52 Snapshots of Life; Week 51: Friend

This is the next-to-the-last post for #52Snapshots, and I want to thank The Lazy Pit Bull for hosting this fun photo challenge blog hop all year.

This week's topic is FRIEND.  I could not have gotten through 2015 without my amazing friend, Cooper.  He is my "comfort dog".  My very own personal service dog, even though he isn't really a service dog.  I have thought about having him trained and certified to be a real service animal, but he is too reactive, so it would be a huge undertaking.  Maybe some day.  Who knows?  For now, he's my very own personal comfort, service dog.... and my very best FRIEND.  His brother, Charlie, is my friend and comfort dog too, but he still has trouble trusting me when I want to hug him or even just touch him.  For instance, he has just recently started putting his head on my lap when we sit near each other!   It's a work in progress.  One does well socially, the other does well privately.

Last weekend, I took a photo of Cooper at the beach.  He had laid down right at the foot of the dunes, on our way back to the house, and I thought to myself, "I remember taking a similar photo of Hobie many years ago."  I had thought they were facing in the same direction, but, in fact, I located the photo of Hobie, and he is facing in the OTHER direction.  Going by memory, I do recall that we had stopped walking in approximately the same place on the beach on both days.  After our walk last weekend, I told Cooper he had been "channeling" Hobie, because he was acting just like him!  Hobie used to refuse to go home, and would lie down in protest.  I'd have to often sit by the side of the road, and drivers would even pull over and ask if he was all right!!  "Yes," I'd say, "He's just refusing to go home."  I always thought they did not believe me.  Well, didn't Cooper pull the same game last weekend?!  Not only did he lie down on the beach in the same pose as Hobie, except facing the opposite way, he also laid down in the parking lot on the way back to the house, and refused to go home.  I had to sit on the pavement with him while people driving past were staring at us wondering WTH was going on!  To top it all off, with him only having three legs, people always think the worst.  No, he's just refusing to go home, because he's having a good time.  Just like Hobie used to do.  So, Cooper channeled Hobie last weekend, and it made me laugh and cry at the same time.

Here are the two matching photos.  The dogs were roughly the same age when these were taken. Cooper is now four years old, and Hobie was five years old in the photo of him taken at almost the exact same spot on the beach, at roughly the same time of year (between Thanksgiving and Christmas) ten years ago.

My friends.

Cooper, December 2015 - 4 years of age, at Nauset Light Beach at the foot of the dunes

Hobie, November 2005 - 5 years of age, at Nauset Light Beach at the foot of the dunes

RIP Hobie 1/6/2000 - 4/25/2015