W elcome to the Golden Life! From the Kauffman Family

Meet our handsome new foster, Cooper 13-437! Cooper is an 8-month-old purebred Golden Retriever that came into RAGOM from a Good Samaritan that got him from a breeder that decided not to use him as a stud dog. After a long (and snowy) transport, Cooper met our two resident RAGOM dogs and he quickly became friends with them! Cooper is interested in our cats, but he has not tried to hurt or chase them. I think once the newness of them wears off, he will probably ignore them. I’m not sure if he has ever been around kids. Cooper seems a little nervous around my 9-year-old daughter. She carries treats with her to toss to him whenever she walks near him or he comes near her. He is now gravitating towards her in order to get more yummy treats!

Cooper is a little skittish and shy right now, but he seems to be getting more comfortable every day. New things startle him and he doesn’t seem to have had a lot of exposure to everyday items. My dogs have done a great job at showing him that he doesn’t need to be afraid of things. While he may be a little timid around people, Cooper is a wild, happy, crazy 8-month-old puppy when he is around my dogs! Because of this, another medium to large confident, happy, and (preferably) playful dog in his forever home is required. Our resident dogs definitely make him feel more comfortable and are helping to teach him the rules of the house. We have had Cooper here for almost a week and the changes we have seen with him in the past week are amazing! Once he has some time to settle in, he feels more comfortable and he is becoming a lot more outgoing every day. He is crate trained and we are well on our way to getting him house-trained! Cooper had a few accidents the first few days (probably nerves). We do crate him at night and when we are gone and he seems to do just fine with that! At this time, we are requiring that Cooper’s forever home have a physical fence to keep him safe. Even though he may be adult sized, Cooper is very much a puppy at heart (and mind) and does like to chew up toys and eat things if we don’t watch him. We do a good job of keeping things picked up so we haven’t had many issues, but our dog toy population is taking a big hit! Cooper doesn’t jump up on us or counter surf, but I think he would get into the trash can if he was left unsupervised in the same room with it.

At his initial vet visit, Cooper was brought up to date on vaccines, had a negative heartworm test and fecal, and had a thorough exam. He weighs 65 pounds. Cooper currently has two medical issues right now. First, he needs to be neutered. Unfortunately, he is a bilateral cryptorchid (both testicles didn’t drop), so he will require abdominal surgery in order to find and remove the retained testicles. Dogs that are bilaterally cryptorchid are sterile, but still have testosterone so they still have the negative behavioral issues that come with having an intact male dog. So even though he can’t father any puppies, we still want to neuter him to prevent any unwanted behavioral issues and to remove his risk of testicular cancer. Cooper also has problems with his rear right leg. As a 2-month-old puppy, his femur had a bad spiral fracture. As it healed, his muscles and tendons contracted (called a quadriceps contracture), resulting in the tightening and loss of function of the joints in his leg. Essentially, the leg is useless to him. He is able to swing the leg around (it reminds me of a peg leg) and he sometimes uses it for balance, but more often than not, it is in his way. It causes him to stumble on the stairs, it is difficult for him to get up to a standing position, and he drags the leg, which can create sores and wounds on his foot. After taking X-rays and talking with our RAGOM vet and an orthopedic surgeon, it was decided that Cooper’s leg would be amputated in order to improve his quality of life. The good news is that dogs do very well with 3 legs and adjust much quicker than people do when losing a limb! Dogs don’t dwell on the loss of their limb as a disability and just know that they are able to move around better and pain free, so they are happy! Once he is healed from surgery, he won’t have many special requirements in his forever home. He will need to be kept thin so he doesn’t stress his remaining joints. He will also benefit from a joint supplement for the rest of his life. He probably shouldn’t be a running partner, but he will still be able to run around in his yard, play fetch, play with other dogs, etc., just like a normal dog! Young dogs adapt so quickly to being three-legged that sometimes it’s hard to tell that they are even missing a limb. During his recovery, we will need to keep Cooper from doing any stairs (which we already have blocked off since he can’t maneuver them with his leg now) and keep non-slip rugs on slippery surfaces. Cooper would probably do best in a home without several sets of stairs, but I think he would be okay going to a home with two levels as long as his family makes sure that he re-learns how to use them and monitors him on them so he doesn’t get hurt. It would also be ideal to have non-slip rugs on any surfaces other than carpet so he can get traction. Otherwise, at this time, we don’t think he will have any other limitations once he recovers.

As you can imagine, Cooper’s medical bills are climbing! RAGOM is great at doing everything a foster needs to be healthy and happy, but we can’t do it without our wonderful supporters! Cooper would love to have a sponsor or two of his very own!

If you are interested in learning more about our cute boy, Cooper, please let your placement advisor know! He is a very special pup and will make some lucky family very happy!