How's Cooks?

Our family is watching our friends dog while they are on 

vacation until the first part of August sometime.

The kids have done this on several occasions for them,

only this time it is different because instead of riding their bikes to 

their home a few times a day and letting Cookie out, 

feeding, wrestling and playing with her,

and then riding back home.....

she is with us full time as a house guest.

It did take some convincing on my part....

maybe a little begging on my friend's part.

It took a practice run to prove it would work with no trouble at all.

I think we have had Cookie for a week or two....

the days are a blur.

V texted me late last night....

"How's Cooks?"

I made the mistake....at least it seems like a mistake now....

of running late with Christi and Barb last night.

When I went to bed I could not keep my eyes open for another second if

I'd had the gumption to try,

but now at 2:00am, I can no longer sleep.

Thought I would get up and answer V's text with a post.

Just some things that came to my mind after seeing her text

as I was laying in bed,

enough that I decided I could write an entire article on.

Cookie is doing pretty well, thanks for asking.

She did get into trouble a few times yesterday when she kept 

licking Tina's feet while I was trying to do her lashes on the couch.

Eventually Cooks stopped doing what was not wanted and 

fell asleep, which T really liked, because she was cold

and Cookies body was warm against the bottom of her feet.

I eventually got T a blanket as well once I clued in.

(left side getting beefy first)

We originally took Cookie under the pretense that she

is getting too old and feeble to stay alone.

Her eyesight is failing and her hearing has gone to pot.

Poor thing.

How could we not take her in?

We (I) am not completely heartless when it comes to animals.

She can certainly while away her time on a little blankie in the corner

while you are away for the rest of the summer.

It is the least we can do for her in her last hours.

What up DOG?

Our experience is that her eyesight and hearing are both

as keen as any we have ever encountered.

Try tiptoeing into the kitchen to sneak a drink,

or cracking open the fridge for a tiny refreshment of some sort,

eeeek open a wrapper of any kind and Cookie will spring

from a dead sleep on the couch and come sprinting into the 

kitchen to beg like her life depended on it.

No lie.

No exaggeration.

Point in case, the begging, with Lawson eating his quesadilla below.

Cookie can stare at you with her "bad" eyes until the cows come home.

She will never give up on anything she has her heart set on.

She is the most determined dog I have ever had the opportunity of knowing.

(more on that later).

She is the perfect example of enduring to the end.

 However,

one thing I need to mention, 

we have promised NOT TO FEED HER HUMAN FOOD.

Period.

Dot.

We gave our word COOKIE....what don't you understand about that?

We are people of integrity.

Your family trusts our family.

We C A N N O T give you any food.

Please believe us.

The thing I don't get is how any living thing can survive on one serving 

of food per day?

That is what our instructions are.

One scoop of food in the a.m. per day.

Done.

We weren't given a "scoop" so I have to eyeball into her bowl

what I think a scoop would be.

I say I, because it is me who feeds her every day at 6:00am when she

claws her way out of the boys room and comes to ours.
who wouldn't?

She must be starving!!!

I get up and take her out.

She comes back in jumping and pouncing on her aged legs 

sooooooooooo filled with anticipation for her one chance to chew 

for the day.

I pour, practically on her head,

 and she eats it all in maybe two minutes....

maybe.

I know that eating makes dogs bowels get stimulated,

so then I take her out and wait for her to "go" again,

she always does like clockwork.

(If it is an early morning workout day, she just comes out when I walk in the door.)

Cookie has US on a leash.

Make no mistake in thinking we are in charge around here.

She had an accident in the boys room the 2nd or 3rd night she was with us.

This has instilled deep set fears in everyone in the household,

so that anytime Cookie is up and walking, we think maybe she needs to "go out".

So anyone by her will take her out.

You can't just open the door because she will not go out alone,

no way....you have to go together.

We know (have been told) she only needs to go out like three times per day,

but here I know she goes out no less than 10,

she may only go like 4 drops of urine....but she goes.

It is also the very last thing the boys do at night before going to sleep....

not to bed,

but to sleep.

They are driving me crazy getting out the slider door,

walking with Cookie through the maze of the playroom,

opening up the slider to the back yard,

calling for Cookie,

slamming, then locking the doors again,

and so forth....all in the wee hours of the night....after 11:00

on most nights,

cuz it is summer and they can do what they want in their room.

I have had to make some amendments to this as of late.

Cookie likes to be in on the action.

I think she thinks she is a person.

One night, this past Friday in fact,

we got our usual pizza and a movie going.

We knew it may bum Cookie out for a little while, cuz we would 

need to put her in another room while we ate our pizza.

We always lay a big blanket out on the floor and chow down 

on our pizza as we take in a video.

Well, not possible with Cookies obsession with food

and humans.

We had tucked her away in the boy's room.

Well, that was a NO GO for Cookie.

She screamed and cried and carried on like no infant I have 

ever heard in my life.

She would not give up her desire to be out "with the family"

in the thick of things.

She was not about to be alone for any amount of time.

Finally, I was like guys forget it.

Get the pizza on the table,

we have to let her out here.

I don't know if her little old heart can take it.

So out she came,

I swear I could hear her catch her breath a few times like kids do 

after a tantrum,

do you know what I mean?

Can you say GASY?  

Gas fest U.S.A.

Gastrointestinal-itis?

Cookie has gas AT ALL TIMES.

Rich, deep, hearty, pungent, permeating unavoidable gas.

I don't get it.

So yeah V, I think Cookie is doing pretty well.

It is the fish I worry about.

I asked Vanessa if tap water is ok to use to change the water....

she said yes, they use tap water,

but don't worry about it until they get home unless the water looks

really bad.

?

For real?

um....are all those bubbles normal?

I don't think so.

Don't fish run out of oxygen at some point in their water?

I don't know much about fish....

hence why we don't have any,

but I'd say this water is looks fairly used.

The kids will change it tomorrow.

See you in several weeks buddy!