It seems only yesterday that we brought home a little black and white peanut and called him Cooper.
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| From 2007-04-30 Cooper |
Since then, he has grown a bit... Recently, we've attached a command to having him jump up (such that he does it only on command), and these pictures give you a sense of scale.
I'm 6'5", and Cooper is basically as tall as me... Given that he is still only eighteen months old, we hope that he has no more growth spurts to go through...
Kelly's idea of stacking the pet beds continues to be a popular one. Both Max and Nikita are fans.
After seeing the kids get so much enjoyment out of this arrangement, Kelly decided to try it out for herself, and got a bit of quality time with Rufus and Cooper into the bargain.
Cooper decided that Kelly needed protecting, and applied his standard technique of sitting on her.
Winter has arrived with a vengeance, and the weather here has been consistently cold and nasty. The critters have decided that now is the time catch up on their sleep (as if they were running low before). Rufus has finally reconciled himself to the fact that sleeping with the cats is not such a bad thing, as they are WARM. Before, he used to grump and move when they tried to snuggle up to them. Now, he still grumps, but only momentarily before going back to sleep
Today we met up with another couple we know here in Luxembourg and took our boys for walk with Nadja, their female Akita. It has been pretty damp here recently, and the trail along the river was exceptionally mucky. However, this did not prevent a good time from being had by all...
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Today the boys were getting a bit ansy from having been inside for too long, so we went for a trail run in the forest behind our house (which is the Rollingergrund neighborhood of Luxembourg City). I took this opportunity to try out a new app for my iPhone called EveryTrail, which allowed me to both record our run and take geotagged pictures along the way. Very fun!
However, Rufus and Cooper kept getting frustrated that I was continually stopping taking to take pictures...
Widget powered by EveryTrail: GPS GeotaggingRufus turned three today. Where does the time go...
Rufus the day I picked him up (nine weeks old)
Rufus on a recent walk in the woods
Kelly recently discovered that one way to keep the dogs off the couch when we weren't in the room was to make their beds even more comfortable. She did this by piling a second dog bed on top of the first.
This was an immediate hit. However, it turned out to be a hit with both the dogs and the cats, and a bit of a power struggle ensued over who would get to lay on them. Unfortunately for Nikita, the reality of pet politics is that size does matter...
Fortunately, Nikita has discovered that Cooper puts off a lot of heat, and that sharing a dog bed with him is not the worst thing..
Cooper and Rufus recently went with us for a visit to my cousin Tammy and her husband Mike who live near us in Kindsbach, Germany.
Cooper took an immediate liking to Mike (who used to be owned by a Great Dane himself).
Rufus seemed a bit forlorn that Cooper was getting all the attention (again), so Kelly pulled him onto her lap for some lovin'.
This thrilled him...
When it came time to go, Cooper felt compelled to give Mike a big hug, and extracted a promise that Mike and Tammy would come and visit us in Luxembourg soon with their two children.
All the excitement of the trip resulted in two VERY tired puppies.
We had some spectacular weather recently.
The boys convinced me to take them on a nice long trail run in the forest behind our house. Kelly agreed to come along and take pictures.
First, we had to everyone leashed up using their Gentle Leaders.
When we got up to our usual place in the woods, I let them both off leash, and they went tearing down the trail toward Kelly.
They boys, as always, had a great time chasing each other through the woods, enjoying the crisp Autumn air.
After we got back, Kelly and I gave the boys a bath (for which they were long overdue). Cooper, in particular, finds the process of getting a bath not at all enjoyable. However, it always leaves him feeling giddy.
After much planning and preparations (with a move from Seattle to Luxembourg between the proposal and the actual event), Cooper and Rufus's parent finally got married. The boys were sad they could not be there. However, they do not have found memories of the last time they had to take an airplane trip across the Atlantic, so the decided to settle for pictures.
Rufus's dad was kind enough to put together a video montage of pictures from the weddingThe wedding
The reception
Finally, all the pictures from all the guests are in an online gallery here:
Although Great Danes have a reputation as being mellow "couch potatoes", no one told Cooper this. He has always idolized Rufus, his big brother, and we suspect that Cooper considers himself an honorary Rhodesian Ridgeback. We regularly take the boys for walks in the woods behind our house, and they invariably spend the first half hour or so playing chase among the trees. This starts with us putting the boys in a "sit - stay", taking the boys off leash, and then releasing them to play.
Both Kelly and I love watching them bound through the trees, all athleticism and grace...
There usually a session of Rufus chasing Cooper, followed by Cooper chasing Rufus.
Max, our 1 1/2 year old Savannah recently went missing. After much debate, Kelly and I had decided to start letting him and Nikita, his "sister" outside. They were MUCH happier (and so were we, as Max had begun to be quite a brat). However, Max failed to come home one evening about two weeks ago. Kelly is in the US getting ready for our wedding, and I put off telling her for a four days hoping Max would show up. Finally, I had to break the news to her and start posting fliers all over our neighborhood. I also posted fliers along several of the many trails that crisscross the woods behind our house.
After almost a week and a half and still no Max, I had begun to fear the worst. As a last ditch effort, I posted more fliers even farther into the woods, and even dropped one off at the local animal shelter. That evening, I got a call on my cell phone from a woman with a British accent who said simply "I just saw your cat". I almost jumped out of my skin! I got the details of where she had seen him last (about a mile or so from our house near a riding stable), and jumped in the car to find him. When I got there, walked up into the woods calling his name, but nothing... However, a few minutes later I got a call from the same woman saying that she was right behind him on the road not far from where I was! I sprinted down there, and sure enough, he was in the bushes on the other side of a tall chain link fence. I called his name, and he began meowing loudly. I managed to find a hole and track him down.
With him safe in my arms, I now had to maneuver him a half mile up the road to the car. He was happy to see me, but a bit freaked out and not that happy about being held. About half way to the car, another vehicle drove by, and he bolted into the woods again. However, I was able to walk up behind him and call his name. He hesitated, and then walked over and began rubbing on my leg. I was then able to pick him up, get him to the car, and take him home.
Our house is the dot on the right, where the woman first saw max is the dot on the far left, and where I found him is the dot in the middle
Since his return, he has been SO affectionate, both with me and with the other animals, especially the dogs (whose favorite inside game used to be "Let's Chase Max"). This is a picture of him curled up asleep with Cooper today.
Today we began a 700 mile mad dash for home. We were departing for Europe in two days, so we had to get back, return the RV, and get our four legged family ready to be shipped with us on our flight to Frankfurt.
We started the day with a brief walk, and the boys made a new friend. Rufus asked if something this prissy could really be counted as a dog…
We then loaded up and started eating up the miles…
We crossed the boarder into Idaho in a snowstorm. What do you call a winter storm warning when it is issued in June?
The boys killed time by wrestling in the back.
This so exhausted Cooper that he decided to take a nap in the back.
Miles and miles and miles of highway rolled past.
We finally started seeing familiar territory, passing through Spokane, and over the Columbia River.
When we finally arrived in Seattle late that night, Cooper could not contain his excitement to be done.
We were a bit sad the trip was over, but looked forward to heading off to start the next chapter of our life in Luxembourg.
We woke early and I took the boys for a walk, during which expressed an intense interest in meeting the horses who were also staying at the same RV park.
We loaded up and Rufus assumed his usual spot just behind the driver (to insure that we took no wrong turns).
We drove into the Wyoming Rockies, and the scenery began to get increasingly dramatic.
After we crossed the Continental Divide, we caught our first glimpse of the Grand Tetons.
We drove into the valley of the Snake River, the views continued to be jaw dropping.
We also started to see buffalo along the road. The boys expressed intense interest in these, and we promised to see if we could arrange a closer inspection.
We arrived in Jackson, WY and took in the famous elk horn arch on the main square. Rufus wondered where the owners of all these sets of horns had gone.
The boys also got to inspect a stuffed buffalo.
After a walk around town, we loaded up and drove north, past Jackson Lake.
We arrived at the gates of Yellowstone, and drove path Lewis Lake, still partially frozen even in early June.
We arrived at the National Park complex at Old Faithful just in time to see the geyser erupt.
As we continued to drive through the park, we continued to see lots of wildlife. It being calving season, there were lots of buffalo calves to enjoy.
Kelly even got an up close picture of an elk cow before we exited the park and continued our drive home to Seattle.
