Digging With Dingo

Yesterday afternoon I had to chase a squirrel out of the yard. There are about 4 of them around here. They really keep me on my toes. While I was looking up the tree I saw 4 raptors flying right over top of my house. Two  bald eagles and a little higher up two red-tailed hawks. It sure is nice to be able to go eagle watching without even leaving my yard.

If I hadn't been looking up for the squirrel I wouldn't have noticed the raptors. 

We didn't see any eagles Tuesday on my hike with Dingo but we sure did have a lot of fun. We watched for squirrels and we saw several flickers. It was probably the best day weather wise we will have from now until Spring.

The leaves are very colorful now. You should get out and enjoy them.

This is what we look like to the squirrels.

While our owners were taking a break at the overlook Dingo came up with a great idea. She said why don't we dig a hole right under her owner. And she also thought up a game. It was called "who can throw the most dirt into his shoes". He was wearing low shoes without any socks. I am not sure who won because we were interrupted right in the middle of our game. We didn't see any eagles but we saw something very interesting and unusual, as you will see in the video.

Don't forget to turn your clocks back when you go to bed Saturday night. See you next Month!

The Green Monster

The Paparazzi

I went for a hike with my sister Dingo on Tuesday. I will tell you about it in another post.

What I need to tell you about today is what happened right after Dingo left. I wish she would have stayed another half hour. I could have used her help. But I understand why she had to leave as soon as our hike was over. She is becoming famous. She is very photogenic and has lots of followers on Instagram. Her Instagram name is @dingo_the_blueheeler click here to see her site or if you want to follow her. The Paparazzi follow her. Everywhere. So she needs to keep on the move.

Dingo outrunning the Paparazzi. Fame has its price. 

The Green Monster (Not the one in Fenway)

After Dingo left I was getting settled to rest up from the hike when I heard this terrible noise. I ran out to see what was going on and there was a giant green monster heading right for our house! I went out in the yard to defend our house and scared it away. I managed to save our laundry lines and our house but I wasn't able to keep it from eating up all the corn. If Dingo would have been here I am sure we could have teamed up and saved my favorite hiding place, the cornfield.

I stared it down. Looking right into it's huge teeth. 

I stood my ground and made him turn and leave. I won! 

After I defeated the monster my owners went for a walk in what was left of the cornfield with me to survey the damage. It was awful. The green monster had eaten all the corn.

Devastation. All the corn was swallowed up by the green monster.
Hey, I can see grandma's house from here. 

What a shock! (literally)

We went all the way to the end of the field where the cow pasture begins. I ran into the pasture and on the way back I got the shock of my life. Really. I had no idea what hit me. All the hair on my back stood up and I barked really loud and growled as I turned around ready to fight. But I couldn't find anything to fight. Something invisible had attacked me.

What a thrill! My owner guy said it was the electric fence and stopped me from going back under it. He said I probably don't get it and will probably get shocked again next time we walk through the field. He said some things you just have to learn by experience.

What a thrill. Hey Storm, Dingo, Hank, and Mia, did you ever touch an electric fence? Next time you come down I can show you a real thrill and help you all gain some valuable experience.

My New Hiking Friend - Mia

I have another friend now. This Sunday I met Mia. She is a Boxer and she is 6 months old.

My new friend Mia. Isn't she pretty?

Boxers are medium sized short haired dogs of a breed developed in Germany with a brownish coat and a short, square-jawed muzzle. She said she didn't come to see me from Germany but that she lives in East Prospect, Pa, USA.

She likes hiking so I got to go give her a tour of some of my favorite hiking spots. We went to two of the trails at Apollo park and also one at Urey Overlook. Her owners went along too. Her mom owner even managed to get a picture of one of the eagles flying around and she put it on her facebook page.

Mia's mom owner caught this eagle in flight. 

Getting ready for the hike. 

I warned her about the cliff. So far no one I brought here ever fell over it. 

After spending time watching eagles at the overlook we went to hike a couple trails through the woods, over creeks, and up and down steep hills at Apollo.

Mia's dad owner knows a lot about the woods. He was wearing a special jacket for using a compound bow. He pointed out deer tracks and spots where they were rubbing their antlers on trees. Of course Mia and I already knew that because we could smell them. We could smell deer lots of places but he could only tell where they have been by visual signs. He really needs to work on his olfactory skills if he wants to call himself a deer hunter.

Mia's owner didn't smell any deer. What a shame. He wants so bad to be a good deer hunter.

Before we were done we went on three different trails. By the time we got home we were exhausted (Mia and me. The humans only walked on the trail but we were all over the place. We walked 10 times more than they did). So when we got back to the house we were ready to pass out. While we were sleeping we practiced synchronised napping.

Synchronized napping. Notice Mia's right front leg is not quite straight.
We are working on that. The judges would probably give us a 9.3 for this nap.

It was a great afternoon of hiking. I hope we can do it again real soon. So many trails and so little time.

20 Facts About Me (Part 1)

My human sister Jannessa recently was challenged to give 20 facts about me. Here are the facts she gave. My comments are in blue.

1. I was born on June 16, 2014.
   
   Same day Arthur Stanley Jefferson was born in 1890. (You might know him as Stan Laurel of the Laurel and Hardy comedy team. And Phil Mickelson (a famous golfer) was also born that day in 1970)
2. I live with two cats, Simba and Camden.
   
   

   

   They are bad. They get on the furniture.

3. I also live with my human parents and human sister.
   
   

   

   My sister hangs out with the big guy with the cool shades. He plays with me when he visits.

4. My favorite person besides who I live with is my human grandma.
   
   

   

   She's wearing my owner's hiking hat. She is sooooo funny. 

5. I’m named after Bradley Cooper. (I’m handsomer)
   
   

   

   I don't know who he is but he dresses nice.

6. My favorite game is tug-of-war.
   
   
   

   

   I started when I was very young. Friends gave me this tug o war rope. I am quite good at it now. 

7. I like long walks in the woods
   
   
   

   

   I even have my very own woods in my yard. Squirrels live up there.

8. I love sitting in laps.
   
   
   

   

   Two of my favorite things. A grandma and a lap at the same time!

9. I love car rides. (even more if I have a lap)
   
   
   

   

   Hey, Hey! Hey!! Three favorite things. A car ride, a lap, and my human sister.

10. The only human foods that I dislike so far are pickles and cauliflower.
    
    I don't even bury that stuff! They might grow.
    
    I will post the other 10 facts she gave in a future post. Right now I have to go chase a squirrel out of the yard. They try to steal the sunflower seeds that are out for the birds. 

(Flying) Fish Story

"It was a dark and stormy night..."  ha ha just kidding. I always wanted to begin a story that way. I have been studying a famous dog named Snoopy to improve my writing skills. You may have heard of him.

This post almost didn't get published because I thought no one would believe it. But that really doesn't matter because it did happen. You can't make this stuff up.

Raining Fish

You may have heard the saying "raining cats and dogs". Well did you ever hear of "raining fish"?

It was a bright and breezy morning. (Studying Snoopy is paying off!) I was out with my human owner heading to a couple of our favorite hiking spots. Our first destination, Urey Overlook. We were driving north on Furnace Road just beyond Otter Creek Campground when an eagle flew out of the woods and started flying north too, right in front of us. And it was carrying a fish.

It was a juvenile, only 1 to 2 years old. It was still mostly brown and spotted with white. We followed it for about 100 feet when it dropped the fish and it almost hit our car. It landed to our left in the other lane. If another car would have been coming it would have landed right in the windshield. I wonder if car insurance covers broken windows from "raining fish".

A muskellunge landed right beside our car. The eagle flew off to the right. 

My owner turned the car around to go back and get a picture of it. He couldn't get a picture of the eagle flying because he was driving and it happened too quick. But he can verify my fish story. What an exciting start to our hike.

It's back end was missing. I guess the tail fins were breakfast. 

It was very fresh. The best part was still there. 

It was fresh.  I wanted my owner guy to keep it. To take it back for mom to clean and cook up for breakfast but he wouldn't do it. She makes fish for supper. I bet she would have loved to have some fresh fish.

Today's take away:

When you are out hiking always look up. You never know when an eagle will throw a fish at you. 

Mail Call

As a lot of you know one of my jobs is to help bring in the mail. I have been doing this for most of my life but there has never been any for me. Well, recently I went down with mom to help carry up some of the mail and this time there was actually a piece addressed to me! I couldn't believe it! Mail for me.

This is the best smelling mail I ever brought in.

It smelled better than any of the mail my humans ever got. It smelled like BACON! It was from my buddy Storm. And it did have BACON! in it. You might remember him from his guest blog post last month. My very first ever mail. As you can see from the picture below I had a little trouble getting it open. It was a rainy day too so it got a little wet. But the BACON! was wrapped in plastic really good.

My very own mail. Just for me. With BACON! in it.
I could have opened it neater if my teeth weren't falling out.

I think the reason I had trouble opening it neatly was because some of my teeth have been falling out lately. I am not sure what is going on. It has me concerned. What next? Will my ears fall off? Will my tongue come out? Sure hope not. 

Below is a picture of a tooth that Jannessa found in her pants leg down around the ankle. Since I am a heeler they say it is mine. I think it might be one of the cats and they are trying to blame me. Camden is always trying to get me in trouble. It looks too small to be mine.

I thought my teeth were bigger. Hope my nose doesn't fall off. 

Definitely appears to be of canine origin to me. Cooper's been biting clothes again. 

Thank you Storm for the mail. It was delicious. 

Homemade Dog Treats

Sunday afternoons I like to lounge around and read the paper with mom. She reads the news but I like to check out the comics and look for coupons on dog treats.

Any sales on dog treats? 

Lately the coupon section has been kinda lame. I couldn't find any bargains at all. So mom and Jannessa decided to make me some homemade treats. They got a recipe on petguide.com (click here for the recipe) It was a peanut butter flavored one! 

They even made them into letters to spell my name

They smell great. Lets get them in the oven quick! 

They turned out really good. They smell great and have just the right touch of peanut butter flavor. I. I am glad this week's Sunday paper's coupon section was so lame. 

Urey Overlook

I checked the map. It's only .45 miles to the overlook.

I had some good times on a couple of hikes recently at Urey Overlook (click for info). My sister Dingo even came down and joined me on one. This is a great place and it is only a short distance from where I live. Its just north of Otter Creek and is part of the Mason-Dixon trail system. Click here for map location.

Eagle Watching (us!) 

We like to take these hikes to watch eagles. The first day we saw 4 eagles but instead of just us watching them one landed in a nearby tree and started watching us. It stayed for a long time. We watched for about a half an hour until it was time to head back to the car.

This eagle had to look up to see us. 

Great view from here. That is Safe Harbor in the background. 

Mom sees an eagle. That is Pequea across the Susquehanna River

Hiking With Dingo

These hikes are really fun but they are even more fun when Dingo goes along. We really enjoy all the smells along the trail. My humans are clueless when it comes to smelling. They miss so much.

Notice how we each are looking at our owners cameras

Hey did you smell that deer? Yeah, did you smell that raccoon?
Yep, did you smell that rabbit? Sure, did you smell that fox? Of course, and
I smell a bear! Well I smell Eric Frein. Oh yeah, well I smell a unicorn. Well I ...........
This went on and on all during the hike! 

Come on down. The fall leaves will soon be at their peak. 

If you want to hike with me sometime come on down. We have extra walking sticks. I am ready to hike anytime. And one of the best parts is, when you get home you can sleep like a rock the rest of the day.

Human Sister (Jannessa) guest blogger today.

My human sister did a blog!  (I think she learned how from me) It is on Jay nOTes because she is an Elizabethtown Blue Jay OT (Occupational Therapy) major.  And just in time because I didn't have time to do one for today. .

So read her's. Here is a link to Jannessa's blog post. I am so proud of her! I give her three woofs!

My human sister and her friend Rachel. 

Welcome! Good To See You!

On Sundays my family goes to a place called church. I never get to go. I end up doing time in my cage. I don't know why they don't take me along.

How about we put the cats in here and let me run around the house. 

I hear church is a big place with lots of visitors each week and they have greeters at the entry ways. The greeters job is to be friendly and let people know they are welcome. Well there is nobody better than me at being friendly and making people feel welcome. Just check out this video on how I greet Jannessa every time she gets home from a hard day at college.

See how good I did? I am doing much better than I used to. Notice how I just gently jump up and try to kiss her and lick her on the face. See how I didn't knock her down at all or pee on her shoes? In the summer I used to have to greet her out in the driveway because I would get too excited and the driveway stones would get a little wet, but I don't do that anymore. People don't like that.

So, don't you think they should take me to church with them? I would like to invite you to go and visit my families church LWCC (Click for directions and info. Tell them Cooper sent you) and then let me know how well you were greeted and if you think I would be a good greeter there. If I get enough positive responses maybe my family will take me along next time (and put the cats in the cage!).

I bet nobody jumps up to kiss you and lick your face like I would. That's what really makes people feel welcome. And I hope they don't pee on your shoes.

And if you go to your own church how do you greet people? Let me suggest that next time you go to your church go up to someone and give them a big wet kiss and lick them on the face. Make it a greeting they will never forget. Just don't pee on their shoes. People don't like that.

OBX – THERE AND BACK AGAIN PART 2 (Outer Banks Vacation!)

Dingo here again for PART 2.   Day 2 of Cooper not blogging! 

Catching some zzzzzz's. Dreaming about my sister.

Saturday September 13^th started early!  It was still dark out when bags, cooler and suitcase were being carried out to the car.  I knew something was up when the humans collapsed my crate and it got put in the car.  I must be pretty important, because I needed two bags!  One for my bowls, food, leashes, treats and poop bags.  The other bag was full of toys.

The set up in the car was pretty sweet!  I had the middle of the back seat, customized with what my humans referred to as “The Princess Pillow”.  Since I was still recovering from my visit to the hospital, and had to take Benadryl for 3 days, I wasn’t ready to move real fast.  The pillow really felt nice to lay on for the trip – I did sleep a lot.  I was able to see my humans for the entire trip.

After what my humans referred to as the longest drive ever (not because of me, because of traffic jams), we arrived in Avon, NC.  When we got to the house, my new friends were waiting to meet me.  There was Don, Lauren, Matt, Kristen and Taj.  Taj is a PitBull.  Everyone seemed concerned about me meeting Taj, so they kept us separated.

On Sunday my humans were talking about having lunch with Jeremiah (Cooper’s human brother) and Ellen (Jer’s fiancé) .  I was really excited about meeting them.  Even spent extra time cleaning myself up, if you know what I mean.  When it was time to leave I got locked in my crate!  For some reason the restaurant doesn’t allow dogs.  I wanted to have my picture taken with Cooper’s human brother.  This is the best I could do.  

While my humans were having lunch with Jeremiah & Ellen, my new friends Matt and Kristen broke me out of jail.  I really like Matt and Kristen!!  I got to go for a walk with them and Taj.  We walked on the beach and on the boardwalk by the dunes.  At that point I just knew Taj was going to be my BFF.  She’s really cool, and compared to me, really big.  

Man, was I wrong!  Taj wasn’t my BFF!  She hated me!  I think she was jealous of my youthful beauty.  From that point on we had to be separated in the house by a fence that Matt and Kristen brought along.  I fooled Taj.  Every time she came close to the fence, even when she was growling, I tried to kiss her.  Yes, she got Dingo cooties!!!  Take that Taj!

I got to see a sunrise at the beach.  I also got to go to the beach.  I didn’t like the waves coming at me, but I liked digging in the sand.  COOP, WAKE UP:  I gotta tell you, It’s really cool at the beach.  You can dig and you don’t get yelled at!  Just like with dirt, your nose gets cover with sand.  

My new friend, Lauren, took me for walks.  She let me chew on my leash while I was walking.  My humans told her that I wasn’t supposed to do that.  Lauren said that she is like the Grandmother that lets the kids do what they want, and my humans can deal with it when we get home.  I really like Lauren!! 

One morning when my male human took me outside, we saw a ghost crab.  It wasn’t near the hole it lived it, so I tried to herd it.  They are hard to herd because they move sideways and they also try to pinch your nose if you get too close.

One of my favorite things was playing with my new friend Don.  I would sit on a foot rest and Don would hold my rope in the air.  I would jump as high as I could and grab it.  We would do this for a long time.  Over and over and over again.  I think Don is probably glad that I didn’t have to go home with him.  We both got tired playing.  I really like Don!!

All good things must come to an end.  We packed up and headed back home a week after we got there.  Vacations are a lot of fun!  So are all of my new friends!