He's cute but he's trouble

Cooper keeps us on our toes....

Our yard seems to be the home of creatures. Bunnies and birds find it a great place to raise their young. And while I do enjoy seeing little baby creatures out there....it becomes stressful when you have a puppy who doesn't understand that he cannot play with them. We first had problems when then bunnies set up shop. They do every year but we were hoping that having Cooper outside for a few months would send a hint that it was not the best idea to nest there....

Well before we knew their were bunnies Micah came home to find cooper digging like crazy....he smelt them but didn't realize they were the itty bitty balls of nothing in a little hole covered in bunny fur. So one did not survive the attack...and cooper never did realize that there were actually bunnies in there because he dug them all out and flung them behind him and kept on digging. Micah, knowing his wife would appreciate the love he showed the bunnies, placed the remaining 4 bunnies back in their hole and covered them. They lived and grew.

Cooper had been fenced into a smaller area in the back yard so he could have his space and the bunnies theirs. Then one day I came home from work to see cooper frolicking around the back yard....it took a second to realize he was roaming the Whole yard not just his little fenced in area. Yup, he got out. Not really sure how but he found the poor little bunnies. They were big enough to hop away but i think he was too quick for one of them. The other left the yard and now sleep on the outside of the fence. The bunny he had in his mouth however....poor bunny. I hold the thought that he really didn't mean to hurt it and was only playing with it like he does his stuffed animals. Not a mark on the sweet little thing so it either died of fright or he shook it too much. I only cried a little (I know I know get a life....but they are soooo cute you just feel bad).

I thought the nature drama was over until I saw this:

And these:
But I figured we were safe because they are in a tree...and Cooper cannot climb trees (not that we know of anyhow). But as the babies grew and decided to learn to fly....they proved me wrong. I let Cooper out thinking nothing of it and followed him because he seemed to be getting into trouble. As I walked over to him two little birdies took off.....and landed. And while they did coast nicely to the ground they were not skilled enough to fly back into the nest, out of the fence, or more than 2 feet. And really I would not have cared, but they decided to coast in two different directions. Puppies must think this is fun because he went from one bird to the other jumping and enjoying life. So if you are my neighbor you probably think I am nuts as you look out your window: Baby birds jumping about. A black streak (Cooper) running like mad in the yard. A lady screaming 'COOPER NO' and chasing the black thing (that is incredibly fast i might add). And you may think that was entertaining enough. But no, now we have 6-8 robin mommas who decided to take on the dog and lady and start dive bombing them while making their incredibly creepy bird shrieks. So now you have a dog going nuts. Two poor birds jumping about trying to stay safe. A bunch of birds trying to kill the dog and lady (they clearly didn't realize i was trying to help them and save their young. seriously ZERO appreciation). And a lady about in tears trying to catch the dog and not get attacked by the birds.

For your info...we all survived. Cooper got a nice spanking when he finally obeyed and came inside, and my Heart rate decreased after about an hour. Lord help me next spring/summer.