Learning About Cooper

All I wanted when I got a dog was a companion who could go places with me and behave himself. Cooper does that. I've only had him a month and I've got him away from being sick every time he rode in the truck (dramamine), taught him to heel, stop, and sometimes, come. He fights that one. He's great on the leash; I call come and he comes running when he's on the leash. When he is not leashed, he sadly looses his sense of hearing and is struck deaf, and his attention immediately is stuck on whatever is going on at the neighbor's house.

Last night I gave him a quarter of a dramamine, knowing I was going to Bangor today to visit my mother at Ross Manor. Usually he doesn't eat his breakfast well, but he ate every bit this morning and all I can think about as I'm watching it go down is that it is going to be a large mess when it comes up, and I'll be the one cleaning it up.

We get almost into Bangor and we stop at the Brown Woods for an opportunity to get some exercise and a place for Cooper to do his business before we go into the nursing home. Although the terrain was icy, we had a nice walk and Cooper peed on every poop and pooped on every pee. I was amazed that a small dog could hold so much water! He drank a whole bowl of water when we got back.

At the nursing home, he was awesome. He doesn't typically jump up on people, and he didn't here. He walked slowly from person to person getting all the patting he could handle. One woman kept telling me he must be hungry for his breakfast and I explained that he only eats twice a day--then she asked me if he was a Shihtzu/Maltese. She may have dementia but she was one sharp lady! That's exactly what he his.

He walked all around, sniffing the floor and sticking his cold wet nose on people's ankles, and was a perfect gentleman. Some of the nurses told me he's more of a gentleman than a lot of the other dogs that come in and told him he could come back anytime.

I'm so proud of my Cooper. He put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces and those happy faces gave him lots of kisses. What a good boy!