What's Cooper Been Doing in 2011?

I've been a bit lazy lately on blogging about all of Cooper's adventures, so I thought I'd just show some photos to let you know what he's been up to.

It snowed in Georgia in January and everything shut down for a week. Cooper enjoyed the snow!

Cooper got a new bed for the office:

 Before

After

After a few weeks, Cooper decided he preferred his bed near the window in the office so that he could perch on the bed and look out the window. He definitely plays the guard dog role well.

We got a Roomba for Christmas and Cooper likes to follow it around the house:

Grandma Vogel made Cooper homemade dog toys and he LOVES them! She also sends him homemade dog treats, which he also LOVES! (By the way, Grandma, he's eaten the last batch of treats, please send more ASAP!)

 

Cooper took out some aggression (or boredom) on a stair rail. It was the first and only thing he's chewed up in the house. (Knock on wood.)

It was probably my fault though. I decided to give Cooper freedom in 2011 and let him hang out wherever he wanted in the house when I was working from home. This was his favorite spot (I say *was* because he doesn't have this freedom anymore).

And sometimes Cooper jumps up on the couch when he thinks no one's looking:

Here Cooper's saying "Feed me!"

He barely fits in Jeff's lap anymore:

He loves getting his belly brushed:

And we groomed Cooper for the first time by ourselves two weekends ago! He doesn't look too bad (well, except for his tail) and it'll all grow back anyway!

Before

After

Puppy Class, Playdates and a Grooming

The past two weeks have been very exciting for Cooper -- he's been going to puppy class, had a couple playdates and got a haircut!

Cooper has been to two puppy classes and he's very well-behaved in class. We missed the first class while we were in New York, but it wasn't a big deal since they just learned "sit" and Cooper already knew how to sit. During the second week of class, everyone learned "down" and "come" -- another two commands we had already taught Cooper. But Cooper's still more than willing to sit or lie down over and over again just to get a treat! Here's one photo of Cooper performing in class.

Last week the class learned to retrieve a toy, which Cooper also knew already, but he didn't perform it as well in class as he does at home...probably because of all the distractions in class with other dogs, toys and treats! This week we've been teaching him stay at home and he's unbelievably good at it without much practice!

In addition to puppy class, we've also been taking Cooper to play with other dogs. Cooper spent one afternoon playing with his friends Otto and Kaya. I didn't get any good shots of them all playing together but here's a photo of the two big dogs.

And when I say the dogs played together, it was more like Cooper would find a toy to play with and then one of the other dogs would take it away from him. Cooper definitely ranked at the bottom of the totem pole at their house!

The day after his playdate with the big dogs, Cooper got a haircut. The owner of Cooper's dad Cabot and his brother Brinkley lives nearby and she gave Cooper his first grooming since we've had him. I was surprised by how much hair she cut off! He was looking extra cute after his trim, but unfortunately I forgot to take before/after photos to see the difference.

This weekend, we went to a local agility trial so that Cooper could play with his brother Brinkley and sister Abby (her name was Apricot at birth). Abby -- the only liver and white puppy in the litter -- lives in Alabama now with four other Springers and came to Georgia so that one of them could compete in the agility trial. It was exciting to see all three pups play together -- they're all so cute! In this photo, Brinkley is on the left, Cooper in the middle and Abby on the right. (It was too hard to get a good shot of all three of them!)

Jeff and I took Brinkley and Cooper for a walk around the park while we were there. Brinkley is definitely much better walking in a group than Cooper is. Cooper always wants to be in the front of the pack and run as fast as he can to get "somewhere". After our walk, we sat and watched some of the standard and jumpers agility trials. It was a lot of fun! Maybe one day Cooper will be in the ring!