About four months ago, we got a dog! Yeah, this post had been sitting in my drafts folder for months, but my lazy ass hasn’t been blogging so it just sat there.

Cooper’s first day with us.

Anyway…

I’ve been wanting a little dog for quite some time now but Bill kept saying no. I pulled the crazy card on him and that’s when he started to cave.

It all came together quite nicely actually. A friend reached out that she needed to rehome a Yorkie I had once admired in one of her Facebook posts.

There were some concessions made before Bill would allow us to even try to bring a dog into the house. It took me a matter of hours to figure out how I could make it all work. When I’m determined to get something, nothing can stop me.

Cooper quickly made himself part of the family.

Cooper came to live with us on a Monday morning. I dropped the kids off at camp and met my friend to pick him up. He was friendly and hopped into my truck without any problems. It wasn’t until we got home that we saw what our challenges would be.

The cat.

The first time Cooper and Nittany met, the fur literally flew. It was an ugly interaction. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be instant BFFs but I was hopeful that they wouldn’t want to kill each other.

Nittany is bigger than Cooper in every way and I was really hoping that would work to her advantage when it came to him leaving her alone. It has not.

While it’s gotten significantly better of the course of those four months, it’s still not my ideal situation. Their violent interactions are shorter and Cooper will disengage as soon as I get involved.

I actually woke up the other night to find Nittany sleeping on my pillow and Cooper at the end of the bed. When Cooper decided to get under the covers he just looked at her and went about his business…No fighting.

Baby steps.

Progress is being made!

Other than the issues with the cat, Cooper has been a wonderful addition to our family. He’s sweet and loving but also very protective of his new family. I’ll feel much safer when Bill travels having Cooper around to sound the alarm if danger comes our way.

Cooper loves to go for car rides and his love of car rides has taught me an important lesson. I took him with me to go get the boys from camp and left him in the car (in my view and in the shade) while I picked Logan up. He wasn’t going to be in the car for more than a minute or two so I turned the car off. I also left my keys, phone and wallet in the car with him. In the short time he was in there he managed to lock me out. Long story short, the spare set of keys was lost and the police needed to be called.

Moments before locking himself in the truck.

I now never leave the dog in the car with the keys, not even for a second.

He’s taken off on me twice and while it’s not too funny in the moment, seeing his little legs running away with his giant ears back is pretty funny.

Cooper is full of personality and is sure to provide some funny stories from Mommyland. He has truly filled a spot in our home that we didn’t even know needed to be filled.

It’s almost ironic that today’s Mommyland Farm update is number 13. Thirteen is traditionally an unlucky number and The Mommyland Farm has been pretty unlucky as of late.

Last week I told you about the death and escape of our ladybug pest control. This week it’s the invasion of the vermin and the decimation of some of our crops that had me destressed.

Last year it was the deer that literally pushed their way into the garden and ate anything the could get their lips around. That was the whole reason we beefed up security and put the serious fence around the garden. Last year we didn’t have any issues with the little creatures like the squirrels, groundhogs and rabbits which was surprising since it was pretty easy for them to get in.

This year it seems to be the complete opposite. I haven’t seen a deer in weeks and the squirrels, groundhogs and rabbits are making an all day buffet out of my vegetables.

What is left of the cucumber plants.

We planted marigolds around the perimeter, which is supposed to keep the rabbits and groundhogs away. HA! Those suckers are EATING THE DAMN MARIGOLDS!

We had planted gorgeous clematis at the entrance to climb up the arbor. The damn groundhog ate through the bottom and killed them.

My dearly departed clematis.

Even with the deer grade mesh fencing on the inside of the split rail fence and the boards at the bottom, we’re not slowing the animals down getting in. They have chewed holes though the mesh for an easy entrance. Note to self, next year we will have a metal mesh instead.

One of a few holes that have been chewed through the fence.

I just want to cry. We’ve spent so much time and money on The Mommyland Farm and it is under attack by these opportunistic bastards.

I know there are some gardening divas out there, what can I do to keep these creatures out of our garden? We have used that deer repellent spray on our roses, do they make something like that for the little rodents?

Help save The Mommyland Farm.