Cooper Reunites with his Brother and Dad

Cooper had an exciting Sunday afternoon! We took a road trip to Decatur so that he could play with his dad Cabot and his brother Brinkley. Here's a photo of Cooper and his dad Cabot. To give you the size differential -- Cooper is 18 pounds and Cabot is 50 pounds.


Cooper previously traveled from Indiana to Decatur when he was about 8 weeks old, at which time Brinkley stayed in Georgia and Cooper returned to Indiana. I have been wondering if they recognized each other from their early days.

Most of the time we were there, Cooper just romped around the yard with Brinkley. They were so cute together! And if it weren't for Cooper's collar or the lack of white on his back, it would have been quite difficult to tell them apart.



Click here to watch a video of Cooper and Brinkley playing. Doesn't it make you want to have two Springer puppies at the same time? They'd have so much fun! They got so dirty playing in the water bowl and in the yard that Cooper needed a bath before I would let him in the car to come home!

Unfortunately, it seems that all the playing and the bath were a bit too much for Cooper -- he got sick in the car on the way home. However, I don't think think it will stop him from wanting to play with his dad and brother again very soon! We are so thankful that they live so close!

Cooper's First Playdate

Cooper is growing up so fast! At 15 weeks old, he had his first playdate! We took him to Lesley and Rob's on Saturday to play with their lab Otto. Here's a cute pic of them during a play break.


They enjoyed chasing each other around the yard (and even switched up who the "chaser" was). When the humans went inside, Cooper decided to play in Otto's huge water bowl. When we came out less than 10 minutes later, Cooper was soaked and covered in dirt. Here's my dirty puppy zonked out after all that exciting play with Otto!


We're looking forward to many more exciting playdates with Otto!

Water, Water Everywhere!

For Cooper's second week in Georgia, we decided to test his limits with lots of water and a vet visit!

On Wednesday morning at 3am, I awoke to the sound of rain inside the house. The water supply became unconnected to the toilet in the upstairs guest bathroom and water poured through the floor to the main floor and the basement. The sound of rain that I heard was actually water pouring through the recessed lighting fixtures in the kitchen onto the hardwood floors.

Currently, most of Cooper's play areas look like this, which is rather depressing for him (and not to mention dangerous with all the nails sticking up!).

Since Wednesday, Cooper has only been able to hang out in the master bedroom (the only room in the house that didn't get damaged by water) and the deck.


With 37 professional air blowing dryers and 7 dehumidifiers, it became very hot in the house. We survived Wednesday and Thursday nights in the 90+ degree house, but we spent Friday night at a hotel. The house is finally starting to dry out and we will hopefully get rid of the dryers and dehumidifiers tomorrow!! Then the cleanup process begins. Here's a cute pic of Jeff and Cooper in the hotel.


Amazingly, Cooper has seemed unphased by this entire series of events even though everything we taught him in his first week and a half in our home has gone out the window. He's not eating his meals next to the island in the kitchen -- instead, he's been eating on the deck or in our master bathroom. He's not going outside to do his business through the basement door -- instead, he has to go out the front door. We are so thankful to have such a good puppy who didn't freak out during what has been a nightmare for us.

Cooper's First Week in Georgia

We survived our first week with a puppy! And last night Cooper FINALLY slept through the night!! This was unlike most nights this week...when we had to take him out twice in the middle of the night. We hope he keeps up this good behavior!

Here's a brief overview of a day in the posh life of Cooper during his first week in Georgia. First up, breakfast. Cooper gets very excited about food -- watch this video to see what I mean.

After breakfast, Cooper plays and sleeps until lunch. Sometimes he sleeps next to his water bowl.

And sometimes he goes into his crate all by himself to chill.

This eat, play, sleep routine is repeated until after dinner. When Jeff gets home, Cooper knows it's play time. And he loves to play with his fox!

Once Cooper tires out from all the playing, he likes to nap (yes, more napping). Who said Springers aren't lap dogs?

Somehow with all this eating, playing and napping, we fit in a walk or two around the neighborhood and obedience practice (he knows the commands for sit and down!) each day.

Cooper's Favorite Toys

During his first week in Georgia, Cooper's favorite toys are a cardboard box, a fox with a plastic water bottle insert, and squeaky rings. Here are a few videos of Cooper playing with his favorite toys.

Watch out neighborhood foxes now that Cooper's in town!

Cooper says screw the $10 toy, I like the freebie cardboard box!

Cooper Moves to Georgia

On Saturday, August 14, 2010 at the young age of 13-weeks-old, Cooper moved to Georgia. His mom's owner drove him from Indiana to Kentucky to meet Jeff. I was in D.C. for the weekend, so I only heard about the drive home from Jeff. Here's Cooper crashed out in his crate in the back of my car.

Here's Cooper at a rest stop.

After a six-hour drive, Cooper arrived at his new home in Georgia! He marked his new territory ... and no, not just outside.

Cooper's Early Days in Indiana

Cooper Robinson was born on May 16, 2010 in Indiana. His parents are Rose (Brendael) and Cabot (Georgian). He was one of three male and three female English Springer Spaniels in the litter -- five black/white and one liver/white puppies. Can you pick him out of the group? (Don't worry, neither can we!)

At eight weeks old, the puppies took a trip from Indiana to Georgia to meet their daddy Cabot. They left Cooper's brother Brinkley there to live with Cabot. Here's Cooper's eight-week photo.

During the next few weeks, all of the other puppies went to their new homes except Cooper and one of his sisters who will live with their mom permanently. Because his sister needed to start puppy class, Cooper started puppy class too -- so by the time he moved to Georgia, he already knew the verbal and visual commands for sit!

Big changes were on the horizon for Cooper at 13 weeks old...