Cooper

Meet Cooper, a lovely black lab aged 6 years. Cooper is probably the best dog I've known. She loves people, but doesn't jump. She is shy, but very playful. She's the type of dog that will play ball until your arm gets too tired - if you couldn't tell by the picture, she actually is quite attached to her ball. You'll also notice from the picture that she doesn't sit like a normal dog. She plops down right on her ass. I think she thinks she's a person. She loves attention - if you pet her, expect to be in for the long haul. She only sheds once a year, which I think is pretty uncommon for black labs.

Here's a short story of Cooper's dedication: I went for a kayak and paddle boat ride with my parents last summer, and we saw Cooper running along the shore, making sure we were in sight the whole time. We stopped and talked for a little bit, then realized that Cooper wasn't on the shore any longer - she had actually jumped into the water, and swam probably 100 yards to us. She was almost there, but no way could she stay afloat for that long. My stepfather had to lead her into shore in his kayak. I thought she was a total bonehead at the time. But I realized she only did it because she had to be near us.

Whenever my brother, Sam (he's 4 1/2), is playing near the water in his sand, Cooper is sure to be sitting nearby, protecting him. I'm sure that if he were to fall, she would be right there to try to help him.

Cooper tore her ACL about a year and a half ago. It happened over the summer, but we elected not to do anything right away - she would require 6 weeks in a crate after surgery, immobilized, so we figured we should wait until winter when she's not really missing anything. Winter came - she got the surgery. She was really, really out of it when she got back home. She had to wear a cone around her head so she wouldn't lick the staples in her leg and infect the incision. There was some humor in it though - her entire leg had to be shaved so the vets could operate efficiently. I mean the ENTIRE leg. Like, paw to butt. Her back actually looked kind-of like a big, hairy chess board. The funniest part of it all was it took until the beginning of this summer for the hair to grow back. I took her on a walk and someone stopped and asked me why she looked like that - I told him she was a rare breed of lab, a Checkerboard Lab. I think he thought I was serious.

Unfortunately, we think Cooper has now torn her other ACL. We aren't sure what to do. Another surgery is costly, and potentially risky. We could end up having to put her down. I'm scared for her - she's such a good dog, loving, devoted, and friendly. I hope she can play ball again.