WAKING UP WITH COOPER

Cooper is 10.5 and wearing now three legs. He seems to be doing fine altho I am loathe to have tests run to see if things are going on, because there is little I can do if there is.
Tuesday he went with me to the Gallery. He was quite exuberant. We came home early and it is my habit to let him out of the van wearing a leash but not holding it-- he is loose, in other words. He will leap out of the Van and run to the front where my decorative grasses are and pee. By then I am usually on my way to the house where he is waiting.

This time he had an evil glint in his eye and instead of heading for the house he ran full blast down the street a couple of houses. For an instant my heart stopped but then I yelled "HEY!!" and he circled back, still running as fast as he can, past me the other way: tongue out, tail in circles of delight, the glint still in his eyes. "See what I can do? Even on three legs I can run circles around you!" He paused at Roger's tree and then jogged home, clearly pleased with himself.

I do not have a lot of photos of him running, because he is black, hard to photograph, and blurs.

However this is about waking up with Cooper.
Cooper often now needs (or wants) to go outside between 3:30 a.m.and 4:30 a.m. If the Bassets want out they whine. But in all fairness, Conley and Nigel are crated so they cannot reach me, and Llewis cannot jump up so HE cannot reach me.
But Cooper can.
And suddenly I am awakened by a bounce. Cooper's front leg on the bed. GOOD MORNING! He says. There is hot breath in my face and often some drool. ARE YOU ALIVE? I AM.

and I open one eye tenatively, not wanting saliva in it: and there he is, smiling and happy to be here, not the least bit worried about anything. Not yet, anyway.
He nudges me. I WOULD LIKE TO GO OUT. Yes, I gathered that. He bows his head and buries his face in my armpit. This is his signal for me to scratch the back of his neck above his collar. I oblige. You are my Sunshine, I tell him quietly. You are my sweetie boy. Oooo you are SUCH a good dog! You're my lover baby.
His back feet begin to dance and the tail speeds up. This is our morning time. His whole body ripples with pleasure. The licking starts which I try desperately to dodge. I half sit up.
Do you want to go out? I ask. But he has turned sideways to the bed and is pressing his rear towards me. He wants me to scratch the spot where his tail begins and I do. When he was younger he would turn a complete somersault when I did this, but he cannot do that anymore.

This is my ex-business card with one of the only photos I have of Cooper full blast. Note the mischievious grin.

He really does want to go out. As usual he grabs a toy. He sometimes will drag an entire dog bed to the back door, knocking over water bowls and chairs that get in his way, looking like a black panther dragging his prey. I always remove articles at the door. He knows this. Once in a while he gets out with something.

          "Ha HA I got it past you! You will never see it again in this form."

When it is so early like it is today he seems to know not to bark. I kind of watch for him. Llewis often goes out with him, and then Nigel and Conley want out as well. They are very quiet unless there is a skunk or possum. If it is the middle of the night and they bark, we're in trouble. But today they all come back in, get a treat and go back to bed, even Cooper. He is so funny and so sweet, how could I be angry that he gets me up, no matter what the time?

Quiller, the Belgian who preceeded Cooper, used to come into the bedroom at least once a night and just jam his cold nose in some warm spot of my anatomy, to make sure I was still breathing. Then he'd leave again....it's a Belgian thing: checking the flock. Watching out for his assigned sheep. I am so glad Cooper is still feeling good enough to tease me by running off.

He never goes far.