Cooper had another slew of firsts today! The morning feeding and potty break were normal. We are lucky that he is in the habit of walking out of his crate, across the yard, devouring his food, peeing, then pooping. It was chilly this morning and I noticed the pale color of Cooper's tongue as I gave him his medicine. I guess it had always been that color in the mornings, but I just assumed he had a pigmented tongue. I didn't realize how pale it was until I compared it to his pink tongue that I saw yesterday when he was panting. Since he loses his body heat in the early morning, we bought him a reptile heat lamp. We will keep it on during the nighttime so that he can stay nice and toasty.
Mason handled the lunch duties because I was at work. He texted me to let me know that Cooper walked all the way back to the garage again. He was in the habit of doing this when the food was only 15 feet away from the garage door, but we moved his food much farther away last week, and since then he hasn't made the journey back. He usually just sits down at the other end of the yard when he's done with his business. We are glad he is now walking around more, and apparently still knows the way to his bed.
When I got home from work, Mason was in the middle of giving Cooper his evening meal. Mason came to greet me in the driveway as I got out of my car, and he then rolled the garbage can down the driveway since it got picked up today. I was headed towards the front door when Mason stopped and yelled, "he's running!" I promptly walked back around the corner of the house, only to see Cooper walking at a normal pace. Mason started rolling the garbage can again, and this time I saw Cooper start trotting away. It wasn't a full run where an animal leaps in the air, but this was definitely the fastest we'd seen this guy move. We tested the theory by stopping the trash can and re-starting it again, and we got the same results. He was scared of the noise, but at least he has energy to run now!
After the running incident, I went inside to put my stuff down. I then went into the backyard with our dog, Atlas. I walked over to the edge of our fenced backyard just to watch Cooper and Mason. Atlas walked over with me and leaned against my legs as he watched too. When Cooper saw the 2 of us, he stood up and walked over to us while wagging his tail. I should mention that he now wags his tail at me whenever I approach him and talk in high pitch puppy voices. When Cooper got to us, he stuck his nose through the diamond holes in the chain link fence so that he could sniff Atlas. Atlas lowered his head to sniff the strange being that he had gotten glimpses of over the past 2 weeks. When their noses met, Cooper licked Atlas! He did this repeatedly, and Atlas didn't really like it. He stayed next to the fence, but he preferred to sniff the grass instead of the puppy. Cooper looked like he just wanted to cuddle with Atlas and steal his body heat. I was delighted by the successful encounter, so I ran inside to grab my camera.
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During the final feeding of the day, I went to stand by the fence again, but this time I was in the side yard with Cooper. He once again came over to visit Atlas. Once Atlas ran away, I walked to the other side of Cooper and called him to me. He wagged his tail and came within 2 feet of my extended arms, but then he sat down. This was the second time he'd done that today. I don't think it will be long before he comes all the way.
We decided to spoil Cooper today, so we went shopping for him. He is finally gaining more energy and getting healthier, but he stays alone in the garage all day without any mental stimulation. We went to the pet store and got him 3 toys - a mini tennis ball, a rubber nylabone, and a stuffed raccoon to honor his unique story. When we checked on him an hour after placing them in his crate, the bone had been moved across the crate. Hopefully these toys will provide him comfort. And hopefully he won't ruin them with pee!
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