Angel Cooper and Chipper are our October 15, 2017 Pup of the Week

Part of being an angel is being a worrier.  It is like belonging to an exclusive club where everything is perfect, but you don’t want anyone in your family to be a member, and not in a creepy middle-aged executive hiding out at the Playboy Mansion way, but in a “if they come here they are going to be leaving all their family and their friends heartbroken” way.

We lead a terribly contradictory afterlife.  We miss our loved ones with all our hearts, but we don’t want them to join us.  Our greatest wish is our greatest fear.  

The Big Guy himself called Cooper the perfect dog, and as soon as he came here, he was determined to be the perfect angel.  He has watched over his family and siblings with an unmatched intensity.  When his beloved brother Chipper tore his ACL Cooper paced so much he could have worn out his own if our parts weren’t eternal.

At first, their mom hoped that the ACL would heal on its own.  “This is just the job for an angel,” Cooper told me.  “I am going to watch over my brother and heal that injury,”  I told him, despite our best intentions, life often had other plans, but Cooper would not believe it.  “An intensely attentive angel can achieve anything.”

If only it were so. 

Chipper’s ACL injury was not healing.  “Foley,” Cooper cried, “My brother’s leg isn’t any better.  My mother is making an appointment for surgery.  What did I do wrong?”

I assured my friend he did everything right, but sometimes, when you do, things still go very wrong.  But that did nothing to ease his worry.  He asked me how he could be assured that his brother come through surgery safely.  “Pray to the Big Guy,” I said.  “And visit your brother while he is in surgery to make sure he is not scared.”

“And that will make everything fine?”  he asked.  

“Your brother should be fine,” I assured him.

“But we have seen pups come here who were in less perilous situations,” the worried Copper said.  

I put my paw on his shoulder.  “Rarely,” I said.  “Very, very rarely.  That is why we are vigilant in prayer.  Because every single day dogs and people arrive here, who shouldn’t.  The only defenses we have are love and prayer, but they are very strong defenses.”

Blessedly, on the day of Chipper’s surgery a study surgeon’s hands, a mother’s love, a perfect angel brother's attention, and Chipper’s will combined for a successful surgery, and Chipper is now with his mom recovering.

While his mom is nursing Chipper if she sees a shadow out of the corner of her eye, or hears a faint fluttering, she should know it is her angel,  intently watching over his brother.

Pups of the Week January 25, 2015: Moms on a Mission

            When Doggyspace was shut down a determined group of Mom’s came together to create a group on Facebook to replace Doggyspace.  This group was led by Chipper, Romeo and Angel Cooper’s Mom Karen; Pokey, Maggie and Toby’s Mom Laura, Molly and Angel Daisy’s Mom Cindy; and Roscoe, Jessie and Angel Willie’s Mom Sandy.  It seemed like a simple project but quickly turned into a time consuming nightmare.

            When the Tanner Brigade accepted many refugees the transition went very smoothly.  But every member of Tanner is a well-known dog, and you can only join by invite, while Facebook is filled with entitled morons, psychopaths and mental detectives

            Plus there must be a crazy person test on Facebook.  If you pass the test you are given a secret list of every site that is created on Facebook and the people who belong to that site.  Next you ask for the friendship of every member of the site.  Some people (looking crossways at Mom) accept every friend request that comes their way.  Our friends who created this Doggyspace refugee camp on Facebook looked at the friends of the people who were requesting membership and seeing that many of their friends were Doggyspace members (looking crossways at Mommy again) allowed them in the group.

            And then the crazy people peeled away their normal person face and let out the crazies.  These people had answers for everything:  Erectile dysfunction, deflated balls, erectile dysfunction, dirty movies, erectile dysfunction.  Humans seem very concerned with dysfunctioning erectiles.

            So there were members on Doggyspace 2015 who weren’t Doggyspace people and some refugees took back to the ocean to find a safe island.  Tommy Tunes sniffed around for a while, decided it wasn’t for him, lifted his leg and peed to mark that Tommy was there and then left.    Leo and his Mom didn’t stick around too long either.

            But our group of committed Moms were determined to give the refugees a safe home.  Luckily Slater and Chase’s Mom Gretchen stepped up with a list of DS dogs and parents from her secret paws group (albeit not alphabetized but we let it go because we love her.)  Soon our determined Moms who were now close to being committed were able to eliminate the folks who were not refugees from Doggyspace but were refugees from the crazy house.

            There were some further problems.  There was the girl who was a member and then created another account in a different name and invited herself.  After much discussion both of her were gone.  There were also some DS members who seemed to enjoy setting the old place on fire and watching members scramble for their lives and they were whittled away too.  And there were members who were eventually allowed in, but the process took a long time, because there were so many fake members, and the Moms had to be sure.  In time these devoted Moms are going to look for new pup owners because if they don’t a generation of dog parents will not have the love and support that our parents have had

            Also DS did send blogs and pictures to members who requested them but they were difficult to open.  Cappy and Kokomo’s Mom Jackie did a great job helping people recapture their memories.

            And so with a determined and hopefully not soon to be committed Moms we move forward as a group, still lost, still searching for a home, like on Battlestar Galactica after being destroyed by the Pet360 cylons.  And while there is still a lot of work to do we should recognize the Moms who have done so much to keep us together.

            So a sincere tip of the tail to you all, for all of us, from me, one Judge Foley Monster.

For the further adventures of Foley Monster click here