It is -16 at the moment, with a high of -8 today. We will go for a short walk this morning but that's it. Until we find Cooper a proper snowsuit, we have to be mindful of the cold for him. We did buy a Muttluk snowsuit and we were hoping it would work but, although it fit Cooper perfectly, he was not able to walk in it. He was walking like a zombie, it was actually funny to watch but no fun for him. So we ordered another bodysuit, the one worn by Atticus, from the "Following Atticus" book I mentioned in my blog last week. We hope this one works. In the meantime, we have a sweater that can keep him warm but not warm enough for long walks. Since we will be living in Huntsville next Winter, we have to make sure that Cooper is well equipped for the snow and cold. As for Russell and I, we have been to the Quebec City Carnival so many times, that we have all the necessary Winter gear.
This past week was again quiet as most weeks are in January. On Thursday, we went to another Obedience class and Cooper did very well. This was probably his best class so far. He did the best "Heel" and was very good with the "Distracted Come" and "Down Stay". The school is very good and there are only 4 dogs per class. The class lasts one hour and I can tell you that Cooper is very tired at the end of the class but he seems to like it, especially the high value treats that he gets out of it (chicken meatballs and hot dog wieners).
On Friday, we took Cooper to a grooming salon for the first time, for a bath, ear cleaning and nail clipping. Although Russell has given him three baths so far, and is very good at it, we thought it would be good conditioning for Cooper to be given a bath by someone else. At the same time, it allowed for some separation between us which is also a good thing to do from time to time, although we do not necessarily like it.... We dropped him off at 12:15 and picked him up at 3:45. He looked absolutely beautiful, all fluffy and smelling so good. We made sure we told the groomer not to trim his hair, under no circumstances. She did a very good job, although we didn't like his top knot, neither did Cooper. Once we got home, he was desperately trying to remove it, so we did and I did my own simple top knot. I should mention that, while at the groomer, he was put in a crate for a little bit of time and there were no issues. Although we have a crate at home, Cooper does not use it to sleep in, but he was crate trained while he was growing up with his breeder so he is used to it, which is a very good thing. Before we took him to the groomer, he had lots of fun in the snow that fell that morning. He was trying to catch the flakes as they were falling down!
So far, this blog is only about Cooper....there are so many little stories that I could tell about him. He truly is a wonderful dog and he is such a character. He's been with us for 10 weeks now and he is truly comfortable in our house. He roams around everywhere, upstairs, downstairs, but he is never far away from us. Havanese dogs are often referred to as "velcro" dogs for a reason....
On the log home front, things continue to progress. I attach a picture that Matt took last Friday, at the end of his work day. He plans on erecting the house on the foundation first week of February. We will be there with Cooper, camera and video camcorder in hand! At the site, the concrete was poured over the radiant tubing in the basement. Hydro is installed but Ma Bell is slow coming....
That's about it for this week. We will have breakfast soon and get going with our day. I just noticed that Cooper has split the rubber of his Kong bone. He is one hell of a chewer, but only chews on his toys, nothing else in the house, lucky us. We will buy him another Kong bone today then go to the indoor dog park this afternoon. Good day for indoor dog fun!
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