A Boy and His Dogs

Cooper LOVES his puppy dogs.  I have never seen anything like it.  They are the first thing he wants in the morning, and the last thing he wants at night.  Kind of hurts mom and dad’s feelings!

We have 2 yorkies, Isabelle (who he calls Belle Belle), and Zoe (who he calls Zo Zo).  When we found out we were pregnant, we were a little nervous as to how they would react to having a little one around.  If we ever had any pint-sized visitors over, they would freak out and bark like crazy. Zoe went as far as to snap at a little girl once.  After that, we just didn’t let them around kids.  So, naturally we were worried.

But, the day we brought Cooper home from the hospital, they sniffed his head, and then just went on with their business as if he didn’t exist.  Except for those first few nights.  Haha.  He slept in our room and they did NOT know what to do when he was waking up at night crying.  But, after a few nights of it, they got used to it, and soon enough they didn’t even stir when he woke up.  Much like their father.

As Cooper got older, he became very interested in the girls, as we lovingly refer to them.  He thought they were hilarious, and laughed every time he saw them.  He would try to touch them, or grab them.  They responded by running away from him.  Pretty soon, he was able to catch them, and, because he wasn’t sure what to do, he usually ended up hurting them in some way by pulling their hair or grabbing their legs.  They were always very chill about it though.  They never barked or growled, and they certainly have never snapped at him.  Even when they yelped from him pulling their ears.  Poor things.

After lots and lots of Lee and myself saying “gentle, gentle” and “soft pet”, and showing how to pet them with an open hand, Cooper finally learned how he was supposed to love on and pet the girls.  And boy does he do that every chance he gets. It kind of reminds me of that carton, I think it was Tiny Toons?  With that crazy little girl that would grab the animals and say something like “I wanna love him and hug him and squeeze him and never let him go!”  Is that how it went?  I don’t remember exactly, but that’s how Cooper is.  He just loves these dogs SO much!

And in return, the girls…tolerate him.  Isabelle is more affectionate with him (that’s just her personality in general), and she gets excited to see him in the mornings.  She is always waiting at the bottom of the stairs.  She will give him kisses any time he’s on the floor.  Zoe is not affectionate (that’s just her personality), but she does like to play, so she lets him throw her ball and stuffed animals  for her to run after.  He loves to run around the house because both of the girls get excited and chase him while barking.  This happens a lot, and Cooper laughs the whole time.

The funny thing about Zoe is, even though she usually acts like Cooper annoys her, I have caught her on several occasions squeezing through the closed baby gate at the bottom of the stairs so that she can lay outside of his room while he sleeps.  And she always goes up with him when it’s time to go to bed.  She stays up there while he has a bath and gets his jammies on, and she would stay up there if we didn’t tell her to go downstairs. She secretly loves him :)

Every single morning when I get him from bed, the first thing he says is “Zo Zo”.  And he always says it in a very demanding way, haha.  Zoe is definitely his favorite, because she will actually play and interact with him.  And she is the first thing he wants to see in the morning. And recently, he has started asking demanding to see her before his bedtime stories.  Every night after he gets his jammies on, he says “Zo Zo” and we must  catch get Zoe so he can say goodnight to her.  It is very cute, actually.  He hugs her, gives her a few pets, and a goodnight kiss.  He says night night to her, and then she goes downstairs with whoever is not reading stories.  Zoe is nice and obliges him, although she usually jumps down before he is quite finished saying goodnight.

Giving her a kiss

Saying “nigh nigh”  

Cooper thinks it is hilarious when the girls ride in the car with us.  This day, we picked them up from the groomer, and he wanted one of them in the backseat.  Zoe was not having it, but Isabelle is more laid back so I threw her back there.  And she stayed!  Cooper LOVED it!  Although, I have to admit that after about 5 minutes, he started asking for Zo Zo and then started crying because she wouldn’t sit with him.  Haha.

Giving her a hug  

Giving her a “soft pet”

Oh this boy.  His love of dogs doesn’t stop with our own, that’s for sure.  If we ever see one on tv, or out and about, we have to stop what we are doing and point/stare/try to pet/cry because we can’t touch the dog.  I think it’s so sweet, and he definitely got this love of dogs from his parents!