One of my favorite memories with Copper is his weird obsession with a T-shirt. They day my husband brought him home to me, we rushed to the pet store to pick out anything and everything we would "need." A lot of the toys we first got him he wouldn't even sniff at. At the time, I thought it would be a good idea to put something that had my scent and my husband's scent in his kennel, so he could always smell us. (It helps the puppy get used to their new family.) Anyway, Copper had one of my husband's socks, and one of my old T-shirts. This particular shirt I'd had since I was a sophomore in high school, so it had seen better days. It wasn't anything special to me, just a white shirt with Bob Marley on it. I called it my house shirt. Copper never wanted to play with anything, snuggle anything, or have anything other than this shirt for months. He still has it, not torn to shreds, and plays with it daily. The sock has long since been destroyed because Copper makes a game out of things being chewed to shreds. However, this shirt is his most prized possession. Whenever people come over, he brings them this shirt as a welcome gift. I have no idea why this ratty old thing is so much better than the hundreds of dollars of toys we bought him, but it is. At least in his mind.
I'm not sure if it's because he gets so tired while playing, but the shirt brought on something I find hilarious: sleeping positions. I would find him on his back under the kitchen chairs, sprawled across a pile of toys (at least they were good for something), and sleeping sprawled half in/half out of his dog bed. His tongue would lay out to the side, his eyes would flutter, his legs kicked out, and the quiet barking were all signs of him having a successful post-play nap. While he sleeps, I got to know something very strange for such a small puppy: he snores like an old man. He was just ten pounds when I first got him, but if you heard him snore, you wouldn't believe such a noise could ever come from something so cute and tiny. Surprise! It did.
He also learned early on to let them rip. If you've ever smelled burning garbage with rotten eggs, onions, gasoline, or a funeral home consider yourself lucky. All of those things smell better than when Copper cuts the cheese. Sometimes I wonder if my eyes are going to be burnt out of their sockets. I can't even get fresh air because the stench follows him. When we went home for Christmas, we stayed with my parents. They thought I was over-exaggerating when I would describe the odor coming from the cute, fluffy, bundle of puppy. Unfortunately for them, they were given the chance to smell first hand what this fur baby could do. My father gagged, my mother tried to cover her face with a throw blanket, and my sister fell while trying to leap over the back of the couch and escape the radius of Copper's gaseous fog.
As much of a stink as this dog brings, he also is the world's snuggliest puppy. Every morning after he goes outside, we run back into my room and climb into bed. He wiggles around until I lift the covers, and then dives under them. In my lap, he curls up against me with a hold on one (or both) of my legs. I know he's asleep when I hear the sound of a hibernating bear coming from somewhere under the sea of covers. Right now, as I'm typing this post on my tiny phone, he's curled up next to me on the couch starting to snore.
Wherever I go, he goes. Always. My husband thinks it's funny that I have a puppy shadow. Sometimes I want to be able to turn around without tripping over four paws and a tail. But it's times like these, him snuggled up against me, that makes all the smells, falls, money spent on unplayed with toys, all worth it.
Copper is now close to forty pounds, has more energy than ever, but the one thing that hasn't changed is his need to be with me all the time. I hope that it never changes.
If any of you have a fur baby story time that you'd like to share, please leave a comment. Nothing beats talking about puppies! For the rest of you, this will be my last Puppy Parenthood post for a few weeks.
And as always,
Live long and prosper.
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