Hi! I am a Golden Retriever. Some people call me a horse becuase I am taller than the usual Golden's. I think I am just right, I am a perfect size to be a lap dog. I think my name is Cooper, sometimes my human calls me knothead, she also calls me Coop. People say I have a big bump on my head, I've never seen it but it must be there because I hear about it a lot. My human asked the vet about it one time, she told my mom it was my spare tennis ball, I REALLY like tennis balls.
BALL???? DID SOMEONE SAY BALL???
Sorry, I get distracted easily.
People also remark about my feet. I hear them say they are huge. I never gave it much thought, I don't know how big they should be, they seem to work pretty good so I think they must be okay. Enough about me, what I really is to tell you about an adventure I had in November with my human. The day started out like most other days, except my human started putting stuff in her car. I watched her take my crate, a suitcase, food and a coat out to the car. I heard her ask if I was ready and I hopped up into the car. We were going on a roadtrip! I like to go places with my human. She will take me with her to walk, to run and sometimes we even go to visit family. It has been a long time since we took my crate along so I knew this time was going to be special.
My human snapped a picture, closed the door and we were off and driving south. I didn't know exactly where we were going. As long as I was with my human I was happy. We were driving about 3 hours and then I noticed the car had slowed. I sat up and looked at my human. She was busy looking at the cars ahead of her and all around her, I sensed she was a little tense so I thought I better just relax for a bit. After about 30 minutes we were moving again and my human relaxed. I was content and slept and woke up when the car came to a stop. My human parked the car and disappeared into a building. She came out and I saw her walk over to the car, she put my leash on and I practically dragged her to the grass. I felt a tug on my collar but I ignored that. I knew from experience I could get where I wanted by pulling her until I got where I wanted to go. She seemed to get frustrated sometimes, but I knew if I was persistant she would eventually get the point.
I checked my pee-mail and sent one of my own messages for the next canine that came along. My human took me back over to the car and offered me some water before I climbed back into the car. We continued going south for about another 4 hours and my human pulled off at a Super 8 hotel in Virginia. We went into our room and then my human and I got into our beds. This was much nicer than the back of the car that I was in for the last 8 hours. My human fell asleep and I got lonely, I don't often get to sleep with my human so I quietly crawled into her bed and snuggled up tight against her and fell back to sleep right away. I woke a little later and felt my human pushing me and telling me to move over. I was comfy so I ignored her and went back to sleep. When I woke up the next morning my human was in the other bed. I don't know how she did that, I never knew she moved!
The next morning my human showered and she went down the hall and brought a waffle back to the room for me to eat. Well, not exactly, she ate most of the waffle and after I gave her my best sad face she gave me some of the waffle and I did the dishes for her. We got back in the car and drove for a long time. Every few hours my human would stop, disappear into a building, come out and then I would take her for a walk and check my pee-mail. We drove and drove and I heard my human say we made it to Florida. This was my first time to go to Florida. I crossed my paws and hoped that meant we were going to see Goofy! It was dark and my human started looking for a place to sleep, we went to a Super 8 but found out they weren't pet friendly. My human then went to a Motel 6 and got us a room for the night. This room wasn't as nice as the Super 8, but she was tired and ready to stop driving. This room only had one bed so I let my human sleep with me. The next morning she showed and we were back in the car.
The drive today wasn't as long as the previous days and that made me happy. My human pulled up to this really nice hotel but we didn't go inside. She then typed something into her phone and we drove away. My human parked the car and came and got me out of the car. We were at a dog park! I have been to a few, but this one was huge! It was a double gated park, the double gates prevent some dogs from running out of the park. I was so excited! Dog parks mean PLAY! I tried to rush my human and did a pretty good job of that. The other dogs inside the fence were also excited and rushed to the door to greet me. It was a little tense at first, we all did our sniffs and I was off running to find a ball. A BALL!! I MUST FIND A BALL!
My hunt was successful and I came back and dropped two at my humans feet. Then I stood waiting anxiously. "Throw the ball, Throw the ball", I thought. Then guess what! SHE THREW THE BALL! A couple of the other dogs followed after me but I was faster and got to the ball first. I turned and waited for my human to throw the next ball. And guess what! SHE THREW THE BALL! I was in heaven. It didn't matter to me that it was 89 degrees and humid, I was cooped up in the car for hours and this is what I live for! I love playing ball, I will play ball all day. My human threw the ball and then made me stop because I was panting so hard. I did not want to quit. I went over to the fountain and got a drink of water. I drank and drank, then some of the other dogs came over to get a drink. I like this place, I would like to stay here forever.
I caught my breath and my human threw the ball some more. I even gave my ball to some other humans and they threw the ball. Then it was time for another break, I got some more water and then I saw a puddle. I prefer pools or ponds, but when a guy is hot, you make do with what is available. My human yelled "Cooper NO!" Too late, I streched out in the puddle and rolled around. My human muttered "so much for the bath I gave you this morning". I laughed. I took another turn at running with my new friends and playing ball with my human. All to quickly she told me it was time to go. I hung my head, allowed her to put my leash on and followed her through the gate. I was a little confused, my human stopped and tied my leash to a pole. Then she picked up a hose. I tried backing away, that didn't help. Next thing I knew, I was getting another bath. She finished washing me and then we walked for a bit to let me dry off. It was hot and I was tired. I climbed back into the car and my human headed off in search of a place to eat. I wasn't ready to quit.