We Are Now a 2-Dog Family

I wanted to take this moment to introduce the newest member of our family, Cooper. He is a yellow labrador, actually a sibling (of some sort) of our dog, Blue. A friend from church couldn't keep him anymore and thought he might like living at our house with his sister. After a rough first few days, he's now a dear member of the family. Blue asserted her dominance right from the first night when she slept on his bed, just to show him who was Head B_ _ _ _ ! :-)

The first couple of days, I don't think he knew what to do with himself because he continued to poop in the middle of our living room. Needless to say, this was not endearing behavior :-) I made a call to the Labrador Rescue and they had some good suggestions and said he was just stressed. (Poor guy, does he have a mortgage and have to pay high gas prices too?) Anyway, I took that to heart and have lavished love on him ever since and now he's great. He and Blue seem to entertain each other well and Hope is especially enthralled.

Here he is with the girls
Hope calls him "Toop" and loves to lay on him like he's her pillow.
Blue, our first dog, seems to indicate her reluctant tolerance, but goes with the flow, like a good Lab. We've given her extra love and assurance as well.
Cooper is a little more excited and needy when it comes to attention, so we try to accommodate him. When he's jumping and whining too much, Gracie is quick to say, "Oh, he just needs some love." Then she rubs his belly.

So, now we have two girls and two dogs.

I think I'm going to break down and be extra domestic for Christmas and ask for a new heavy, duty vaccuum. Seriously, it's a lot of hair and our carpet is already stained with all sorts of kid and dog stuff. (Wanna come over? Just don't wear black!) Either a new super vaccuum or tile/wood floors, I haven't decided! Any 2-dog owners have vaccuum suggestions?