Cooper's Cause

Meet Cooper!!

For months, people in our incredible city have been posting photos of a stray dog. He always stayed around the same place and it was assumed that he did have a home somewhere in that area. Our local animal control confirmed that he did but said that with his personal history with the dog and the situation, he would thrive in a new home.

Somehow over the last month and a half, the pup made his way to my side of town and into my neighborhood (just 2 streets down from my house.) I walked to that area several days ago to see what kind of help I could be. On my way I over, I saw a food and water bowl in front of almost every other house that I passed. Our community is seriously the best. I learned very quickly that this pup was not going to let me or anyone else catch him.

Over the next few days, my sister and I would casually walk over, sit on the sidewalk near him, talk a little and go home. Our goal was to show him that people aren't so bad and that we were safe people. After a few days of this, my dear friend and another neighbor were able to trap and catch him! Unfortunately, later that afternoon while leased, he slipped out of his collar and was loose once again.

The next day, animal control was called. While speaking with them, we were told that he wouldn't be able to help us in the catching part (he has a history with this pup) and that the only way that he thought he could be caught is if the community came together to trap and capture him.

I asked a few deeply invested neighbors to meet near his spot at the end of the day when we knew he'd be in his sleeping spot. We came armed with all of the baby gates we had and we were miraculously able to trap him. After struggling through holly bushes (if you know about holly bushes, you know our catch team wasn't comfortable!) my sister and friend were able to get a grip on him and pull him through the bushes. We wrapped him tight in a blanket so that he couldn't escape. However, he didn't seem to want to escape in that moment. He melted into my arms in defeat and exhaustion.

His first night off the streets, he stayed with my friend. He was sprayed with flea spray and together we quietly decided that because of his fear of humans, he needed the care of professionals. Well, I woke up feelin like a professional apparently because I texted my friend and asked, "What if I take him to the vet instead of the shelter?"

We decided that if he was heartworm positive and needed the $1,000+ of care for that, we would, in fact, take him to the shelter.

Miraculously, the little guy was heartworm negative and only needed treatment for tapeworm, which is an easy fix. We decided to do his first round of vaccinations and get him on preventative care. Through generous donations from neighbors, I was able to pay for his treatment without sweating!

He will go back for his second round of vaccines in October. After the treatment and being fully vaccinated, he will be neutered.

Cooper is starting to follow the pack here at my house. He is becoming a little more comfortable going between the outdoors and indoors. He was presented with a collar and a tag that reads "Rescued with Love". When he is neutered, he will also be microchipped and officially given a permanent address.

Aside from his medical needs, we have decided it will probably be best to call on someone who has experience with a dog who has no trust in humans. After a long phone call with Dale at "The Happy Gentle Dog Place", we have decided that given his traumatic past, this kind of trust training could have a serious, positive impact on his future. Cooper will start his training without us for the first 2 weeks. He will spend this time at the ranch getting intense trust training and we will be called in after that to have involvement in his training. From there, he could spend another 2-6 weeks at the ranch.

The cost for Cooper's training is $500/wk. The cost for his medical needs are $539. We would love to get this pup everything he could possibly need so that the rest of his life, he is happy and healthy.

Please consider donating any amount to help Cooper live his best life! If you cannot donate, please share his story!! It really is a great one :) If we exceed the amount needed for training and medical needs, we will set aside money for his preventative care (heartworm, flea/tick and vaccines for the next 3 years). Any amount after that will be donated to the Collin County Animal Shelter in McKinney, TX.

Thank you so much for reading Coopers story and being a part of Cooper's cause!