I realize that this isn't an adventure and doesn't have much to do with Copperland, but I have so many (14) adoring fans who have been asking for nursery pics I figured I'd go ahead and post them before the little one arrives and the room never looks this clean or organized again.  We're actually working pretty hard on training Copper that she is not allowed in the nursery, period (via the shock collar), as per advice from our on-staff (you think I jest) dog whisperers but otherwise I would have incorporated her in these shots.  I'll add a few recent photos of the pup from the lake when we were down there over Thanksgiving so you can be sure to get your fill.  Enjoy!

We had a fabulous baby shower a few weeks ago and SGM and I got all kinds of amazing things for the baby, especially many wonderful baby clothes.  Well I have been washing and washing and washing and ironing and ironing and ironing baby clothes for what seems like the last 3 weeks (supposedly you need to do this with everything before the baby wears anything, especially when they are little little when their skin is still sensitive) and had laid them all out and organized them on the guest bed so that I could put them all away.  Well, we let Copper out of our sight for approximately 2 seconds a few Sunday nights ago, she ran into the guest room, jumped on the bed, threw the clothes all over the place and then peed on the bed and ran out of the room.  You think she's excited to meet the baby?

Cheers to more Adventures in Copperland!

PS.  I took Copper to DDC this morning.  We walked in at the same time as another dog her size, maybe some sort of beagle.  The beagle's owner asked the DDC people if her dog and Copper played together and the answer was, "oh no, [beagle] is in the medium size group and Copper plays with the big dogs."  Awkward silence as the beagle owner took this personally and then said, "but they are the exact same size, why don't they play together?"  And the DDC people said, "well, because Copper is crazy and is super fast and strong and plays with the big dogs really well."  The beagle owner then slinked off.  Is this what its like to be a parent, always comparing your kids to everyone else's?  Yikes!

SGM informed me this morning that when he dropped Copper off at DDC yesterday he saw pictures of all of the dogs on the wall in their Halloween costumes.  It turns out that the costume contest was ongoing and wasn't decided on the day costumes were actually worn to DDC, but by popular vote by anyone who was dropping dogs off at DDC over the last few weeks.  Well, SGM said the results are in....and poor little Copper came in DEAD LAST.  I'm not saying I thought she should have taken home any prizes (here is the reminder of what she wore and what she was up against) but how mortifying, last place!  And she only got ONE VOTE.  And I'm pretty sure I remember (although don't hold me to it with my preggo brain these days) that that vote was from yours truly last week when I dropped her off.  Oh dear, I'll have to get on the ball for next year. 

Cheers to more Adventures in Copperland!

This morning it was time to fall back and what better way to gain lose an extra hour of sleep than by waking up to your dog throwing up a large rock boulder at 4am.  Ahhhhh, the joys of parenthood.

But it's Fall, and in Copperland that means we are raking every weekend from now until January.  The 100 year old oak in the backyard hasn't even started to drop its leaves but we already have a lot of work to do with the other trees around.

SGM was out raking the front yard today and decided to bring Copper out there with him.  We've gone back and forth about getting her an electric fence so that she can go out front by herself but have decided (at least for now) against it since she has the whole fenced backyard to play in if she wants.  Besides, I'm pretty sure she'd jump the fence and there would be no turning back.  So needless to say, Copper doesn't get to spend a whole lot of time in the front yard and there are many things for her to explore.  SGM hooked a rope to her collar and tied her to the (fairly heavy) wooden bench near the sidewalk.  I happened to walk out there to hang out just as Copper managed to topple the bench over so that she could move around with a little more flexibility.  I wish I had the whole thing on film, but I did catch a snippet of her out on the town, with just a small weight dragging behind her:

Last week at DDC (Doggy Day Care) we were told to bring our dogs dressed up for Halloween and that there would be a contest (yes, until January 1st or around then she is our only child, and we take her to daycare and have dress-up days...we'll see how long this lasts once Babe in Copperland arrives).  Well I LOVE a good contest, so of course felt like we had to participate.  At the same time I didn't want to have to buy a new costume (or heaven forbid make one) so I decided to go with last year's, a great pumpkin costume from Old Navy.  See Exhibit A below from last year:

The key problem to this plan was that in trying the costume on Copper the morning of the costume contest, I left her alone for 30 seconds and she chewed through the strap holding it to her body and would have probably eaten the whole costume had I not found her in time.  Honestly, I don't blame her too much because I had forgotten how much she had grown since last year and she looked sort of like a giant orange sausage, the thing was so small and tight on her this year.  So instead of being a cute pumpkin we had to settle for a (very) mediocre witch.  I can't even remember where we got this witch hat but I dug it out of her dog bin and we went with it.  See Exhibit(s) B below from Doggy Day Care:



Sad, I know.  We (I) clearly dropped the ball on this one.  If the picture evidence weren't enough, she came home with a report card that mentioned nothing about her costume or the contest.  I was embarassed for her!  Clearly she wasn't a winner--here were some of the other dogs that day:








Regardless, she didn't seem to let the defeat get her down that day as she played with her buddy Big Paws (not sure what his real name is) and her favorite DDC toy:



Cheers to more Adventures in Copperland!

PS.  The latest in pregnancy comments--I was at the Chik-Fil-A drive thru (gosh between this post and the last you probably think I am the least nutritious pregnant person ever) this week and the guy at the window took one look at me and said "congratulations."  I looked to my right and behind me to see who he might be talking to and realized it really was ME.  So I am now big enough to be visibly pregnant while sitting down at a drive-thru.  Fabulous. 

We went to a wedding in Asheville, NC, this past weekend.  Since we feel like all we have been doing lately is flying to weddings, we thought we'd take this chance to actually drive, and that way we wouldn't have to board the dog if we brought her with us.  This plan seemed fantastic about two months out when we originally made it.  As the wedding date crept closer I started having second thoughts since the drive would be 5+ hours each way so it wasn't as if we were letting Copper have some fabulous experience when she'd probably rather just be hanging out with her friends at the kennel.  But we decided to try it out.

We drove to Atlanta on Friday night and stayed with MCR.  MCR just got herself a little cat named Birdie, who is adorable.  She also likes to hide and is pretty good at it:

It's been awhile.  Perhaps I'm not cut out for this blogging thing, but we'll see.  It's not for lack of updates (as I was typing this I just discovered Copper eating a soap box from the trashcan), but just not sitting down and keeping up!  An update hodge-podge is today's topic.

A few weekends ago, we walked the Susan G. Komen race in Birmingham for Team Neil.  Just me, SGM and Copper, but if I say so myself, it was one good looking team (and yes, for those of you who have asked, you get a [not-so-flattering] preggers pic of me):

Remember how I talked about the fact that I don't think Copper will turn into a water dog?  Well, she's had a few report cards recently from Doggy Daycare that might prove me wrong!  She still hasn't shown us her swimming skills yet (note the baby pool we bought for her to lounge in all summer has been pulled out three times, and all three times she ran away from it), but we are hoping a trip to the lake over Labor Day might clear up some of the confusion.  We'd love to be able to watch her swim around and play in the lake!

written by Copper Marshall

I miss my friend Neil who I loved very much.  I told all of my friends at doggy daycare about her on Tuesday. Everyone there was jealous that I got to meet such a special person:

I mainly told everyone how she was the nicest person I have ever met.  Neil sent me presents and cards and always asked about me when she talked to KBRM.  Once, I swallowed five of her earrings while she wasn't looking and they had to run through my system so SGM could sift through my poop and find them.  Neil didn't get mad at me and was so worried instead that the earrings might have hurt me, she called the emergency animal clinic to make sure they thought I would be ok.  I only found out later, and not even from Neil, that two of the earrings I ate (the pearl and diamond ones, I have really good taste) were a gift from her grandmother.  But she never made a fuss about it and just laughed and laughed at how silly I was to have wanted to eat and swallow jewelry. Neil liked to read this blog about me because she thought I was the craziest dog she had ever met.  I like to think that Neil is playing right now with SGM and KBRM's dog Wembley, and with all of the other dog friends that aren't around anymore.  I'm looking forward to the day that I can see her again too and we can laugh and play again together, because she was the best.

I know I haven't posted in awhile.  Lots going on around here.  And I have many stories to catch up on and share, but they will have to wait until another time.  Meanwhile, I'll share this quick little tidbit from this morning....

Happy 1 Year Birthday to Miss Copper today!

Interestingly enough, at this point in my relationship with Copper it's not so much the fact that she ate the birdhouse, but the fact that she can jump high enough to get it out of the tree.  a.) further proof that getting an electric fence is not a good idea as she will clearly be able to jump the signal.  b.) we are doomed

This has nothing at all whatsoever to do with Copper.  But I am recently infatuated with this blog and thought I'd share with my (11) followers:

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

The ALOT monster is pretty much fabulous.  OK that's all for now.

Over the weekend we bought this from Home Depot:

Sorry I haven't been a good updater recently, it certainly isn't for lack of any adventures in Copperland to talk about.  We've simply been traveling on the other side of the big blue, seeing places like this:

Copper goes to camp, aka "Doggy Daycare" (DDC) twice a week.  I don't know what we would do without it.  She runs around all day with other dogs, playing and basically exhausting herself (if that's even possible) by the time the day is over.  Every last penny we earn goes to DDC but it is so worth it.  You'll hear a lot more about DDC in the days and weeks to come I'm sure.

Copper and I took a walk after work today.  The weather was so gorgeous and we were both excited that it was 6:45 and still light outside.  Just a few minutes into our walk, Copper scooped something off the ground like a long lost friend.  I got a good look at what she had and it was baby Booda!  Not her baby Booda of course but I guess a friend in the neighborhood likes Boodas too.  So of course she brought it home with her.

an End.

Many of you have asked for an update about Copper's toenail after she split it the other week and had to be put under to have it cut back.  OK, actually, none of you (all nine of you) have asked for an update but Copper's feelings aren't hurt, the whole thing was just a small blip on her radar.


Day one post surgery things were pretty much back to normal, hanging out in the backyard with her latest favorite toy, the "ultra-durable" rubber rings.

Early yesterday morning I was peacefully eating my bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats when I hear Copper out in the backyard barking her face off.  This has started to be too much of a regular occurrence these days, so I decided to go take matters into my own hands.  Spring Break or not, I don't need my neighbors whispering behind my back about the crazy dog that wakes up their children all through the night and early morning with her incessant barking.  Plus, my dog training podcast explained that you can be sure who is really the boss if your dog will come inside upon your calling her to do so, especially when already distracted.  This was going to be a big moment for Copper and me.

I don't care what the groundhog says, this past weekend was nothing but fabulous early Spring weather here in Copperland, and we have enjoyed it thoroughly.


The weekend got off to a tasty start Friday night with Chinese takeout when Copper snatched the fortune cookies off the counter and bolted through the dog door to enjoy them outside.  We try not to chase her anymore when she steals things and runs outside (so she doesn't think it's a game) and regardless, know it is always a lost cause with food anyway.  Needless to say, we have recovered the fortune cookie wrappers but not the fortunes.  I hope their advice wasn't terribly life-changing.

Booda is a pretty important part of our family.  Who is Booda you ask?  Only the best little stuffed dog toy ever to be made.  Every since we found Booda 1 at the Harris Teeter in Virginia, we were hooked.  What more can you ask for in life than a squeaky stuffed hedgehog?

Don't you love it when people act as if any traits / talents / looks / hobbies / personality of their dog are a direct reflection of the owners themselves?  For instance, at the dog park, you tell a complete stranger how pretty their dog is and get "Oh, yes, thank you" like they birthed the thing themselves.  Usually you see owners accept positive comments personally --"wow your dog is a really good fetcher," "oh, well you should see him roll over, he's a real champion at that."

Another snow day in Copperland!  I discovered that her favorite snow activity is to have snowballs thrown at her so she can try to catch them in her mouth.  She's better than this video lets on...

It's raining today in Copperland.

We went to the lake this weekend and Copper's friend Layla came along.  Boyyyyyy did they have fun!  Sometimes a little too much fun....

So we eat a lot in the world of Copperland.  I'll probably be making this post numerous times in various forms, because Copper really likes to chew things.  Like no other dog I've known...

I won't be able to answer that question here but I will say that love is probably what this blog is about.  We don't have children and I'm doing my best in this blog to not come across as a loony, pet-obsessed, dog stroller walking around kind of person, because I don't see myself that way (oh, if only everyone saw us as we see ourselves....).

No, seriously though, I think we're pretty normal.  We're a married couple, both with full time jobs, just trying to make our way in the world.  It just so happens that a lot of our world is dominated by a little puppy named Copper...