Cooper's Summer Vacation

In August, Cooper took a summer vacation to Asheville, North Carolina. 


Cooper swam A LOT during the trip! The house we rented was on a lake and had an indoor pool, so Cooper spent most of his vacation wet. First, in the lake.

And in the indoor pool:

Then Cooper hiked to the top of the Chimney Rock State Park (he would have reached the top twice as fast if Jeff and I weren't with him!) -- elevation 2280 feet.

View of the top from the parking lot.

Cooper at the top of Chimney Rock!

Cooper and Jeff at the top of Chimney Rock.

Taking a break at the top of Chimney Rock.

At Chimney Rock State Park, we also hiked to the waterfall.

Taking a break with the waterfall in the background.

Cooper and Jeff set out to reach the bottom of the waterfall.

Almost there.

Playing in the bottom of the waterfall.

Playing in the waterfall.

Posing at the bottom of the waterfall.

Thanks to Grandma Vogel, Cooper had a new towel to dry off with after all the swimming he did!  SuperCooper!

And then after all the swimming and hiking, Cooper was worn out!

Cooper passed out on the couch.

Alan relaxing with Wee, Smooch and Cooper.

...except when there was food involved. (Notice who the well-behaved pup is.)

  

Summer vacation? Did you say summer vacation? Cooper's at the door ready to go again!

Cooper's Weekend with Grandparents Vogel

This week’s entry is courtesy of Grandma Joan and Grandpa Doug who puppysat while Cooper’s parents went to Stephanie and Eric’s wedding in New York.

What do they say the best thing about being a grandparent is (even if it’s a granddog)? Giving him back to his parents!!!

Things we have learned this visit:

1. We love dogs (and have always).

2. Dogs love you as long as you love them, feed them, walk them and play with them (not necessarily in that order).

3. Our decision to NOT have a dog was and still is the right decision!

We arrived Thursday afternoon to a great greeting from Cooper – really happy to meet us. Little did we know that the little puppy weighs more than 23 pounds and can jump really high. He is always very happy to play with us and leads with his teeth - puppy teeth – very sharp!!

While Cooper’s parents think he does not jump on the furniture – we (Cooper and us) know better, don’t we? In one leap, he was over the recliner (while reclining) and into my lap. And, when Doug was snacking in another recliner and got up, Cooper jumped up and proceeded to smell and lick the entire chair.

First night, at bedtime, no problem going into the crate with the treats enticing him. Second night, no go. He just sat, smelled the treats in my hand, turned his face away, looked at me pathetically, and decided it was not bedtime yet. He just needed a gentle nudge and then no problems the rest of the night. The next night, he retrieved Jeff’s t-shirt from the crate and proceeded to wage war with it, with growls, grunts, etc. So, when the shirt went into the crate, so did Cooper.

Very lucky for me, Cooper mostly does his ‘business’ when Doug is walking him – yeah! In actuality, Doug does most of the walking. I do most of the kitchen stuff and having a dog underfoot or staring at you the whole time is a little unnerving but we survived that too. Here's a photo of Cooper waiting patiently for Doug to come back inside from watering the plants on the deck.

Yesterday, we had our first ‘accident’ – guess we somehow missed the message – luckily, only pee on the small rug pictured above and not on the carpet but we caught him and minimized the effect.

Today, we give him back and while we will miss him, we won’t miss the early morning wake-up whines and we will certainly embrace and covet the quiet of our house.

So, Cooper – see you at Thanksgiving!