Working.... and hoping to play

I have been working for my mom for nearly three years... I love it....

We recently started getting back into doing some education work for PAWS With A Cause, the organization that trained me for her.

I like showing some of my skills for people... mostly kids so far.... I pull mom's chair when there is room, I pick stuff up that she drops... the kids have really enjoyed it so far when I have picked up coins off the floor... I like it when they applaud for me... makes me happy.

Mom talks about PAWS and the dogs they train and how we are trained and what we mean to our partners... she is always saying I mean so much... Don't know why.... but I do my best.

I hope we are going to do some more work again soon... I love showing what I can do for my mom.... it means a lot to her to show people what we mean to our partners.


Mom is hoping to be able to get together with some people soon... she is missing getting together with other PAWS people and having some fun... just hangin' out. If you want to hang out with me and my mom.... get in touch.... we don't bite!!!!!

More later,

Wags and wiggles,

Cooley

Fundraising

Hi there...

Mom and I are raising some money for PAWS With A Cause, the organization that trained me and Ike for her. We want to see more people with disabilities like my mom be able to be helped like I help her every day... there is a link to our page right here on the blog.

If you want to give... great.... every little bit helps...

Thanks for listening...

More on our adventures coming soon... I promise. We are going to be getting out more a bit now that the weather is better... :)

Wags and wiggles,

Cooley

Frankenmuth

We went to Frankemuth this past weekend. It's not super far from home... but long enough I got bored in the car... I like to go...















We went to this place called Birch Run... and did a lot of shopping... I had to wait while Mom bought shoes..... and we looked at so many things.... it was a lot of work... but fun too... funny how that works.















Then on Sunday we went to Zehnder's for the Sunday brunch down in their cafe... Mom just loves the brunch... She was proud of me... cause I remembered to keep my tail all tucked up.















Then we went to Bronner's.... a whole store with Christmas stuff... although they have a few other holidayish things too... but mostly Christmas... I don't know why she likes it there anytime of the year... but she does... so we go...















Then the camera came out....

Me and the Cheese House Mouse..... cheezy photo this!!!!!!

Me and the snow bear... dog.... sculpture thing at Bronner's....



More to come in a later post...

Wags and wiggles....

Cooley

We did it!!!!!

Well... it finally came... okay... maybe it wasn't so long... but it sure seemed like it at least to my mom... She is now very proud of me.... even more so than before... I guess it was important that I do well and I did do very well... so YAY for me.... this is me with my new ID card.... silly pose I think... but it made mom happy.... so it is good.

No news

Hi there....





I know... I know... it's been a long time since I have been able to get Mom to update my blog. I am sorry... really.





Just that we haven't been doing a lot of things that she thought were worthy of updating. It has been a time of working for both of us... and not a whole lot of other stuff... except for more plays and things like that... I am well on my way to becoming a Broadway dog.... that is what Mom says...





We took our recertification test for PAWS this January and were told we did well... I just got my new flap for my harness... but our new ID card hasn't come yet... so mom says it isn't 100 percent official yet.... oh well... we wait some more.





I am really starting to settle in with Mom now... I love taking care of her. I am happy to help... and she is glad to have me.

That is a picture of me with the big bone I got for Christmas... it has my name on it and everything... I love to carry it around...

That's about all for now... I promise to nag mom to update more... really.

Wags and wiggles,

Cooley

Friends and the fire department

Well... we had a bit of an adventure today. My mom's friend Andrea got a new puppy to raise to be a helper dog just like I am... and today we got to meet him.

His name is Mac.... and no.... he is not a PC... :) He is a black labrador.

Here he is with Mom. She was real proud of me cause I didn't get jealous.



Mac's mom took this photo.....





I got to see an ambulance up close and it was okay. Mom wanted some pictures of me... so here they are...




Outside....












Inside....

It was fun... I wasn't scared of the sirens or anything. Mom says that is because my foster mom and dad did a great job with me when I was little like Mac... So thanks to them!!!


More adventures to come I'm sure.

Me...

My mom just loves this picture of me... She calls me Napoleon when i do this... I don't get it. But she doesn't seem to mind it... so I guess it is an okay thing. She has lots of silly nicknames for me.

I enjoy working for my mom.... she drops stuff... I get it... She buys stuff... I carry it...
She needs me.... I am there... anytime. I am glad to have a job to do.

Busy.... busy.....

Oh my... been such a long time since I have gotten Mom on the computer to update my blog.... Shame on Mom....

Well... I'm just going to have to be better about that and bug her more. Will do my best...

We have been really busy. Winter was icky time... we stayed in a lot... was hard for mom to get around, but we did do some things..

I got to see The Lion King in East Lansing... and we saw Mandy Patinkin and Patti Lupone in Concert at the Fisher Theater in Detroit... that was fun... Mom really loves to hear Mandy sing. I thought we would get to meet him after again like we did the last couple of times... but Mom said no cause she didn't feel safe... I didn't get that... she says she always feels safe with me... but oh well.

If I know my Mom... we will see him again sometime. :)

She says I am going to become quite the Broadway dog... I am not sure what that means.. but I will just wait and see.

More updates to come, I promise!!!!

Gotcha!!!!

HA! Gotcha!!!... Here I am with my mom.

She thought we ought to update you all... We are doing well. Still adjusting to things with my brother Ike at the Bridge... we both miss him... but she is VERY proud of me. I am doing well in an alpha role...

My ears are getting better. My left one is great now.. the vet put me on some pills for two weeks just to be on the safe side to "knock it out" of the right ear because it was pretty deep I guess.
But she says I don't have to come back to see her... so we are both happy about that too.

Not a lot has been going on for us.. it has been really cold and hard for my mom to get around in the snow so we haven't been doing a lot. We hope that will be changing soon because we would like to get out with some friends and hang out.

If there are raisers, or raisers with puppies or teams that would like to hang out... please get in touch with my mom. Maybe we can go have some fun sometime soon.

I love toys..... all toys

Here is my ladybug. Grandma bought it for me at JoAnn's. It is not a dog toy... but I am kind to most of my toys so I can have some that don't squeak or anything. Mom says those are great for bed time. I don't understand that... but it makes her happy... so I roll with it.

I love my ladybug... I carry it everywhere and couldn't even wait for the nice woman to take it so I could have it back. She gave it right back to me after she made her machine beep... made my mom and Grandma laugh... I didn't care! It was mine and I wanted it back.

Vet visit

No photos with today's post. Mom wasn't sure she could bring the camera and didn't ask. Oh well.

I went to the vet today to get a check up. I got my shots updated and got a good looking over. I have a little problem with my ears and now Mom has to put some medicine in them for a couple weeks.

Otherwise the vet was very pleased with me. She says I am doing great. We talked about Ike too... the vet took care of him also and she says I have big paws to fill but am doing a great job!!!

I am still doing fine. I love playing with all my toys and chewing on my Nylabones ( I LOVE nylabones)

Halloween photos

Here I am in my whole costume.... I was Scooby Doo this Halloween. It was okay. I was not super happy about walking in it at first, but I adjusted. I had fun. All the kids that came to my house just LOVED me. I wiggled for them all.... and I didn't get any treats :(

I just didn't understand the "trick or treat" thing. I don't know any tricks.... Just my job. I wanted treats... didn't get any.... bummer for me.










I was a very happy Scooby Doo.... Mom loves this picture.






Here I am with our Halloween display.... my grandpa carved that cool pumpkin.... it was neato.





Mom just loves taking pictures..... I don't mind too much... I love her. If it makes her happy... then I will do it.


Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween.

Changes

Things sure have been busy...





I got to go to Lions Bear Lake Camp in Lapeer. It was great fun. I even got to go swimming. Mom was really proud of the way I swam and played with the other dogs there.


There were other PAWS puppies there and some dogs who are going to learn how to guide people who can't see at all or very well.








Then on Wednesday morning Oct. 1... a very sad thing happened. My brother Ike... my mom's first service dog had to go to the Rainbow Bridge. He was having a lot of trouble breathing and didn't want to eat.





I got to be with him and mom and my grandma and Yvonne when we helped him to the Bridge. I watched very hard while the doctor was helping Ike. I didn't want him to hurt anymore.





Now mom is really sad. I am trying hard to help her, but I miss him too.





She says he is able to breathe well again and play well again and that he is watching over us. I hope so because I sure love my brother big...





Mom says DOGspeed Ike. She misses you.






I am doing my best now to take care of her just like he wants me too. Mom says he must have felt I was ready for the job to go. So Ike, I am going to do the best I can. Thanks for teaching me as much as you could. --- Cooley

Just Because

Here are a few pictures of me that mom just loves..... Sheesh. I am not that cute!!!! But she thinks I am and the shutters keep clicking....

Here I am with my seal.... I LOVE my seal.....

Here I am after having some Tummy time with my mom... I don't really like Tummy time.. but she does... so I put up and make her happy when she wants it.

And lastly (at least for now)... here is a picture taken of me today at the National Coney Island in Royal Oak, MI where we went to have a party for my mom's friend Jane.

Cooley's recent adventures

Okay.... so we've been a bit remiss in updating the blog. Sorry everyone.... it's just been a busy time for all...

Since our last update... we went to the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. Mom likes zoos. We had an okay time and I even got to get close to a giraffe.... they are neat, but mom wouldn't let me have any of the special cookies she bought to give to the giraffes.... bummer. Here we are over in Africa.... we got to ride a tram and Mom was amazed at how good I was while they were strapping in her chair.... I was interested but did a good job.

Here I am looking like I am being chased by an elephant... Mom makes me pose for all these silly pictures.... I humor her.

Here I am in front of the sign at the zoo.... sigh.

Next up for us was a trip to Frankenmuth for a couple of days the end of August. Mom really likes it there.

We took a trip on the Bavarian Belle... a little boat. I liked the boat and did very well while they helped my mom get on the boat. She was very proud of me. I don't get upset when people have to help my mom. I guess my brother Ike didn't always like other people helping Mom... he wanted to do it.

Here are a couple of photos of me on the boat.

Hee..... looks like the paddle wheel is gonna get me! Everyone wanted to see me on the boat and talk to my mom about all the great things I do for her. She is always happy to talk about how I help her.

Well... whew.... that is a long enough post for now.

Wags and wiggles,

Cooley

Armada Fair

Today I went to the Armada Fair. We had fun walking around and seeing things. Here I am under the sign. Mom makes me do silly, silly things sometimes.

This is me with Don, one of the eight Budweiser Clydesdale horses. I guess Mom has always wanted to see them up close and so she was very, very happy that they came to the Armada Fair this year. We got to see two of them getting groomed. I also got to meet Barley, the Dalmatian that is part of the Budweiser team. We touched noses. We both wanted to play... but Barley got called away. I was a little sad cause I was hoping maybe Mom would have let me play.

Ths is the big truck with the Budweiser Clydesdales in harness on it. Looks like they are running after me... hee!!!!

I was very good around them. They didn't seem scared of me either. We also saw some cows, but not close cause Mom didn't want to go in that barn.

We tried to see some goats... they seemed very interested in me, but when we got close they seemed to get excited so we left fast. Mom doesn't like to upset anything. I also got to see some sheep, but not as close as I wanted to... Mom said I got too excited so she made me leave... sometimes being a working dog is no fun.

But I did get to have another plain snowcone.... that was fun. I like being able to make a bit of a mess while I eat one.

Mom says next up for us is a trip to Battle Creek to see another zoo.... she likes zoos.

Stay tuned....

At the Zoo!!!

I went to the Detroit Zoo today. Took my mom and Aunt Yvonne with me. We had a very nice time.

It got warm but mom kept me cool with the misting stations at the zoo, plenty of water to drink and I also got some ice cubes. I love ice cubes.

Here I am while in one of the misting stations. I love being wet!

This is a video of Barle, one of the polar bears at the Detroit Zoo swimming. Mom loves polar bears. It is not great because of the sun shining on the water... but it was fun for Mom. I didn't care much.

I enjoyed going through the Outback and seeing the kangaroos although they didn't seem to notice me. I like kangroos. I enjoyed watching them.

Whee I am Three

I turned three on July 1, 2008.





Mom got me a cake from the Doggy Deli. It is very good. There was plenty for me to share with Ike and we even have some that we are going to freeze for later.





I got a few presents too. I am going to share them all with Ike. It was a nice day.

Artist? Not really

Today, I got to go to Maybury State Park in Northville. There was a lot of PAWS people there... and Ike got to come too, which made me really happy.

We all had a chance to get together and talk, and I got my picture taken a couple times, but wasn't really in the mood today. I was just happy being with my mom.

My mom's best friend Yvonne took me over to where the dogs were being allowed to "paint" because my mom couldn't get there... here is my artwork.

I think I will keep my day job :) I love taking care of my mom.

I also got to meet my half brother Karson today and my mom got to hold him on her lap. She is a bit sad I am too big to do that... but I try to wiggle the sad away.

A champion? Maybe.....

This was taken at Cobo Center in Detroit at the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Show this March.

Mom says I am her champion. I don't know what she means. I like to help her when she drops stuff or wants stuff she can't reach, I am happy to try and get it for her.

She says she would be lost without me. I don't understand what that means either. She always knows where she needs to go. Oh well.... she wanted to share this picture.