Playing the purr-verbial puppy-rozzi at a Vancouver, Canada, ‘bark park’, I found myself in the midst of four pet parents chatting up their canines. One of them said, “I adopted my dog from the U.S.A.,” the other three chimed in that they had too!
A lady passing us added, “I
adopted my dog from Taiwan.”
"Are you kidding!” I thought, “Canada doesn’t have enough adoptable dogs at shelters?” Apparently, their neuter/spay programs must have put a dent in pet homelessness.
I asked Tsukasa if her ‘cute’ Rat Terrier/Chihuahua and part wind-up-toy dog, Cooper, was named after TV reporter, Anderson Cooper. She smiled and in the loveliest Japanese accent said, “I’m Japanese, and ‘coo’ in our language means ‘sky’, so I
named him Cooper because of its sound. He easily accepted this honorable name and he’s bilingual, he responds to commands in Japanese and English.”
Now, most think that dogs just “know” what you are saying. But a French family’s dog can no more understand a German person asking it to “sit “or if it “wants a treat”, than you could. Learning languages is a skill....and Cooper has learned two!
This is amazing considering that he was
either a street dog or a breeder’s ‘toss away’ because when he arrived in Tsukasa’s home he did not have any ‘manners’. He did not know how to interact with her family or play; typical signs of neglect and no human interaction.
At his adoption, Tsukasa learned that Cooper’s life was one of triumph over tragedy. He was in a ‘high kill’ shelter, from the age of one, for eight months, until his miraculous ‘fly the coop’ flight to
Canada.
Tsuaka’s children, Karen, 15-years-old, and Joe, 8-years-old, began looking for another pet after the passing of their 14-year old dog.
“It was difficult to find a small dog,” said Tsukasa. “We looked on PetFinder.com for months before a friend mentioned ‘a big dog adoption event’ at Bellingham, Washington’s airport.
We drove two hours to the airport, where an airplane arrived from California
with 130 dogs. The dogs were unloaded and the chaotic race was on amongst 250 paw-tential pet parents!
The rule was ‘first one to snag a dog - it was yours’. My son found Cooper and it was love at first sight,
‘Mum look how ‘cute’ he is,’ Joe said.
The adoption agency made sure we would be good pet parents, and then we were purr-mitted to take the dog for a ‘test run’ on the
runway.
Crossing the border, back into Canada, went smoothly because we had Cooper’s necessary vaccination certificate.”
It did not take long to discover Copper’s mysterious past. He knew nothing about people or living in a home!
“Yes, he is adorable,” said Karen, “but he was not friendly, or good with people, and he did not know how to play. The first time he heard a TV he was startled.
We believe in letting a dog get to know you and patiently teaching them to become a loving pet. He quickly transformed and today he listens to us and is no longer anxious. In fact, he’s a real Californian dog who’s become so relaxed and ‘cool’, that he loves sun bathing, on his back, on our balcony.
While I practice my flute, he sleeps...so he enjoys music. He’s also learned to play. He grabs his stuffed toys (stuffies), and shakes and
chases them. He’s such a nice dog now, and we are happy that we chose him.”
“No matter how long we walk Cooper,” said Tsukasa, “when we step back in the house, he takes off running - as fast as he can, like a race car! He tilts his body for maximum speed and we can’t catch him! He then jumps from bed to bed and the couch like a ninja!”
Obviously, the minute Cooper walks through the door into his ‘home,’ his heart explodes with
happiness. He can’t contain himself and ‘jumps for joy’ off their fur-niture because he’s experienced both homelessness and the joy of a family who loves him!
“It’s funny that during our 1 ½ mile walks or at the dog park,” adds Karen, “Cooper doesn’t run that fast - only at home!
Our next plan is to take him on challenging hiking trails! I hope we can keep up!”
Just like Anderson Cooper, we know
that Cooper’s fame from appearing in this article won’t go to his head. The experience will just add another happy ending to his rags to riches story.
