Cooper #16 Yellow Labrador Retriever Mix Male 2 Years Old ID #2722

April 26, 2022

Cooper had a few adventures this past weekend. He took a long car ride to visit one of the college kids and was a perfect passenger. He also went hiking for the first time and did very well. We had him on a long lead so he could explore a little. He would stop and sniff along the trail but didn’t venture too far until we came down a trail toward the lake. Once he saw the water he ran ahead and jumped right in and started swimming around. He seems to love the water! After he was cooled off, we headed down the trail a little further. We met lots of people and he was very polite. Here is a picture of him on our hike.

The next day we took him and Tucker to a local nature preserve. They did well on the car ride (sitting side by side like two people in the backseat) and hiking together on the paths. Cooper was happy to be out in nature again, but a tired puppy when we got home.

He is making improvements being left home alone. He is not barking or crying when we leave any more like he did when we first got him. He just sits or lays down on the front window seat watching for us to return. He would prefer we stayed home, and is very happy to see us when we return, but he is getting better!

He still loves to be near when we are home and will snuggle up to us if we are sitting on the floor. He is always up for a good belly rub. 😊

April 21, 2022

Cooper has been in our home for a week now. As noted in previous updates, he is house trained, polite when meeting new people, has good house manners, easily corrected, good with a dog his own age, knows basic commands and likes to be with us. He is sleeping on a mat in our bedroom overnight and will sleep in as long as we do in the morning – which is nice on the weekends! He is up-to-date on his shots and neutered. He appears to have been well taken care of, loved, and trained by his former owners.

We are uncertain of how he would do with an older dog, as he had some issues with our 8 1/2-year-old foster dog. We are not sure if that is because our foster is sickly (diabetes, blind, arthritis) or Cooper was intimidated by his size (115 pounds) or if he was just nervous being in a new home with new people and dogs. However, Cooper has been happy to be with our younger pup and they play nicely…and often! Our older, permanent foster is still at his vacation home being spoiled so I can’t say if they would have worked things out or not.

As we start to leave Cooper for longer and longer periods of time, we are realizing that he may have some separation anxiety. He definitely is more upset if we leave with our pup, but he barks and cries when we leave our pup at home with him too. We are trying some different things to see if we can put him at ease a little more, after all, he has only been here one week. I am not sure if having another dog helps him or not when he is home alone, but he will be looking for a family that can be home with him much of the time.

We had several car rides and he is very good. Just sits or lays in the back seat and doesn’t make a sound. He walks well on a leash with a harness unless we see another dog – then he is a crazy man! Although we are noticing that he is less excited to the dogs he sees every day and more excited when it is a new dog. We are going to try to have him meet some dogs and see how he does.

Here he is sleeping by my desk while I do some work. He is happiest with his people and such a sweet boy!

April 17, 2022

I am having so much fun in my new foster home. There is so much to learn and explore. I still love playing with my best buddy, Tucker, but I also love following my people around. I am also content to just chill with a bone sometimes too.

Today I helped foster dad mow the grass and do some yard work. He said Tucker and I were a big help. That made me feel good. He put some grass seed down and taped it off so we don’t walk on it. That was a fun game – it only took me 8 seconds to get in!

I went for a walk with foster mom yesterday. She said I did pretty well with just a collar on. Today Tucker and I went for a walk with FM and FD and I wore a harness. FM said I walked even better with the harness thing on. I don’t care what I wear as long as I get to go explore the neighborhood! On our walk today, we went down to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. It was great! The garage door opened and these two nice people came out to meet me. I was very polite and didn’t jump on them. They said how handsome I was and gave me lots of pats. Then Tucker and I followed the Grandma person into the garage and she opened up a cabinet door and started giving us treats (and these were the good treats- not the itty-bitty training bites that FM has!) Tucker said he calls it the magic garage and that every time we walk by, we can stop in and get a treat even if the Grandpeople aren’t there! I can’t wait to come back!

When we got home, Tucker and I played outside some more. As you can see, I get silly sometimes.

The other exciting thing that happened is that another person came to live at the house for the weekend. FM and I went on a long ride to pick up a really nice girl who was away at college. We got there around dinner time and had a picnic outside. FM packed my kibble and I sat and ate like a good boy. I also got to meet some new friends who said I was a handsome, good boy. I don’t know why everyone says that but I think it’s good! When we were done eating, we got back in the car and brought the college kid home for the whole weekend. I love having new people around!

Although I love to be with Tucker and we are getting along well, the older much bigger foster dog (Lucky) that lives here was making me nervous. I wasn’t sure how to act around him so FM took him to live with his favorite babysitters for the week until I get more adjusted to life with another dog in a new house.

I am also not enjoying the crate. I bark and bark and get super upset. FM slept on the sofa last night and I slept on a mat in the living room near her. I did really well once I was set free. Tonight, I am going to try sleeping in their bedroom on a mat. That’s where Tucker sleeps so I think I will like it there.

April 15, 2022

Hi! My name is Cooper!

Cooper is a very handsome almost 2-year-old lab mix. He was turned over to a shelter because his owner is sick and can no longer care for him. The shelter contacted Brookline for help placing him. Thank you to Janet for doing the evaluation and Nancy for helping to transport this sweet guy to us. Cooper was a very good car rider on the way home; he panted but was quiet and polite. Part way home he finally settled and seemed content to lay down and sleep. However, he must have gotten lonely in the backseat because he crawled up front to sit on FM’s lap. At 70 pounds, he is not lap dog sized, but he doesn’t know that!

Cooper was happy to sniff around our backyard and check things out. After he had inspected every corner of our yard, he met Lucky. All went well, but Lucky is older and doesn’t see well so he really didn’t want to play. Cooper did, so next we walked Tucker (6 months older than Cooper) around the outside of the fence. They sniffed and whined to get to each other. They are quite a match! They ran and played and chased and wrestled and finally laid down in the grass to play bitey face when they were too exhausted to run anymore. Below is Cooper after the play session. (I have a cute video of them playing, but I am having technical difficulties getting it on email – hopefully next post!)

Cooper ate well and played outside some more with Tucker. He seems to know how to fetch but would rather play with Tucker. He knows sit, down, stay, come and shake. We started working on “crate up” but have no idea if he was ever crate trained. We plan to try him in the crate tonight.

He is a very sweet dog – he is smart and seems eager to please. We are happy to have this guy safe and staying with us.