My Name is Cooper. I Have had a long journey for such a short little life. My Story starts when I was 2 weeks old. I was discovered at a house of an animal hoarder. Well me and my 10 Brother and Sisters were rescued and taken to the local ASPCA. We were in pretty bad shape when we were recused.
Right away we were picked up by a foster family. They took me and all my siblings home. When I got here they named me Bill, for my umbilical hernia. They took such great care of us. We are all bathed for the terrible flea problems and bottle feed. A boxer mom even took as in for awhile so we didn't feel so alone at 2 weeks old. This next few weeks was very important to us. We spent alot of time getting bigger and bonding with each other. At about 8 weeks old we started to develop our colors and individuality.
At 10 weeks we got ready to go on an adventure. It was Sad we had to say goodbye to our siblings for awhile as one person couldn't take us all at once. Bailey (Back then was Frannie), Phantom, and I had to leave.
We were told we were going to spend a few more weeks with another family as we made our way to a place in New York. It was time for us to find our forever homes.
We Finally arrived in New York. It wasn't long before all of my siblings were there with me. This was a very long and exciting two weeks. We arrived at the shelter. Before we knew it, it was adoption day. Lots of families came by and seen us. Slowly some of my siblings found there families. I was laying in my kennel (shredding some news paper. one of my favorite things to do) When I seen them. Mom, Dad and a little Girl. They picked me out and we went and spent some time together. They were so nice and let me bite them (a lot) they said it's ok I was still a puppy and we would work on that. They filled out all my paper work and made sure I had my shots. and Before I knew it I was on my way to my Forever home.
When I got to my new home we waited in the driveway while my new mommy went into the house. She said she was going to go get the family and my new sister. Soon my mommy returned with another dog. Her name was Angel. She seemed like a very nice dog. As I entered the house I got to meet lots of new people (I also found out that I was my mommy's birthday present) I met my other kids, My Roommate, 3 kitties, a bearded dragon. I was also told there are two fish upstairs in the kids room. While I got to know all of my new family members My new parents looked over my paperwork. They found out a lot about me.
11-10-2012
Birthday: August 1st 2012
Age when adopted: 13 weeks
Weight: 18.5 lbs
They have my breed listed as Lab/Blue Heeler mix. What do you think I am????
Birthday: August 1st 2012
Age when adopted: 13 weeks
Weight: 18.5 lbs
They have my breed listed as Lab/Blue Heeler mix. What do you think I am????
I had such a great first night with my new family. I had a few accidents my first night we will have to work on that. Today my family decided that I didn't quite look like a Bill. So Mommy went onto the computer and asked her awesome friends at her website Decorative Pleasures. They took a vote and Decided that I look like a Cooper.
Over the next day or so my family noticed that I was being awful stubborn. Even more so then a normal puppy. My mom and Carissa (our roommate) had a discussion that night as they were waiting for me to finally fall asleep (Mom decided to have a DNA test done to find out what breeds I was, She wanted me asleep when she swabbed my mouth). Carissa said I'm gonna look up what breeds are known to have blue eyes maybe that will tell us why he is so stubborn. While looking around at different sites (here is one Hub Pages) They noticed that Blue heelers were a common breed to have blue eyes. However we also seen that Blue heelers were known to carry a gene called the Merle Gene. It is a Dominant gene for White skin and Fur. It is also the gene that is know for deafness. While doing this research I had fallen asleep. Perfect time to do some testing!!! First thing my mom did is swab my mouth for a DNA test (I didn't move a bit, I was tired). Carissa stood over me and clapped her hand, Snapped her fingers, whistled. Angel wasn't to happy they were making all this noise. But it didn't phase me. I slept right through it. this really made them think.
The next morning my mom told my dad that she thought I maybe deaf. She then called the foster family that I came from. They said that they didn't notice anything and some of my brother and sisters were tested cause they knew I carried the merle gene. This is also when my parents found out that I was a twin :) Later that day my family left to go out to lunch. When they got home Angel had gotten really excited. I continued to sleep as I didn't hear them come in. They let angel out, I continued to sleep. My mom told my dad that the night before she had done my DNA test and I didn't wake up. maybe I was just a heavy sleeper. They stood over my kennel and talked about it. I still didn't wake up. It wasn't until they opened my kennel that I sensed they were there. Ut Oh it was becoming more clear that it seemed to be the case.
After another long night of taking me out and a few accidents it was a new day. Mom got up in the morning and took me out. When she came back in she checked her e-mail. She had an e-mail from my foster family, it was introducing me to my twins family. They wanted to let me know that they too had been in contact as they believed that my sister was deaf too. My sister (now named Bailey) does not have blue eyes. My mom and my sisters mom keep in touch a lot to help each other learn more about deafness in dogs. After hearing this news my mom knew that this was more then likely that case and she contacted the vet.
The next morning my mom told my dad that she thought I maybe deaf. She then called the foster family that I came from. They said that they didn't notice anything and some of my brother and sisters were tested cause they knew I carried the merle gene. This is also when my parents found out that I was a twin :) Later that day my family left to go out to lunch. When they got home Angel had gotten really excited. I continued to sleep as I didn't hear them come in. They let angel out, I continued to sleep. My mom told my dad that the night before she had done my DNA test and I didn't wake up. maybe I was just a heavy sleeper. They stood over my kennel and talked about it. I still didn't wake up. It wasn't until they opened my kennel that I sensed they were there. Ut Oh it was becoming more clear that it seemed to be the case.
After another long night of taking me out and a few accidents it was a new day. Mom got up in the morning and took me out. When she came back in she checked her e-mail. She had an e-mail from my foster family, it was introducing me to my twins family. They wanted to let me know that they too had been in contact as they believed that my sister was deaf too. My sister (now named Bailey) does not have blue eyes. My mom and my sisters mom keep in touch a lot to help each other learn more about deafness in dogs. After hearing this news my mom knew that this was more then likely that case and she contacted the vet.
While waiting for my vet appointment date to come, we were also waiting for my DNA results. Mom decided to try something fun. She decided to have a contest. She likes to run contests for her business. She posted some different pictures of me on facebook.
We tried to get good picture of me from different angles. We ran the contest for 3 weeks. So many people submitted there votes of what breeds of dog that they thought I was. Most people said Lab, but their were a few others too such as weimaraner and husky. Mom sent out christmas ornaments to all of the winners :)
11--12 Vet Day
Today is our first trip to the vet. I haven't been in the car since we came to our home. I was very nervous but I did a good job. The first thing the vet did was check my hearing. He clapped above my head and I didn't respond. The vet told my mom that I was deaf. a stubborn dog would at least twitch an ear in response. I did not. The vet told us a story about a employee that had a deaf dog and reassured my parents what great dogs, deaf dogs make and the rumors of us being nasty is just that rumors a dog is how you raise it and if my parents showed me love I would be an extremely loyal and loving dog. I was weighted and examined. The vet had to treat me for a tape worm. My parents told the vet how I was really skinny and they slowly put weight on me. He said he thought I had a worm and would treat me. But he said I was looking very good. He told them how to help me learn not to bite as normal puppies learn by your cries and sounds of pain. Since I can't hear those sounds they suggested that my parents just squeeze my cheeks in so I bite them rather then my family. He also told my family about Tick and Lyme diease which they already knew about because of Angel. But that it was important to stay up to date on.
Weight: 22lbs
Age :
Shots:
DNA: Still Waiting
Today is our first trip to the vet. I haven't been in the car since we came to our home. I was very nervous but I did a good job. The first thing the vet did was check my hearing. He clapped above my head and I didn't respond. The vet told my mom that I was deaf. a stubborn dog would at least twitch an ear in response. I did not. The vet told us a story about a employee that had a deaf dog and reassured my parents what great dogs, deaf dogs make and the rumors of us being nasty is just that rumors a dog is how you raise it and if my parents showed me love I would be an extremely loyal and loving dog. I was weighted and examined. The vet had to treat me for a tape worm. My parents told the vet how I was really skinny and they slowly put weight on me. He said he thought I had a worm and would treat me. But he said I was looking very good. He told them how to help me learn not to bite as normal puppies learn by your cries and sounds of pain. Since I can't hear those sounds they suggested that my parents just squeeze my cheeks in so I bite them rather then my family. He also told my family about Tick and Lyme diease which they already knew about because of Angel. But that it was important to stay up to date on.
Weight: 22lbs
Age :
Shots:
DNA: Still Waiting
11-27-12 DNA Results
My test results are in!!! Everyone was so excited and shocked. We had no idea what breeds that I was. Almost everyone said I was a lab. which was true. But they were not even close on the other breeds.
My test results are in!!! Everyone was so excited and shocked. We had no idea what breeds that I was. Almost everyone said I was a lab. which was true. But they were not even close on the other breeds.
1-1-2013
Age: 5 Months Old
Weight: 32.2 lbs
Age: 5 Months Old
Weight: 32.2 lbs