Cooper

April 2007-September 3, 2021

Cooper was a very handsome and loving cocker spaniel. We found him from a Craig’s List posting with a family in the southern reaches of Virginia Beach. The town house had several dogs in addition to Cooper’s litter mates. Cooper stood out being the largest puppy by far and being the only one who was mostly white, like our much missed Scarlet. Although we were looking for a female, I had to have him.

As a precursor of things to come, he threw up twice on Kathy on the ride home. He would always have a sensitive tummy despite having a very healthy appetite. Any car ride over a few minutes would result in his barfing. Poor guy; we bought him “sensitive eater” dog food. I’m not sure it ever helped. Cooper was his own worst enemy and would sneak over to the neighbor’s “compost pile” (they threw food scraps out on their leaf pile “for the wild life”) He could never resist and cantaloupe peels were his favorite. Cooper got lots of half Pepto pills as his growling tummy would make sleep difficult for everybody.

I don’t remember why we chose to name him after a car. Kathy had just gotten her new Mini Cooper convertible. It was “cool” and so was he, so Maybe?

Cooper was a good eater and a relatively accomplished thief. He loved bread and tomatoes either ripe or green. Being large for a cocker, most counter tops were within his hunting range. He was a pretty good sneak also. I had to fence my vegetable gardens to keep the four legged harvester at bay. He still found a way in from time to time.

As a puppy, he wasn’t too bad. He learned to use the dog door in about 30 seconds. Just about every pair of tie shoes I had, got their laces chewed off but all that passed quickly. He did find comfort in the company of Kathy’s shoes. Cooper got very upset by thunder and storms. We would have to let him join us in bed until the noise went away. He was very much a pack animal and would howl and bark when we tried to keep him downstairs behind a gate when we went to bed. We gave in. He would come up and visit in bed for a brief period before going off to his spot nearby. He did also suffer “separation anxiety and the home security camera would capture him howling for hours when we were away.

During the day in Hampton, Cooper could be found on top of the couch’s back cushions looking out the front door. We would venture out to the gate in the brick wall along the avenue to bark at some passersby. Those who yelled at him for startling them would be forever after barked at. Cocker Spaniel justice. When we moved to our Williamsburg house, he missed the excitement of the passersby’s who were now over 300 feet away. But he now had lots of squirrels, rabbits, beavers and deer to spin him up.  

While still puppy size, he also liked to hang out on the shelf under the coffee table

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We were guilty of not socializing Cooper properly. He loved people, but other dogs not so much. He aggressively let them and their owners that they were unwelcome in his world. We could not take him out much.

In his later years, he had become mostly deaf after years of chronic ear infections (cocker curse). At least he was no longer upset with thunder storms. He had also developed many skin tags and a couple of fatty tumors. As he slowed down and slept more, he stopped jumping up on the couch thus capitulating his nightly struggle with Kathy over the left end of the couch. With Kathy again off to Wisconsin for the summer taking with her the rambunctious young Bentley cocker, Cooper was again enjoying expanded freedoms and privileges. He walked (meandered) with me without a leash to the mailbox each day. He hung out with me while I worked in the race shop. He didn’t have to share any leftovers. He got all less than perfect tomatoes. He got frequent visits from Super Neighbor Blake who occasionally gave him a much need bath. (there is this compulsion to roll in wild animal poop). Hopefully, his final days were good.

He stopped eating on Sunday night and had bad diarrhea. Cooper having diarrhea is not unusual, but after a day of not eating I got him a vet appointment. The Vet found a large tumor and gave him a month or two at best to live. Cooper could not keep the vet’s pills down and continued to not eat. I was hoping to make him comfortable and to make it to the following weekend so Kathy and Bentley could say goodbye. Cooper was still getting around and made a couple more trips to the mailbox with me. I made him special food, but to no avail. I sat with him way past my bedtime. Then, after I had gone to bed, he would go out into the yard and stay. I would find him in the morning, towel off the dew moisture and bring him inside. I was glad he didn’t weight more than his 40 pounds. We did this a couple of days. Likely, I was foiling his attempts to pick a place to die.

He didn’t eat for more than 5 days. I took him back to the Vet on Saturday morning. They offered no help for him. (Vet practices in this town are relatively worthless these days offering ONLY 9 to 5 pill dispensing and checking draining services) I very painfully decided it was time. I held his head in my hands rubbing his ears while the drug ended his life very peacefully. I am very sad by his passing. I hope I didn’t cause his pains to last too long. I feel bad.