So my daughter and son–in-law came by today with the new baby. Of course the new baby gets all the attention. Everyone wants to hold the baby, everyone wants to dance with the baby and everyone loves the baby, except Cooper. Cooper is used to getting all the attention and today he isn’t. My wife is holding the baby and Cooper is jumping up over and over again. Why, I am not sure, I am not sure if he wants to be held himself or just wants to eat his new nemesis. I took him aside and tried to explain to him that the baby is only here for a short while andthat he soon will be the prize again, but he just didn’t seem to understand and literally started moaning. If he handles this so poorly, I can’t imagine what will happen when a female dog turns him down for his first date.
Aug 29 - Sep 4
So my wife takes Cooper to the trainer and when she brings him back home he is perfect. They walk in and Copper heals perfectly in stride next to her. She takes him off the leash and while she is doing that he holds his left front leg up like a showdog. Then she shows off all these commands that he performs beyond perfect. He sits, he lies down, he poses for pictures, he does it all. I am usually working at my desk in the family room when she motions to him that he can go and of course he sees me. You know those zombie movies where the animal looks totally crazy, with fangs and claws projecting forward. Well he runs up to me gets on his hind legs and stands up to me, takes his paws and wraps them around my arm and gnaws on my hand. He then growls at me and runs away and brings a ball to throw, and barks very loudly until I throw the ball. If I don’t throw it he grabs my hand with his teeth again. So then I throw the ball over and over again. This goes on for while until my wife calls him. Then he prances over to her and holds up one foot and acts perfect again.
Aug 22 - 28
You know how every family has the good child and the trouble child. Well Cooper is our trouble child. If he hears another dog bark even a mile away he has to answer. If he even just sees a dog on TV he goes bonkers. If I am working at my desk he will bring a toy and bark at me continuously until I play with him. And once I start playing with him I can’t stop. Then when I do try to stop playing all he wants to do is eat me. Like children, when he is sleeping he is adorable, but when either of them are awake I have less flattering definitions to describe them.
My wife and I are embarking on a journey that we have been planning since the kids started high school. Next year we are going to move them into their own home. We feel they need a community of friends like them, with special needs. Many times when I have to deal with homeless people around the restaurantsI find that they are special needs adults. One man who didn’t even know his age or name was asking me basic questions that a 5 year old would ask. If a special needs adult walks out of his or her group home and is gone for more than a few days they are out of the system. Once they are out it is very difficult to get them back in. I tried to get help for this other gentleman, but found a series of phone calls that circled back to the original contact that ended up going nowhere. One of the biggest challenges with these kids is, they are all on meds, and once they are off of them they may have severe emotional issues. Consequently the police are called and these poor individuals are treated differently than they should be. So our goal is to build a community of these special people. A few years ago we purchased a closed fixer upper group home in Orangevale, and this year we bought a fixer upper a block away. We are hoping to have 4 kids live in each home. The second home has a guest house and we plan to build one for the other home as well. This way we can offer low rent to someone who helps keep an eye on the kids. Each kid would also have a care giver so many hours a week but with the guest house there is back up. We are hoping other parents will rent or purchase homes in the same area so that our community can grow and that would enable more people looking after these special individuals. Wish us luck.
Aug 15 - 21
CAUTION, this story should not be read while in the process of eating a meal of any kind.
Ok, so you know those signs you see on people’s front lawns that show a dog pooping with a big X across the diagram. Well Cooper doesn’t understand what the X means and he interprets the sign to mean ”please poop here”, which he does very consistently. I, of course, am not very popular with the neighbors because I always forget my poop bag.
Ok, so on the farm things have definitely changed. About 5 weeks ago Star, one of our ponies died of hepatitis. Then 2 weeks after that my Great Pyrenees dog, SoSo, died of cancer and then last night our other pony apparently died of old age. He was 10 years older than the 16 year old, Star. Because of the coyotes Cooper cannot be left outside alone. My wife and I realize that maybe we should not get any more animals and I look at the 1000 feet of fencing I have put in over the years and think why do I have so much fencing, when now I don’t need any of it.