Visiting A Strange Pet Store

First off, I received a lot of feedback from yesterday's post, Road Trip, via my email and on my facebook page. I was advised it was dangerous to put my head out the window. Well, when I tried sticking my butt out the window I couldn't see a darned thing. Plus my owner guy yelled at me to quit mooning those people in the other lane.  

Hahahahahahah.. That's a joke. I crack me up sometimes. Another person said he had a dog once that jumped out the window and rolled down the street, Roosevelt Ave, in York, PA. He said he had no idea his dog was that dumb. He said his dog was "not hurt at all but dumb as a sack of rocks".  

Thanks everyone for your concern. I should explain that on the photo's it looks like I am really cruising fast. Actually when we go fast I bring my head inside. The picture in the woods is actually going down a dirt road to the river only traveling about 15 mph. And the other photos are in downtown Mountville, Pa. where the speed limit is only about 25 mph. Heck, I run faster than that! Some photo's might even be while stopped at a red light. The Coopster is not dumb as a sack of rocks. 

Now on with today's post.

We did end up going inside the store, right under the big shark. It got even creepier when we were walking toward the door. The doors opened up themselves, without anybody touching them! Someone invisible must have been moving them. Ghosts! I think the place might be haunted.

And there are some very peculiar people in there. The first people I see that are not invisible are two girls sitting on the floor, right in the middle of the store, eating something with their dog. I went the other way to avoid them. It only got weirder.

Eating on the floor in the middle of the store. Isn't that a little bizarre? 
Isaac's Restaurant is right next door. 

Next we ran into some guy pushing two Pomeranians around in a shopping cart. He wasn't buying them. He was just visiting the store with them. I am still trying to figure out if he is an eccentric screwball or a genius. Maybe I can get mom to trade in my leash for a cart. Then when we go to grandma's I wouldn't have to walk. Hummmmmmmm.

Hey buddy, ever think of buying a leash? They are over in isle 5. 

Nope. She wasn't interested in getting me a cart. We headed over to the leash isle. They had quite a selection. It took me awhile to make up my mind.

I finally decided on the nice blue one mom is holding. 

I wanted to check out some goggles and maybe a hat. I thought it might be cool to stick my head out the window on the way home and have my owner guy take the freeway and get up to about 80 mph but no dice.

We headed over to the cat isle and got Camden and Simba some mice we can stuff with cat-nip.

Is that dog on the box doing yoga? We gotta get out of this place!

They sell cat-nip here. When Simba and Camden get that they act really strange. Hey, that could explain a lot of the odd behaviour about this place. I could smell the cat-nip in the cat isle. I wonder if that guy pushing the Pomeranians was over smelling the cat-nip. Someone should check that out. But not me. As for me. I am going to hold my breath until we get back to the car.

Road Trip

Beautiful day for a road trip

There is nothing like hopping in the car and hitting the road! So lets do it. Get this party started!

To get into the spirit of this post crank up your volume and click play on one of the road song choices. You can't go on a road trip without music! I have readers all across the spectrum so I've included several genres. Pick your favorite and enjoy. What's your favorite road song? I like them all!

I never turn down an invitation to go for a ride. We always go someplace fun. And (pardon the cliche) getting there is half the fun. We crank up the radio and play road songs. It is especially great when my human sister goes along because then I get to stick my head out and feel the wind in my face.

My human sister taught me how to take selfies on the way to the river

I just love the thrill of the open road. You never know where you are going to end up. It could be Grandma's, the river, a park, Holtwood Dam, the vets. Or, like this weekend, a shopping trip to the pet store.

A beautiful day for a road trip. Off to the pet store.

My leash broke the other day and mom wanted to replace it. Don't ever buy those retractable ones. They don't last long at all. My owner guy says I don't need one because I listen to him really good. But mom says there are times when I just don't seem to be able to hear her when she calls. I am not sure how a new leash is going to improve my hearing, but off we go to pick out a new leash.

Road trip turns creepy

When we got to the pet store there was a big shark stuck in the wall above the door. It looked a little creepy to me. He was huge. And his mouth was wide open, ready to bite! I think sharks eat dogs.

You've got to be kidding me. You want to go in there?

If pets had people stores and we mounted people in the walls with their heads hanging above the door would you want to go in there? Who runs this store? A bunch of psychopaths? I think maybe we should just go home now. We can make a leash out of clothes line rope. You don't need 4 strands of clothes line.

Did we end up going inside? Did we see any psychos? Did I get eaten by a shark? Check back tomorrow, if you dare.

Trip To Grandma's Pond

First off - Thanks to Storm for guest blogging while I took a break. Great job Storm. And if there are any other dogs or cats (or maybe a horse or whatever) out there that would like to do a guest post just contact me. Sometimes I get writer's block, need a break, or just get lazy.

I enjoyed my break and did lots of things. Today I'll tell you about my trip to Grandma's Pond. It is on the other side of the electric fence where that white horse hangs out. He wasn't in the area one day so I went down to check it out.

The above is just a short clip of my time running and jumping in the water. I was playing for quite awhile. And I saw great big fish swimming in the deep end.

These fish were as big as me.

After romping around I headed back up to grandma's house. On the way back through the field I found some really great smelling nuggets.They smelled wonderful and I bet they tasted great too. Did you ever sit down to a meal that looked and smelled so good you couldn't decide whether to roll in it first or to just start eating it? My owner guy said they were "road apples" and yelled for me to get away! So unfortunately I didn't get to eat or roll in them! I don't know how they got there. I wonder if those horses know anything about them.

"Hey, get away from those road apples!"
Oh man! I wish you could smell them. Awesome!

I finished my walk and went back to grandma's house. I thought being in the water so much would have me all washed clean. My owner guy said I was all washed off but mom and grandma got out a towel and wiped my feet anyway.

What's the towel for grandma? 

The towel turned all brown. I just can't figure that out.

Marmot Day (Storm - guest blogger)

(Note from Cooper: Conclusion of yesterday's guest post from Storm - Living With Cats )

(Another note from Cooper: A big thank you to the reader who noticed  the wrong word (marsupial) was used on this origional post. Groundhogs are not marsupials. Rather the word Storm really wanted to use was marmot. Thanks for reading and fact checking. I am so proud of my readers from Berea (you can look it up Acts 17:11) and my guest bloggers! Some people are right. Some people are kind. You have shown it is possible to be both at the same time. Storm sent me an email saying "Nice catch and a big atta boy!" (or atta girl in this case) -- .. sorry for the mistake, thanks a bunch from Storm!)

I don't get it. Although I am not as active as I could be because Mom and Dad can't get around very well, I am still always ready for a walk (with mom or dad riding on a scooter). Sometimes they will start teasing me, saying: "Stormy, would you like to ... TALK?" " Now, don't ...SULK." "Want to get a...HAWK?" See, anything that rhymes with walk, especially with that upwards inflection at the end and I'm gone. I get REALLY excited when I see the accoutrements for a walk and so they naturally try to avoid that. Sometimes Mom will ask Dad if he wants to take me for a promenade or a stroll and I've kind of figured those out now. I'm also always ready to go "bye-byes". I love going bye-byes! By the way, if you're wondering why I would use "accoutrements" and then bye-byes, it's because of Mom. She knows I am a dog. She would never dress me up and then take pictures and put them on facebook and have everybody say "Oh, how adorable!" But her own human baby (Max) is now 32, married and a doctor so I'm kind of like her baby now. I don't mind. It's a little thing to do and it makes her happy.

Well, I could ramble on a little more but it is almost one o'clock in the morning and I'm ready for bed. Too much fun outside today. Saw a gigantic marmot and her baby (relax, they are groundhogs) in MY yard.

Mama Marmot & Baby Marmot

Hey, if the neighbor a couple doors down sees him it'll be through the scope of his rifle and that'll be the end of him.

And don't come back!

  

Well, Dad just yelled for me to come to bed so I gotta close down for now.  Maybe next time I can share what kind of week we had here with the 2 cats who live here AND the other 2 cats who were visiting!  Take care until the next time Cooper needs a break.

Your friend,

Storm

Living With Cats (Storm - guest blogger)

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"...the best is living here, but well, there are some fleas in the ointment. And Dawn won't work on these! Dad and Mom had been pretty much "cat people" for most of their married life. And the pragmatic reason is because you can go away for a weekend and cats will do all right on their own, whereas we dogs need some help.

Snugs

Two cats (Snugs and Bartlett) had allowed Mom and Dad to live with them and kowtow to their every want (at least that's how I saw it) and then I came into the mix. Bartlett hated my guts and swiped at me with his paw every chance he got. He also stared me down and I am sorry to say, won every time. (can you say intimidation?) But I figured since he was still very young he would smarten up, which he has. We now nod good morning. I find and I am sure he does too, that that is enough - we don't need

Bartlett

to share feelings or whatever. The other cat, Snugs, was a very elderly cat who wanted to be a little too friendly for my taste. I like to have a respectful, nodding acquaintance but no lying side by side just like we were best buds. But there was no harm in her and once in awhile we would chat briefly. Mom would say I should be nicer to her, but where I came from you just didn't mix that much. Of course Mom would always bring up her beagle, Cotton, that came to the farm when just a pup and got along fine with all the barn cats. But that's just not me, at least not yet. Anyway, Snugs passed and while I felt bad for Mom and especially Dad, I figured that one cat less was a very good thing. It never occurred to me that another cat would come and live just so Bartlett wouldn't be lonely. (Boy, am I ever naïve sometimes) So now I have Bartlett and Teddy to contend with. Teddy had obviously never seen a dog before or maybe not a dog with more fur than he has and he would come up close and stare...and win.

What is it with cats and staring?! Anyway, he's okay except his feminine side takes over once in a while and he wants to groom everybody, no matter what species, even Mom and Dad. Bartlett puts up with it for a little and then he sits up straighter and cuffs Teddy. Teddy tries again to lick but Bartlett growls and then both start hissing and slapping until they both go to their separate corners. Dad and I think it's pretty funny because they neither one have claws and so the blows they land on each other are basically pretty harmless. However, the worst part is when Teddy wants to try it on me. He looks at me from an inch away and start licking my face or my ear. EWWW! I'm like "Mom, get this thing away from me!" No, I don't bark although I guess a nice loud bark might shock Teddy into normalcy. But I am a gentleman through and through. (Mom says she's never seen a dog with more manners or a sweeter disposition) Dad says I need to get me a pair. But a pair of what?? And what would they do? Hey. Coop, do you know what he's talking about?

Teddy the new boy and Bart

Sometimes they eat some of my food and Theodore is a big beggar when Dad gets the jerky out. I am, too, but then I figure it's MY JOB...not the silly cat's. I don't know about all of you, but these two cats sleep a lot but then they get what I call "the crazies" and they'll thunder-butt (yes, I coined that word combo) through the house, up and down over the chairs, running like the Hound of the Baskervilles is chasing them. Then they might deign to eat or drink a little something and then curl up in a ball and sleep their lives away.

(Note from Cooper: To be continued on tomorrow's post Marmot Day )

Storm's Story (guest blogger)

Storm

Hi there, one and all. I'm today's guest blogger, Storm. When I visited Cooper a few weeks ago he said he might let me try my paw at this and give him a break, so here goes.

I know he told you a little about my breed, which is American Eskimo, but I would like to share some personal things. First of all, I am a rescue dog. I was living with some folks who had lost interest in me. I lived in a crate on the breezeway, no walks, and when I was in the house my white coat slowly turned biscuit color because of their smoking like chimneys. Sometimes there was mistreatment, too. I remember when I first got to know Mom and Dad (what I call the humans who took me out of there) I would cringe or move under the table every time they picked up their canes or even the newspaper because I thought it meant I was going to get whacked. Of course

I am much better with things like that now because I know that is not going to happen anymore. I think I may be about 11 now (or 77) because I have no idea when I was born or who my parents were.

(I checked out Ancestry.com once to see if I could find any info but you know that was totally unhelpful)

Anyway, my prospective parents came to meet me and Dad wanted me right away but Mom wasn't so sure. (They had just lost their Samoyed, Girl, a couple weeks before to cancer. Since she had been a rescue dog they wanted a rescue again because they had had 10 happy years with her). But we all got in the car and headed to my new home – a 2 hour trip.  I sat like a perfect gentleman.  They really liked that.  I didn't have any luggage but I did bring something with me.... fleas and plenty of them. So the "fun" began as soon as we got home. Dad got out the hose and some Dawn and you can guess what happened next.  I figured okay, this is to be expected but then after he rinsed me...he lathered me up again! I sat for 5 more minutes while the Dawn did its thing and then rinsed again. At least I looked more like myself - I was white again and fluffy. Dad still wasn't satisfied ( I think he saw some renegade fleas) so the next day into the garden tub I went, with Dad, and we cleaned up for the last time. At last I was flea-free! Dawn's not just for dishes because I haven't had any fleas since and it's been 4 years. (of course judicious use of Frontline doesn't hurt either)

Yea!  I’m white and wet.  (My 1^st bath) 

I am happy and thankful to be living with folks who really want me and show it. I always have food and water, sometimes treats, walks, trips to the vet/groomer for a "spa day" and Dad even shares some of his chicken and jerky with me while Mom sometimes shares a little cheese from her pizza. They even allow me to nap with them, on their bed!  (At night I have to lay down beside the bed and I snore, but they don't mind) And while I understand that we don't speak the same language, honestly when Mom leans in close and smiles at me and I see her brown eyes (just like mine) and she talks just to me or kisses me, well then I understand what she is saying. I'm sure it translates to "Storm, I love you and I'm glad you're here with us!" It's just not that hard to figure out. And while she's that close I kiss her, too. (It's much harder to get Dad. He seems to like human kisses much better.)

My human mom (Jane) & dad  (Ed)

Well, enough for now. In future I plan to cover topics such as: my spa days, how my daily routine differs from Coop's, road trips, my life with 2 cats and sometimes more, and some encounters with wild and not-so-wild animals that live around here near York, PA.

I hope you'll enjoy reading them. 

Get Motivated

Several people sent me messages this morning looking for my Monday post. Well, during football season it is really hard to find the time to write posts. I will still be posting periodically, maybe about once a week. If you want to keep informed of when I post without having to waste time checking you can sign up on the right for email notification. I believe the batch file goes out about once a day so after I put up a new post you will be notified within 24 hours.

I hadn't planned on doing a post today at all but I came across a great post game interview that I wanted to share with my readers.

This guy says what I, the Coopster would say on camera if I could talk. 

Watch it and get encouraged, inspired and motivated. Enjoy.

Plan B

A New Hiding Spot

In yesterday's post I told you how I not only lost my bone but they even hauled away my hiding place. Well today I was over at my human grandma's again. I took inventory and I found a chewy bone and also another milk bone that were hidden behind the TV and back in the corner.

I can't take the chance of those guys coming back so I went to Plan B. I took them outside and buried them underground by the swing post.

As you can see it is tons more work for me and my nose gets really dirty. When I would hide stuff in the sofa all I had to do was push them under the cushions. But I don't mind the extra work and the dirty nose. It will get clean as soon as I get back in the house and give grandma kisses.

Just for you, my dear blog readers, I had my film crew shoot my bone burying from two different angels. So just like Major League Baseball and the National Football League I am able to bring you the digging action from different perspectives. Here is a view from the inside angle.

I think my stash is a lot safer now. I thought about trying to hide them in the new recliners but I won't take that chance. Who knows, maybe grandma will get rid of them too and put in a hot tub or a pool table. You never know what she is up to.

After I finished burying my stash I sat on the hill and checked out the area. As you might have noticed on the video from the inside view there was a brown horse in the area. I don't think he had any idea I was hiding my valuables.

But that white horse looked a little suspicious. He was looking right at me. I don't know if he saw anything or not. I am not worried about him because he is on the other side of an electric fence. But if he blabs to the cats or the squirrels that run around here it could mean trouble. He could sell me out to the squirrels for some apples from the tree up on the hill. They would deliver quite a few apples to find out where my milk bone stash is hidden.

He is looking this way.  Very suspicious looking.
I'm not sure I can trust him.

If I come back and my bones are missing the white horse is the first one I am going to question.

It used to be a guy could bury bones and they were safe. But not these days. The squirrels, raccoons, opossums, foxes, skunks, they all act like a bunch of animals.

I just might have to talk to mom about getting me a safety deposit box.

Bad Day Gets Better

Lost one Milk Bone

A bad day. My human grandma got some new furniture the other day. Good news for her but bad news for me. She got two really nice new recliners. I lost a milk bone treat.

Hey where are you guys taking that sofa?

The guys that brought the new chairs also took away the old sofa. They didn't know that the sofa was where I sometimes hide my milk bones under the cushions.

I was frantic. But no one was listening to me.

I tried to stop them but it was too late. The delivery guys worked really fast.

There goes one of my best hiding spots. 

Gained A Bag Full Of Milk Bones

But all is not lost. Fortunately, my mom went out to eat with her sister the other day. They went to a milk bone buffet and they couldn't eat all of their milk bones. Apparently my aunt doesn't hide or bury the milk bones she can't eat in one meal. So she sent a doggie bag for me. Now I have lots more milk bones! 

See my name on the bag? Thanks Aunt Kay. How did you know? 

And I saw that the one I hid behind the TV is still there too. So what looked like a bad day turns into a good day. 

Again Papa Duke was right. He would always say to us pups... "As the good book says...And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.........."  

You can look it up!  (Rom 8:28)  

Playing Dead

I was trying to motivate the cats to do something the other day. As I recall the conversation went something like this:

Hey you cats! Get off the desk! 

Cooper:  "Hey guys, all you ever do is lay around and get up on the furniture. Don't you ever do anything but eat and sleep? Why don't you ever help out and bring in the mail like I do?"

You need more practice. This letter has your teeth marks all over it. 

Simba: "I do stuff. I am good at playing hide and seek. Every time someone comes I can hide so well they never even see me. And you better be careful. You could get your head stuck in that railing. That actually happened to your human uncle once. And it was your human mom who was supposed to be watching him!"

Cooper: "Yeah, I heard that story. Sounds like something that would happen on Leave it to Beaver, not in Cooper's World. How about you Camden. What do you do?"

Camden: "I don't DO anything. I prefer to have others DO for me."

Cooper: "Well I can sit. I can fetch, I can ring a bell to go outside. And I can stay, for about 4 seconds (but that is 28 seconds in dog time)."

Camden: "But can you play dead?"

Cooper: "Of course. That is easy. A lot of dogs can but nobody plays dead quite like the Coopster! Crank up your volume and click the play button. I would love to play dead for you."

Where's Doggo?

Mom reads to me. One of my favorite books is Where's Waldo? because it is fun trying to find him as he blends into the environment around him.

Wouldn't it be neat if I could be in a Waldo book blending into the scenery?

Here is my blog version of a Waldo book. I call it "Where's Doggo?" See how quick you can find me.

Give yourself  5 points if you can find me in this picture

Give yourself  4 points if you can find me in this picture

Give yourself  3 points if you can find me in this picture

Give yourself  2 points if you can find me in this picture

Give yourself  1 point if you can find me in this picture

How did you do?

Did you find Doggo? How did you do?

5 points

4 points

3 points

2 points

1 point

I am still looking

Poll Maker

Camden Saves The Day (guest blogger)

Hi. Camden the cat here. Cooper didn't have time to write a blog post for today. As you can see by the picture below he has been very busy.

Playing with empty milk cartons is exhausting. Zzzzzz  Zzzzzzzz.....

Cooper likes to only work four day weeks. He did make arrangements for Simba, the other cat, to fill in for him as guest blogger today. I noticed that Simba wasn't making much progress on it and the dead line was getting near.

Slimba resting up for...... uh, his next nap

I asked him when he was going to get on it. He said he didn't think he was going to have time and

"If I don't get my 22 1/2 hrs of daily sleep I am a wreck."

Well, someone had to do something or there wouldn't be a blog post for today. You can thank me, Camden, for saving the day. If you want to show your appreciation you can go to the poll on Friday's post and vote for cats!

Me, Camden, checking stats and saving the day for those slackers

There have been 122 visits to Cooper's World blog since the poll was put up but only 10 people voted. That is actually really a good response as statistics show that only about 3% of web surfers ever give any input. Cooper's World is getting 8%!

Results as I type this are:
Dogs = 6
Cats = 2
I like them both the same = 2

Cat vs Dog poll results as of this post writing.

Cats Vs Dogs (Includes Poll)

While discussing yesterday's post with Simba I told him that I thought it was great that he is helping my human sister study for her Master's degree. I told him it was a wonderful thing to learn and gain more knowledge.

But like papa Duke always said, "The good book says "Its nice to be important but its more important to be nice."  I don't think the good book actually says that but he might have been thinking of this:

   ...knowledge puffs up while love builds up...." ( 1 Cor 18 you can look it up).

I told him that people don't really care how much you know but how much you care. The world needs knowledge, but it really needs more love. I suggested to him that if cats could be more like puppies they would have lots more friends. Because it is obvious to me that most people like dogs better than cats. 

In a deep discussion with Simba why I feel people prefer dogs over cats

Simba didn't believe that. He thinks that most people like cats better than dogs. Of course Camden also thinks people like cats better. Actually, she thinks people should only like her. But that is another issue for another time.

I did a test on Google search and it appears my assumption is correct.  Take a look at the Google search engine suggestions when you type in "Cats are" or "Dogs are".

Here are the search suggestions for "Dogs are........."

It shows 3 very favorable suggestions and one erroneous assumption. (Dogs are not color blind. They just can't see as full a spectrum of color as humans. If you want more detail click this article : Are Dogs Colorblind?)

Now take a look at the search suggestions for "Cats are......."

Hummmm. Only one favorable suggestion and two negative suggestions. And one that doesn't make sense. So it appears possibly 75% of the population prefer dogs over cats. 

But Simba says that is just a sample from about a half a billion searches. He wants more data. He would like to know what you think. Please take a second and vote in our poll.

Which are better, Dogs or Cats?

Dogs

Cats

I like them both the same

Poll Maker

Thank you!

Get Your PhD

The other day I was talking with Simba, one of the cats that live here. She was in my human sister's room checking over some papers. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was helping her work toward her master's degree.

Simba helping my human sister work on her Master's degree

She said it is a lot of work and is going to take all winter and spring.

Then after that she will probablly start working on her PhD.

I thought that was strange. "She doesn't have to do that" I said, "because she already has her PhD."

"No, that comes after her Masters." Said Simba, "And it is a lot of work. So leave me alone while I proofread this paper and go chew on a boot or something."

"But she already has her PhD", I repeated. "She got it on August 9th when I arrived. I gave it to her."

"Do you know what a PhD is?", Simba asked.

"Sure. It means Pretty Happy Dog and that is me! My mom has her PhD. My owner guy has his PhD. My owner grandma has her PhD. I gave one to all of them. And they didn't have to work for it. It is free. I give them out all the time. It comes with my unconditional love. (And a big wet doggie kiss on the lips!) That is what makes me so happy. Giving people my unconditional puppy love."

"You are really strange." Simba said.

"Maybe so, but I am happy. A Pretty Happy Dog because I am able to have so many people to love. You cats only want to receive love, but the secret to being happy is to give love. You should try it. I will even give you a PhD along with my unconditional love!"

"And I love all my blog readers, so they also all have PhD's from me. Just look at the map below. It shows all the places in the last 7 days I have given out PhD's. It shows all the hub locations my blog readers have come from. Some location's received up to 5 different people getting PhD's."

Cooper's PhD's awarded in US last 7 days.

My home state of  Pennsylvania PhD locations last 7 days. 

So, If you are reading this blog. You have made me a happy dog. Here is my unconditional puppy love and a big wet doggie kiss on the lips! SMACK!

Thank you very much. Tell people today that you have a PhD. A Pretty Happy Dog.

How To Encourage

Mom & Dad

Dingo sent me a picture of my mom and dad the other day. It was great to see them. They look like they are doing well since all us pups moved out. See how they are smiling at me.

Duke and Lulu, my mom and dad.

It brought back memories. Like the times mom would read us bible stories. One of my favorites was about Barnabas. He hung out with Paul and Timothy and he was an encourager and was called "son of encouragement". You can look it up (Acts 4:36). Mom would tell us the bible stories and pop would give us practical examples in real life. I asked mom what it meant to encourage and how could I be like Barnabas. She said "Ask your father".

Pop's Real Life Example

Pop told me how he encouraged a puppy at the vets one time. He said there was a puppy being weighed in the waiting room (just like they do at my vet) and it was crying because it thought it weighed too much. So dad said he just went over to the puppy and said, "There there, little guy, don't cry. You aren't fat. You're just a little Husky!"

Not the actual little Husky. A professional actor. 

Pop was always good at giving practical examples.