I love Cooper, I love Cooper, I love Cooper. . .
 

I left the living room and went down the hall to my sewing room/office. I was in there for about 10 minutes. I came out to the living room and this is what I found! I just keep repeating "I love Cooper" so I don't strangle him!!! (Cooper is my 4 yo shepherd that we rescued a few months ago) This used to be a couch pillow!

Oh Drats....yes just keep repeating "I Love Cooper".....our fur babies can do the darndest things.

Oh, Cooper!

Well maybe Cooper didn't like the pillow and thought you needed a new one......noticed he did that right next to the basket of toys...guess the pillow was more Fun to tear up.

Shame on Cooper..you gotta love him...maybe that was the reason he was available for rescue? Next time take him with you when you leave the room!

I was no more than 10 feet down the hall from him with the door open. The funny thing is that our other dog BG was sitting on the floor watching him and our cat Lily was sitting on the back of the couch watching. They didn't think it was their place to rat him out!!!

Is that Cooper in your avatar? He looks contrite... LOL

Looks like Copper is in the dog house for awhile.

My avatar is our shepherd Zeus that we lost in September to cancer. I should have posted a picture of Cooper.

Thank you for adopting Cooper. This is just a rough patch but it will get better. You need to tell Cooper that you are disappointed in him and let him know that you are upset. Don't get mad and yell or anything. Any dog - especially a rescued one - will be hurt much worse knowing that you are not happy and that his act has disappointed you.

Take a wild guess how I know this after doing Boxer Rescue for 19 years. [wink] Just talk to him like he is a child that needs direction. I will bet you anything that he will figure out quickly what NOT to do to keep mommy happy.

EDITED TO ADD - The destroying will end fairly quickly. But the 'let me see how far I can push before mommy pushes back' will probably last forever. My girl worships her daddy but that didn't stop her from taking the butter stick off the counter while he was cooking 18" away. Just remember - they are basically perpetual 3 year olds.

our Jack, a recently rescued chocolate lab, does that when left in the car. We were so spoiled with our Maddy, a yellow lab, and her "sister," Lexie who died in July, Jack came to us in September. No matter how long they would be in the car, they never did anything wrong. Jack ate a porterhouse steak (yes, with Maddy, we could leave food on the floor and she would not take it), then he chewed the collar off my jacket, then through a Lands End canvas bag, and finally, he took one bite of our digital camera. We learned--now, if we leave him in the car, he gets a muzzle. We feel badly but it's protection for all. I was thrilled with my DH who did not beat the boy or even scream at him for any of the above. In the house, he's learned not to chew though when we're at work, he is crated. Never is he crated if we're home nor is he crated at night; he sleeps with us--me, DH, and Maddy (we need a larger bed). Soon, hopefully, we won't need to crate him at all. And, btw, they are never in the car for longer than 1/2 an hour. Maddy would rather be waiting in the car than left at home.

My avatar dog, Cookie is very untrustworthy. When we have to leave the room for more than a few seconds, we put her in her cage. She has taking up going down into the living room with us just a few feet away. Tries her self everytime we think she is finally getting it. She is not allowed in the living room, I am never down there except to clean. Husband watches TV down there and leaves things laying around.

Well, that's the end of that pillow. I am sure he has done much more damage than that (most dogs do).

Good thing he's cute.

Cooper has really been a good boy! He has only chewed on a couple of things since we brought him home in September. He did chew up my brand new car charger for my camera last week but I DID leave it where he could get it. We never yell at him or strike him as we are sure he was not treated well before becoming a stray. He knows when he is bad just by the tone of our voice. We crate him only when we aren't home because he has such separation anxiety. I just laughed when I saw the mess this morning as the other dog and cat were just watching him go at it! It was an ugly pillow anyway!!!

lol, mine did it too!!! Thanks for the reminder. Mine did it to every stuffed toy we gave them, then we quit and it stopped but they never destroyed any pillows or anything other than toys. I feel bad that they don't get toys but they also tend to eat up the stuffing so we can't take the chance. The only toy they can't destroy is a Kong and they love those.

Obviously, the pillow waited until you were out of the room to pick a fight with poor Cooper. ;-)

Just keep loving him. He probably was lonely. Lol I babysit my great grandson at his house and they have 8 year old yellow lab. I left my bag on a kitchen chair with some home made cookies in a zippered plastic bag. When I came back my cookies and candies where all gone and the zippered plastic bag chewed open. So I know what you are going through.

Fiberfil is fascinating to some breeds. My little herder and her Siberian counterpart have learned to leave my stuffies alone, but theirs are fair game. My problem is the Sib eats what the BC unstuffs and fiberfill is not good for her digestive system. Cooper, Cooper, being a pretty furboy saved your neck this time. I love Cooper, too.

hahahahahhahaha!!

Awwww Cooper you were suppose to say look at what the cat did :)

Awww........how can you look at that face and not love him? Hang in there.....it's a pillow, not the sofa. And it's part of bringing up doggie (kitty, baby - whichever suits the situation).

Mom to Bryn, Dolly (a yellow lab and black lab) and Maui (the kitty who keeps the doggies in line)

Oh poor cooper, my dogs have done the same things. They are german rotts and about ate me out of the house before they relized it was not the thing to do, They now have kongs and that seems to have helped. Every now and then they will still be bad.

Cooper is gorgeous!!!! What a nice boy! He just needs a wee bit of understanding as you don't really know what life he lead before. A bit of training will set him on the right couch......er....road :) So glad you rescued him he looks to be a very smart dog.

That is all he is saying, " MOm you really need to change this pillow out for a new one" Gotta love our pets.
At least he did not chew up the door frame like our dog did when we first got her.she did not tolerate being left at home for any amt. of time. Now she can stay home for 4 hrs and not chew up anything.

The dog is sorry!

I also have a Cooper, he is a four year old boxer and I love him too.

Cooper is one gorgeous doggie ! You can just see the love in that dog's eyes... he has a bit of separation anxiety which he will overcome. Shepherds are just so danged smart, I swear they are mind readers. A little obedience training might go a long way so he knows you are in control, not him. :)

Cooper is a handsome boy!!! My adopted Chance still destroys his stuff animals, we think he is around 8 years old. He will be playing with one item, then he gets to tearing it apart in a matter of seconds. At least he has stopped chewing up shoes, eyeglasses, wallets, remotes, money and what ever he could steal from your purse.

awww ...well hopefully he will not do that again-Fortunately we got lucky with our rescue (other than her stroke in the summer-she is great!!) and doesn't mess with stuff but will tear the devil out of the squeakies (stuffed toys). WHICH we are both grateful for. She is just a great dog and hopefully will have many more wonderful years with us!

I remember when you posted about your dogs stroke. I hope she is doing well!

Ok, I thought this thread was going to be about Anderson Cooper but Doggie Cooper is far more handsome! What an absolutely gorgeous guy he is! I heart shepherds.

Well, Cooper was named in part after Anderson Cooper! I just think he is soooo delicious looking!!! And one of my favorite TV shows is Big Bang Theory and one of the main charactors is named Sheldon Cooper. Cooper's full name, which is used in instances like this, is : Sheldon Anderson Cooper!!!

-OUCH... GOOD THING YOU LOVE COOPER...GOOD THING YOU LOVE COOPER...GOOD THING YOU LOVE COOPER.

I worked in vet medicine for 25 years, and ran our rescue operations. I still do rescue at my home but on a much smaller scale. I've rescued/placed and trafficed many many dogs, cats and even horses over the years. Also, I've owned nothing but boxers since 1970 and all have been rescues. Some certainly take more work then others, but with patience AND TRAINING they have alll come around and are well behaved (while still retaining their silly exuberant nature) which is what I love about the breed. My father also raised and trained German Shorthairs for years.

A dog can get destructive for many many reasons unknown/UNANTICIPATED by you (especially youngsters). While it would seem unreasonable to us he may have experienced a surge of separation anxiety which can trigger highly destructive behavior. It made sense to Cooper at the time, but as the other person noted... there is a basket of toys right there. There are simply some negative behaviors you can't "love" a dog out of doing -especially since you don't know his history. If that's his first offense then maybe he just had a brain fart...but.. if he shows that to be a tendency I highly suggest you start with some crate training when leaving the room (yes...even if for 10 min). Was the den/office door closed or open? There is another method called "umbilical cord training", but if you're unsteady on your feet it might not work for you. I've used it with some rescues...and it worked well. It just keeps the dog very close in the early phase of training so you can correct any behaviors FAST before they launch into a disaster sans the couch cushion.

I never give a dog unsupervised house time until they show me reliable solid maturity - usually around 2-3 yrs old. I have seen soooo many disasters (mini-blinds torn to shreds, door knobs chewed off, furniture destroyed, sheet rock CHEWED off of walls, landscaping deeeeeestroyed, leather seats chewed off motorcycles - the list is about 100 miles long...LOL). Cooper is a powerful boy...and that mess may have just struck him as good clean fun... lol (oi-vey), but it could also be a sign of future things to come. When you first bring a dog home there is always what we call a "honeymoon" period where they are getting used to their new home and acclimatizing. Once the pet settles in their personalities and quirks can (and ususally do) come to the surface.

Go take a basic obedience class from a good trainer. If nothing else it will get Cooper thinking about being a better family member. It's a huge win win for both you and him.

Been there...seen this....LOL. It's fixable...but it will test your patience BIG TIME if this becomes a habit.
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I found this link on a quickie search. It will give you some tips that might help.
Umbilical Cord Training
http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/PuppyControl.html

Even is Cooper is not a pup - if he missed his foundation blocks of training prior to you owning him he needs to be taken back to step ONE of puppy manners then training. If someone tells you crate training a dog is cruel they are 100% wrong. A dog is a den animal and if crating is done properly (and not abused) a dog is very happy there. My dogs are often sleeping in their crates with the doors wide open. I rarely close the crate doors, but when I do they are quiet and happy.

We are enrolling him and us in obedience training. He doesn't destroy very often. We do have to crate him when we leave the house because of his separation anxiety. The one and only time we did leave and not crate him, which was right after we got him, he tore up the linoleum and scratched the walls and door that we left out of. He generally is a very good dog, just needs to know that no matter what he does, we will never hurt him. He has huge issues with men, he becomes very submissive when out in public and a man approaches him. We took him to a groomer to get a bath after we got him and he did well with her but she pointed out all these little red round areas all over his torso and back - looked like ciggarette burns. We have no idea of his past history, just surmising from his behavior. He is generally well behaved. He walked on a leash immediately and rides well in a car. He was only 64 # when we rescued him and HR positive. He is soooo over going to the vet and the last 3 times we took him, he had to be muzzled. I can understand, he was tired of getting stuck with needles!!! We never raise our voice to him, just get a stern tone, and we never strike him. I wasn't upset about the pillow, I actually laughed. We just take his little quirks in stride. We accept him for who he is.

We found a "Cooper" running down the road in a huge snow storm one winter and brought him home til we could find his owners. He was a wonderful baby but the day we came home from church and found most of our living room furniture cushions, centerpiece from the dining room table, every shoe he could get his lips around, one whole shelf of books from the bookcase, an umbrella, and the Sunday paper all pulled through the doggie door and torn up and drug all over the yard we knew maybe our "Cooper" needed to find his forever home FAST! He was adopted by a man who earns his living driving all over the country and our "Cooper" now travels with him. I hope the man hasn't had to replace his truck seats or bed too many times! Aren't animals just so cute??? Hope your Cooper learns to appreciate the wonderful home he has and hope you continue your positve self talk..."I love Cooper! I love Cooper! Ilove Cooper
!

Yep... violence teaches a dog fear... not manners. Just like little kids.

I'm happy to see you are going to invest the time into Cooper to make him a great dog. A rescue I took on Boxer/Rot mix 13 years ago was sooooooooooooooo destructive I was horrified. I stayed "firm but loving" with her for years and about 6 yrs old she finally settled down. Gad... that was bad! I never gave up on her... I actually felt bad she had been ruined so early on. I was her 7th owner by the time she was about 18 months old.

We just lost her a year ago to cancer she was 12. It broke my heart.

Our dogs are certainly fast!

We knew when we were adopting him that he was heartworm positive and we were willing to take on that responsibilty physically, emotionally and financially to get him treatment and give him a loving home. That is a committment that we made to him and we will not fail him as it seems others have. I am currently in school going for my Associates Degree in Registered Vet Technologist (8 months to go!) We work with some of the local shelters so we have animals that we can use in our learning. Plus, these animals get lab work, xrays and spayed and neutered and it helps defray the cost for the shelters. We just had a 3-4 month old black lab puppy yesterday that had been turned into the drop box and the shelter. He was very sweet and docile. We had to take xrays of his right back leg and it has a severe break, both Tib and Fib. Will need pinning done by ortho but not sure that will happen. We can only guess what caused this break, most likely a kick. People will get puppies and then turn them in after they realize how much work they are.

How well I know that... and I'm soooo happy you are doing what you're doing. There are sooo many sad cases out there... and the current economy has so many people flailing financially things just get worse for their children and pets.

((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))) keep on doing what you're doing... we do make a difference in the long run! When it comes to pet rescue (even fostering) I say "If you cannot do great things... you can do small things in a great way".. and it can mean the world to an abused/abandoned pet.

Off to work...

♥
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