Down, Set, Hike!

Does Cooper look like he's ready for a mean game of football or what?!

Cooper, go get your football!

Those five words come out of my mouth at least once a day, every day. The rope & football toy show above is Cooper's absolute FAVORITE toy of all time. Cooper is constantly toting his football around and dropping it (not so subtly) at my feet as his way of announcing that it is playtime.

If I ask him to go find his football, Cooper runs out of the room in search of his beloved toy, always returning with it in mere seconds. He loves this toy so much that he even peed on it (twice) to keep Brady from trying to take it away (sidenote: this lovely habit of his has caused us to test the durability of the football many times and the rope had stayed in tact, as has the tough, but flexible, plastic of the football).

My mom bought Cooper his first football, and we have since purchased another to have on hand just in case he loses the original or it eventually wears out. If you're interested, PetSmart has the football on sale for a ridiculously reasonable price of $2.97 (for more info, click here).

Cooper

This introduction is way overdue, and I thought it was about time that I introduced you all to our two boys. Meet Cooper (sometimes known as Cooperman, Coop Dog or Little Buddy). Cooper is the smaller of the two, and by smaller, I mean 90 lbs instead of 95 lbs. It's funny to see the "nature vs. nurture" theory in action. We have had our two chocolate labs since they were 7 weeks old. They come from the same litter and haven't spent a day apart since birth. We feed them the same food, they get the same amount of exercise and the same amount of love; however, somewhere along the way, Brady outgrew Cooper. Cooper is our barrel-chested little boy with a ridge down his nose. He's had the ridge ever since he was a puppy - it's one of the few ways that we could tell the boys apart when they were puppies.

Cooper is my constant companion. Even back when we first went to visit their litter, Cooper was the one that always wanted to be by my side. When I let the boys outside, he's always the first one back in the house when I call them. He's the vocal one of the two, quick to let us know when he'd like a little more attention or when he needs (or rather, wants) to go outside. Cooper is a true retriever. He LOVES to play fetch, especially with his football, and he'll bring you anything you can find. He also hoards things on his bed (shoes, clothes, dish towels, you name it), although luckily he doesn't usually chew them. Brady, on the other hand, is another story.

Cooper is like his mom & dad, he loves to sleep. He's usually the first one up to bed at night and is never the first one up in the mornings.

Cooper loves to ride in the car. We don't allow him to ride in the front seat, but whenever we let the boys ride along when we run errands, we inevitably return to find one of them sitting in the passenger (or even driver's) seat instead of in the back where they ride.

Cooper also loves to get dirty. He loves to swim, but hates to get bathed. As soon as he gets a bath, he does his best to find something smelly to roll in outside and usually returns with something disgusting rubbed around his neck near his collar. We've had to bathe him twice many times.

Most of all, Cooper LOVES it when I bake treats. He's by my side the moment I get out my mixer and the treat ingredients. He begs for a taste of the batter while I'm rolling out the treats, and he sits next to the oven starring longingly while they bake. Cooper is often a picky eater (whereas Brady will eat ANYTHING) and has recently become my quality control manager. He very much enjoys this new role.

Cooper is a sweet and loving lab, and it's hard to imagine life without him!