Because I just don't have enough poop to scoop .....

Just kidding, although with two dogs and a cat scooping poop has become a daily chore around here! 

But Gracie really needed a playmate, and we have the room and the time now so we decided to adopt this handsome young fellow from a friend of a friend who just couldn't keep him anymore.

So welcome to Cooper!  Isn't he just the most handsome guy? He's actually very similar in color and markings to our beloved Rosie, but he's a bit bigger and much more solid. He was born in March of 2009 so he's about 7 months older than Gracie, and he weighs almost 74 pounds.

The very first day they ran and ran around the back yard until they were totally pooped out, and when we put them in the kennel they snuggled up in the dog house together like they had been friends forever.

About a week later I let them in from outside and then went to work on the computer for awhile. I thought it was way too quiet in the house so I turned around to get up and look for them, and there they were laying on the floor behind me just like this!

The Couch Potato Club

As I've mentioned before, and as anyone who knows these dogs knows all too well, they are the consummate couch potatoes.

Gracie likes to be up on the back of the couch where she can see over everything, with the maximum number of cushions under her. We call it "The Princess and the Pea" position because both Daisy and Rosie used to do that all the time too.

Even Smokey joins the couch potato club now and then, having figured out that Gracie knows where all the best spots are!

And Cooper, well, let's just say that he made himself right at home here very quickly!

Playful Pups

 Three-foot knotted tug rope toy: $15.95 plus tax at PetSmart.

 Hours and hours of fun and exercise over the last two weeks: Priceless!

Not quite ready for prime time!

After the first week or so of being crated during the day, we decided to leave them alone together in the outdoor kennel while it was still nice outside. They got along just fine, and we started leaving them alone in the house for a few hours now and then in the evenings. No problems. So this past week when it got colder we decided to let them have run of the house during the day.  The first day they chewed up an empty cardboard box, but that was it, so we decided to give them a second chance.  BIG MISTAKE!

Besides that lovely African covered basket, the death toll included everything inside it: two remote controls, a music CD, some miscellaneous papers, and thankfully just the neck strap of Mark's binoculars! What really killed me though was the fact that they also attacked their own toy basket.

You can see there were still several Nylabone toys inside, but they completely destroyed the handle on the basket itself. They now get one toy each, along with a treat, as they go into their crates when we leave for work in the morning!