He wasn’t a retriever, although he was hell on a tennis ball. He didn’t have papers, he was 100% mutt but he was my 12 year olds dog. She insisted when she was 10 that she needed a dog so that’s what we got. He came from a litter my wife’s cousin mutt had. He cost $0.00. I was against it from the start because I knew I would be doing most of the work. In two and a half years he became a huge part of our family. He loved my wife and kids and I think he tolerated me. He loved all other dogs and even some cats in the neighborhood. He could do without people he didn’t know. He was a little hostile when it came to them.

We boarded him last week for 2 nights when we went out of town. Picked him up last Thursday and he seemed constipated. Wasn’t eating a lot and poop was really hard but got better as the week went on. Fast forward to last night and he ate, drank, peed, and pooped. After we went to bed he was up about every hour either drinking or needing to go out. Breathing heavy. We thought he had kennel cough because he had kind of the same symptoms previously being boarded. Wife went and got antibiotics this morning from the vet and a anti cough medicine. I get home at 4 and the dog is breathing heavy and very lethargic. I knew it was bad and put him in the back seat of the truck to take him to the vet. He died before I made it to the end of the road. I still took him to the vet where they did an ultrasound and found blood surrounding his heart and gall bladder. The vet says he either got into something toxic or was poisoned. The dog was always either in his pen, in the house, or on a leash. My kids are devastated.

I hate it for my kids. Please say a prayer for them. It’s so hard to lose a dog and friend. I loved the mutt.

RIP Cooper

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I tried to post a pic but can’t seem to do it.