Recap of our first few months with Cooper

Cooper around 4 months with his crazy ears

Things started off horrendously with Cooper. Our first night with him, he cried incessantly. At first we tried keeping him on the first floor in his crate while our bedroom was on the third floor. After about an hour of him crying we decided to try something else since I was pretty sure he was waking up the entire neighborhood. We would bring the crate to the 2nd floor and we would sleep in the guest bedroom there. That way I could carry him down the stairs easily if he had to go the bathroom since he could not yet get down them himself. This did not help the yelping. It continued. I wanted started to cry. "I needed sleep. Why did I get this puppy?", I thought to myself. "When will this all end?" "This was such a bad decision".  Finally after an additional hour of both he and I crying, and Dylan yelling at him, we miraculously discovered that Cooper was willing to compromise. He would pipe down if someone left their hand on the crate so he could smell it through the mesh. Finally, some sleep. Or so we thought.
I did not realize until we got Cooper, just how small puppy bladders were. Cooper and I were up about 6 times that first night with me carrying him outside to go to the bathroom. The only thing I was thankful for was that he had already realized that it was not OK to go to the bathroom in his bed. Instead he would make a great big "Ohhhhh" over and over again until someone woke up and carried his little body down the stairs. Of course he never wanted to go back to bed. He would run around downstairs until he was caught and put back in his crate. And of course he would cry again because he didn't want to sleep, he wanted to play.
Needless to say, the first couple of nights were miserable. I was up constantly with Cooper taking him to the bathroom, and trying to get comfortable while I left one hand on the top of his crate so he would stop crying. After about a week or so, Dylan and I were able to move back up to the 3rd floor, with Cooper of course by our side. His nightly bathroom trips slowly became less frequent, which was much needed because by 3 months old he was 22 lbs and 35lbs by 4 months. In addition, after each bathroom trip he would also go happily back into his crate if you put some treats in there. We also learned that if we let him fall asleep in the bed, we could carry him into his crate without any whining. (we hit a bump in the road when he started growling when we tried to move him, but by this point we could get him to go in the crate own his own)

Study Buddies

So how did our days go? Most were good. My school schedule allowed me to have Cooper in his crate only in the mornings. I would come home for lunch and would study in my own home for the rest of the evening. At first this was easy because as a young puppy, Cooper required a whole lot of sleep. However, as the months went on, Cooper got more energy. My studying soon became me writing with one hand, and playing tug-o-war with the other. I was still able to get all of my work done, although it took me double the time. I even let Cooper sleep on the couch next to me, just so he would be quiet for an hour or two (This was a big no-no according to Dylan). I couldn't wait each night for Dylan to come home and relieve me of my duties (although this usually didn't happen since Cooper still preferred to annoy his mom).

Finally, the day came when Cooper could go to the dog park. I knew this was a great way to burn energy. At first, Cooper would hide behind people's legs and only seldom venture out to play with a dog if it was small enough. Around this time, we also noticed Cooper's love of sniffing. I'm not sure if its the hound in him, but as soon as he got more confident at the dog park, he spent most of his time sniffing. He was referred to as a loner. At the time, I got frustrated that he wouldn't play with the other dogs. Looking back, I should have treasured those times a little more. As time went on Cooper started to play with more and more dogs. At first it was really cute. However, it has evolved to incessant barking if a dog won't give him attention. In fact, he has cleared out the whole dog park with his barking, and people often think he is being aggressive. Luckily, there are a few owners that realize he is just a loud dog, and as soon as their dog starts playing with him, he shuts up, and plays great.
Cooper also has a lot of girlfriends at the dog park. His favorite so far is Adi, a puppy about a month younger then him who he likes to "protect" from other dogs (more like hog her). He plays great with girls, and when one of his female friends is around, he is usually very well behaved. Male dogs he doesn't do as well with. He starts playing nice, but almost always gets upset by the end.
However, his biggest vice of all is his consumption of the dog park. You may be wondering what I mean, but it's just like I said. Cooper eats the dog park. It's made of mulch, which apparently is a delicacy in the dog world. Unfortunately for me, I have spent many mornings cleaning up vomit of wood chips and picking up poop filled with wood.
Despite all of this, I continue to take him because he likes it, and during the few times there is another puppy who is willing to play with my crazy guy, he is the happiest puppy in the world.

Cooper (2.5 months) torturing Tangerine

So how are the cats handling it? That is the most frequent question I get. For the most part, they tolerate him. Little 8lb Tangerine is a little afraid of him. And I don't blame her. He thinks she's a fun toy and likes to chase her and nip at her feet. Every once in a while she startles him when she slinks around the house and he puffs up and growls at her. However, as soon as I show him its her, his tail starts wagging again and he tries to bite her feet.
 Blue on the other hand takes no shit. If Cooper comes within 5 feet of him, Blue raises his paw. At first, Blue would scratch Cooper, but it didn't take long for Blue to realize that Cooper is just a sissy, and is only trying to play. Now, the two boys "play" together; with Cooper lifting his paw as if to scratch like Blue does. Except Cooper has no aim and usually is just batting at the air blindly. Blue usually just humors him and lifts his paw up too. It lasts for about 2 minutes before Blue gets bored and goes back to sleep somewhere.
My favorite Cooper/Blue moment however occurred just last week. Blue who loves to sit in Cooper's crate and not let him in, was enjoying some water from Cooper's bowl in the cage. Cooper at merely 6 months old got the bright idea to lock Blue in the crate. Using his paw he was able to shut the door. And with his mouth he lifted the lock and slid it over. Dylan and I sat there in amazement watching this feat, too stunned to do anything. Needless to say, Blue was not happy about this entrapment, and I think his pride was a little hurt.

At 6 months old and over 40 pounds, Cooper has brought us nothing but joy (kinda). Our first few months have been filled with a ton of good times with too many stories to recount. Just today Cooper got in a fight with his brother Gus at the dog park, ate a full piece of sausage off our counter without anyone realizing it, and ran around the house with my undergarments.

Cooper at 6 months

He is currently licking my computer screen, wondering why I am not paying attention to him. So that is my cue to go!