Cooper hasn’t the foggiest idea that he is a canine. Oh, we’ve told him this plenty of times…but he never listens. He’s mellowed quite a bit in the past six months, but still thinks nothing of opening up the pantry door and getting himself a snack, or “telling us” (AKA howling) when it’s time to get out of bed in the morning, or when he needs to take us for a walk. We’ll be very glad when he learns the days of the week, since 5:45 AM is ‘get-up’ time, every day, inclusive of Saturday and Sunday.

Cooper gets high marks for consistency. His AM procedure always starts with heavy breathing and staring at us, beside our bed; then shifts to ‘paws on the bed’, then—if the appropriate response isn’t forthcoming—the ‘on top of bed serenade’. We now think that he’s trying to howl to the tune of “Stella by Starlight”…not sure where he gets that tune, some Jazz documentary on PBS TV, maybe, or listening to KMHD.

Knowing that socialization is quite important for all dogs (and he is a dog, we keep reminding ourselves), we take him to doggy daycare, at least once a week. He loves day-care, and always comes back bone-tired, from all the running and playing. Lately, the day-care guys have been saying that Cooper is body-checking some of the other dogs, and generally moving them around. Just a phase, the guys say. Actually, we think he’s been trying to unionize the daycare canine crew…organize everyone and demand more perks from the staff. We haven’t told the daycare guys this; let them find out on their own….

Yes, we love Cooper a ton, even more so now that he humors us by acting out some canine traits. He will now retrieve a thrown ball and bring it back; an improvement from the “you’ve got to be kidding” look that was his stock reply, previously. He comes when he’s called, instead of just standing there, with that saucy “why don’t you come here?” expression. Kids, what are you gonna do with them?

Now, if we can only convince the IRS that Cooper deserves a tax deduction….

Ric & Lori Lamoureux
Portland, Oregon