A week ago today, Cooper and I left Indy for our trip to BlogPaws. I tried to prepare him as much as possible, but honestly… I had no idea what to expect from him. It was his first real trip away from home and away from Emmett and Lucas. It was his first time going to doggy day care, staying in a hotel, and meeting that many people and pets all at once.
For the most part, he blew me away!
Some of the highlights:
He met Big Ant from Rescue Ink! I was super excited, and Cooper behaved impeccably. Big Ant was impressed that the little guy made the whole trip without getting car sick. I was happy about that, too!
He aced doggy day care! The pet sitter told me that Cooper was the official greeter, running to the door to welcome every new dog. He played with Max and Remy (couldn’t get a pic! They were running too fast!)
He played with Oliver.
He played with his new best friend in the whole world, Stella. This pic was the best I could do because those two would not pause their wrestling or running for even one second!
He met Ernie. How handsome is this guy?!
And he even got to hang out with Carol Bryant and Dexter! Lucky boy!
Cooper didn’t get to meet Finnegan, but I did!! What a sweet, wonderful boy!
And every night, after meeting and greeting, Cooper went back to the hotel room to do this:
Or this:
While he excelled at day care and did an amazing job wandering around the hotel with me greeting new and old friends, there are a few things we need to work on. I’m really happy we had this experience, though, because in our day-to-day I may not have discovered some of his… quirks.
Cooper does not like to be surprised. Not. One. Bit.
The few times he had trouble, it happened when someone came around a corner and he wasn’t expecting it. He put his fur up, tucked his tail, and barked his little head off. In a few instances, it took the person giving him treats to calm him down. A couple times, though, I ended up having to walk him away because he got too freaked out to settle down enough to take food. I felt really bad because everyone had the best intentions, but it was just too much for him. On top of that, he is super typical in that he dislikes an unfamiliar person coming at him with an outstretched hand reaching for his head. I’m used to going everywhere with Emmett who will let a perfect stranger come up and use his face as a pillow, so I did a bad job managing a few greetings… but Cooper let me know. Loudly.
So we need to practice his reactions with the element of surprise (any ideas on how to stage this???), and I want to start building up a super happy positive association with allowing strangers to pat him. This was only a very small percentage of his encounters, but I don’t want that small amount to spiral into a negative association with bumping into people in unexpected places.
That being said, Cooper amazed me. I asked so much of him over the course of five days. We drove about 1,200 miles, he met dozens and dozens of people, he played with a whole bunch of new dogs in an unfamiliar place, and he did it with a whole lot of smiles!
Good boy, Cooper!
Cooper is such a wonderful boy. You must be so proud of him!
Way to go, Coop (can I call him Coop? I’m gonna call him Coop)!
I wish we could make a collage of pictures of passed out puppies on the Sheraton’s comfy beds. Ernie had no problem passing out as soon as his head hit the pillow every night.
I’m so glad we got to see you two.
@Kenzo – Awww, thanks!! I am proud of him!
@Sarah – Please do call him Coop! 🙂 Also, if you make that collage, I think it would be utterly ridiculous in its level of cuteness. We were so glad to see you guys! Ernie is amazing and a perfect role model for Coop!
Maggie and Cooper,
What a joyous time you both had! Such new adventures for you, Cooper, and you handled them so well. My adopted rescue dog Charlie Bear had his first overnighter at a hotel last month. He loved it, but did get car sick on the ride up the curvy road to get there. Poor little guy. We took a gentler way down the mountain. : )
Sounds like you learned a lot about Cooper — and don’t we all have quirks! Thanks for sharing your adventure!
You are so, so right! We do all have quirks! I’m so glad your trip with Charlie Bear went well, car sickness aside.
Hooray for Cooper! It looks like you guys had a great time!
Cooper was a trooper!! Glad he made some new friends, and a collage of passed out pups would be so adorable.
Good luck working on his quirks. I plan on bringing my pit mix, Onyx, to Salt Lake and we *really* need to work on leash manners. Not sure the best way to work on surprises, but even you petting his head a lot will help him get used to others wanting to. I had a trainer once tell me that most dogs don’t like their heads pet – it’s just us humans who like to pet them!
Hope to see you in SLC 2012!
Cooper was definitely the prince of the dog park. After seeing him in action, I understand the sleepies perfectly.
I was very proud of Honey too. But I learned she’s just not interested in sitting through a Buddies movie. Which is fine because I wasn’t either.
For working on Cooper’s “surprise” issue, I wonder if you could try standing near the corner of a building and have someone come around from the other side dropping hamburger or some other yummy? Good luck.
We have the same issue with Honey except it’s not people but animated objects that put her off.
@Chloe, Hope to see you and Onyx there!
@Pamela, That movie was a lot to ask of the dogs… I can’t blame Honey either! 🙂 Thanks for the training suggestion. I think I’ll give that a try! Will you go to SLC?
Congratulations on all your success! That is an extremely overwhelming environment for any dog and I think Cooper performed admirably. He is just such a cute little guy, his body shape and ears remind me so much of my dog. As do his behaviour problems. 😛 Given all the work you have done with him so far, I know in another year’s time he will be even more relaxed.
Pamela’s idea is a good one. If you can even stage it so that you know someone is coming but he doesn’t, so that you can get the reward in before he reacts I am sure that would help.
Do you think you will be back next year?
Kristine, Thanks for all the kind words! I am proud of the little guy, and it’s nice to have a clear idea of what we need to work on. I really hope to go next year! Will you be going??
Hey Maggie! It was great meeting you at BlogPaws! I’m happy to see that Cooper actually exists! lol 🙂
Oh Dog! I am so impressed! I would have torn the place up 5 minutes after arrival.
Maggie & Cooper….Jenks & I can’t wait to see you at BlogPaws next year…..I know it is amazing to look back the the doggie Jenks was last year & how much he has improved in just a year. Unfortunately Jenks couldn’t attend with me this year…..but I’ve promised him he could come next year to show off what a GREAT doggie he is!!!!! (he’s not even afraid of elevators anymore!!!!)
Hope to see you and Jenks there!