Moo Cow Lotion

Cooper and I are back home now. We spent the last few days at my parent's house so that Cooper and Sherlock could meet.  I was pretty worried about them getting along, but no worries.  They are best of friends.  In fact, its pretty shocking to see them play.  They take rough-housing to the next level!  Where do they get the energy?  For hours they wrestle and chase each other.   An unfortunate result of the rough play though is Cooper has totally shredded his paw pads.  I assume the hyperkeratosis from the distemper is partly to blame, even though he didn't have that condition too severe.  Some paws are worse than others of course, but the poor guy seems to be sticking to the couch today.  I went and found some stuff called "Bag Balm" and have been putting that on the pads.  I will update how it works.

PS: Thanks Steve for humoring me and driving me around looking for what amounts to cow udder cream... : )

Calmer Now

So we have turned a corner in awful behavior land.  He is doing much better.  Granted, when I am home he is permenently wearing a lead so that he can be corrected, but that's how it is.  He's getting the idea.  I did have to tie him down to a piece of furniture yesterday... and boy did he fuss.... but eventually he was calm and normal.

Maybe he's just not been feeling good post surgery?  I guess most guys would.

I Think He Wants 'em Back

So, a post-surgery update.  Cooper is really awful.  His behavior sucks big time since the surgery.  My biggest beef is with the nipping, especially when he is hyper.  I've mentioned some of the things I've tried, like a can full of coins, spray bottle of various noxious liquids, and even a dog whistle.  All of these things except the whistle make him MORE hyper.  The whistle stops him, for moment.  He's usually not calm enough still to command to sit.

Ugh. I'm very discouraged.  I'm not a quitter, and its not like that's an option, but I want this "phase" to be over with.  I wonder if this is a male dog thing?  Individual personality? None of our females were like this.