We have nicknames for all of our dogs – our fosters, our temporary guests, and of course Oscar. Some of these names make more sense than others. Barney was Sir Barnabas, or Barnacle (we’re big How I Met Your Mother fans). Bandit was Bandito or Band-Aid. Tucker was known around Foster House as Tuck Tuck Goose.
And Cooper? Well, we’ve taken to calling him “Pig.”
Wait, what?
There are several reasons for this name – three to be exact. First, Coop is one of the most food-motivated dogs I’ve met. He gobbles his meals down with astounding speed, even mastering The Egg in record time. If we leave treats out anywhere accessible to him while we’re out of the house, well forget it, they’ll be nothing but a memory by the time we get home. The first time I called Cooper “Piggy” was last weekend, when we were feeding the dogs an extra special treat of left-over sweet potatoes. I don’t think they even touched his tongue, he scarfed them down so fast. My little piggy!
Who you callin' "pig"?
The second reason for Cooper’s nickname is how he snorts like a pig when he sleeps. Sometimes he’ll squish his face into a pillow, and when he’s reeeeeeeally tired, he makes the most adorable little snorting sound.
Seriously, it’s freakin’ cute.
And the third reason we call Cooper “Pig” is not quite as endearing…it’s the wee, wee, wee. Now I don’t know if the nursery rhyme meant “wee” like we’ve been experiencing it, but that’s the way I’m taking it. Cooper’s potty training has been…sporatic. The first week, he did great – outside every time, no accidents. Even when he escaped his crate and redecorated our house, there was no business left anywhere. Since then, he’s not been quite so consistent.
At night, he’s just fine. But when we aren’t at home, we’ve been leaving him out of the crate with Oscar, since we learned that when he’s alone, he gets the urge to redecorate. Oscar has been enough of a calming influence on him that his destructiveness has been kept to a minimum for the most part. However, his bladder is another story. We take him outside right before we leave the house, and give treats and lots of praise when he does what we want him to do. I even come home in the middle of the day to let him out during lunch time. But for some reason, he just hasn’t been able to make it through the afternoon.
I pinky swore to Cooper that I would not embarrass him any more than I already have, so I will not post pictures of this, but…we’ve resorted to belly bands. Have you heard of these? I’m not going to go into too much detail because frankly – I think it’s a little weird. But I will say this, even when Cooper does have an accident now, it’s a lot less clean-up. Check out the link for more information – as odd as I find them, they work!
Which brings us to our next quality that Cooper’s furever People would do well to possess: patience! Well, that and hard-surfaced floors! 🙂 But seriously, “house trained” is not a skill that Cooper can list on his résumé at this time. We are certainly working on it, very hard, every day. We are narrowing down a potty schedule that works for him (and for us) in order to try to set him up to be successful.
So there you have it – the dirt behind Cooper’s nickname. I swear, it’s meant only in the most endearing way possible. We do love our little Pig!
Does anyone else have any funny nicknames for their fosters of furevers? Share them with us and post a picture over on our Facebook page!
If you want to give Cooper your own nickname, please contact Agape Animal Rescue for more information on adoption.
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A Heartbeat at My Feet 