Cooper

I guess you never know what fate has in store. We just decided to adopt again and last night I saw Cooper’s picture on the SGRR website. On a page with 20 beautiful dogs, Cooper stands out because he is far from beautiful.

You see Cooper was literally starved and then abandoned. As a result, he is extremely thin and has a wispy coat. How this dog survived 7 years of neglect is a mystery to me.

I looked at Cooper and thought “We couldn’t save Danny, but maybe we can help this one”. So, I sent off an email and application, expecting that it would be several days before we heard. Two hours later there was a response – we were green lighted to adopt. Because we previously adopted Danny from Sunshine Golden Rescue, we did not need a phone or home interview.

I called Cooper’s foster Mom, Linda P in Maine this morning. (Isn’t it odd that both Danny and Cooper’s fosters were named Linda and lived in Maine). Linda said Cooper is sweet but will require a lot of love and training. She thinks he was never walked (poor leash skills), rarely in a car, etc. The amazing thing is that he still likes people.

My heart broke again, when she said, the team in Alabama got his weight up to 40 lbs, so now he can be fostered. Just how emaciated was this dog ? Cooper’s target goal is 60-65 lbs. Cooper is on limited exercise – due to his thinness and lack of muscle. Linda said when you pet him, all you feel is bone.

I hung up the phone and wondered if we could really commit to this. Jeff and I talked – we do not know what long term health issues there may be or what Cooper’s emotional issues are. Adopting a senior means that you will only have a dog for a few years at best, much less at worst and Cooper’s history is not in our favor. But then we looked at his picture with the dark eyes full of hope and agreed that if anyone can help Cooper, it should be us.