries our patience...

As we all know, I HATE clutter...everything has its place and should be there 99% of the time unless it is in use. Our agreement was to only get the dog a toy or two (no squeakers)...next thing we know he has 18 (5 with squeakers). SPOILED. And does he pick one and play with it, then put it away before getting out a new toy. Of course not. As soon as i pick them up he has them all out again afraid that clean up time means he has to get in his kennel. He is a true toddler. The positive is he usually likes to play with his toys rather than destroy our belongings. The only thing he is truly tempted by are cords (he pull on them) and any kid of knot or button. I can handle this as long as he is not destroying everything we have in the house.

Cooper also has treats galore, a Snuggie For Dogs, and All the attention in the world.

Waiting for Dad to come back out of the store...Manly

Enjoying his snuggie and 'tiger'...both from Uncle Bryce

Nap time, with dad of course

He is also happy to play with cardboard if he is given random objects. His favorites are toilet paper/paper towel rolls and toothpaste boxes.

We usually have a morning snooze on my days off....since he keeps me up all night. He gets cozy anywhere he chooses and is usually on his back with legs up in the air.

Coopers day is usually quite relaxed. He is potty training and HATE sleeping in his kennel. So we are down to waking up about twice a night to go outside. As much as I do not enjoy this, it is better than the every hour schedule we were on the first week he was with us. And now he stops crying in his kennel just a few minutes after we lock him in. I no longer have to wear earplugs to get any sleep :o) When we wake up in the morning he usually gets a little play time and then sits around watching us get ready for work. Then it is a battle to get him in his kennel when we leave. He sleeps all day and then plays all evening when we get home. We hope to not have to use his kennel much once he is potty trained. At the moment this is not an option since he has accidents every now and then. We are trying to figure out a way to train him to bark or somehow let us know he has to go outside. he is so quiet and usually just walks by the door, looks at us, and if we don't see him he pees on the floor. (suggestions?)

For a while he was peeing in his kennel but this has not been a problem lately so we hope that phase is over. He cries when we leave the room. And sleeps at our feet wherever we are sitting or standing. Needless to say, he gets stepped on quite a bit. But we love him and having him around has been such a joy. We originally wanted to get two, decided to stick with one for now and see how it goes....and now we are pretty sure we will NOT get another puppy. However if we do it will be a newborn that is easier to train and does not have bad habits from the previous owner, or we will adopt an adult puppy from a shelter. But that will be no time in the near future.

Puppy Grooming

COOPER BEFORE

Our first quest was to trim up the pup so we could actually see his little face. His hair being about 3 inches long made him look like a little bum. With a budget we are trying to stick to this year, we figured it would be more cost effective to groom him ourselves. A grooming kit costs about $30.00 and a grooming session is comparable in price per session. We decided we would save hundreds grooming him at home...

Cooper had other plans. He doesn't seem to care that we are trying to save money, and we quickly found out that groomers earn their paycheck with the little pups. But we were determined so through the wiggles and squirms we trimmed him up....puppy cut. We hope to master the skill soon.....within the year would be nice :o)

Day 1. The first attempt at trimming was an hour long endeavor in the kitchen. *Kitchen floor: bad idea #1 due to the large room for him to run away*. Micah was holding the little guy while i would trim here and there attempting not to cut micah's fingers off in the process. Coopers heart was beating so fast and i was afraid Micah would hold him too tight, so we stopped for the day. His body was looking much better but his legs and head were still a bit too fluffy. This is also when we discovered Coopers love for eating his own hair. Clean up was interesting.

Day 2. I was off work and Micah was gone so we tried a new method and new location. On the bathroom floor, with me holding him AND cutting his hair. Solution to first bad idea is the smaller room. Definite plus! *Holding puppy and trimming at the same time: Bad idea #2 due to the excessive amount of hair i inhaled and the furry coat covering my clothes* This method still seemed to work better, however his head was still not touchable, but his body came out more even. I gave up after about 30 minutes.

Day 3. So i was finally sick of looking at his little mop head so I figured 3rd time is the charm. This time I kept the bathroom idea but moved from my lap to the counter. Not as much fur on me, Puppy could not run away, and the mirror helped me trim the side he would not turn towards me. *Bad Idea #3, Puppy doesn't realize there is a far drop from counter to floor and falls off counter twice.* This is the best method thus far as I was able to trim his head a bit and his legs some.

Future plans: Continue with counter top in bathroom and have someone hold puppy leash so he cannot drop off counter.

Coopers looks more like a little puppy now and his hair is not as tangled. Don't judge the 'beard' he still possess as it is quite difficult to trim while he is trying to eat the clippers.

Bathing the little guy is the easiest part of the whole grooming process. Cooper is quite timid in the tub which is helpful. Basically i just put a few inches of warm water in the tub, throw on some old shorts and a t-shirt and hop on in with him (or sit on the edge but he seems to prefer the tub company :o) A hand-held shower piece is so helpful for completely wetting down his hair. Then suds up and rinse. He was such a little trooper! *Note to anyone else to tries to bathe Cooper....he is crazy after bath*

COOPER AFTER

WELCOME COOPER

Nothing truly exciting has been going on in our lives lately.....until now. Micah and I decided we needed someone to liven up our home, so we adopted a PUPPY. He is a yorkie poo hybid which is perfect for allergy sufferers (me) and people who hate shedding (me and Micah).

We drove to Iowa to pick up our little one and he has been a joy ever since. He is 5 months and currently potty training. He Loves playing in the snow so it is not hard to get him to go outside BUT you must be with him. Micah and I are taking turns freezing. He has had an accident but we are very proud of how well he is doing. He made it through the whole night and only cried when we put him in his kennel the first 10 minutes and never made another peep.

He is so much fun and we already love him! He is full grown but mostly all hair :o) He will be needing a trim ASAP as the pictures show.

We welcome visitors as Cooper Loves kids and other dogs.....and love being held and giving kisses. I am sure there will be many puppy posts to come.

Sorry the video is sideways.....not sure how to flip it