King Nat, now called Cooper, was adopted by Skip when Cooper’s previous owners had to move. Since Skip’s wife had recently passed away, Cooper’s new role became that of “helper, companion, and friend.” Rusty, Skip’s previous Mid-Florida rescue, had passed away about 6-8 months before Cooper arrived, so Cooper had even more of a special role to play in Skip’s life.
When Skip and his wife Donna retired back in 2009, they started new careers managing a resort in New England. Rusty was the official greeter for all guests, but today, besides keeping Skip company after Donna’s death, Cooper has taken over Rusty’s greeting role and has become quite famous at the resort. Skip calls him their “director of customer relations.” When guests call for reservations, they want to make sure that this is the resort “with the dog” and often ask if Cooper will be there to greet them when they arrive. Since moving to New England, Cooper has discovered the joy of snow and has learned several hand signals. He is quite the Velcro dog and also loves to tug on his favorite toy, which is just an old worn-out piece of rope.
Like many Goldens, Cooper is a little skittish when it comes to scary things that flap in the breeze and loud noises like a book falling off the table, but he does not seem to be bothered by thunder. Last summer, while chasing his 1 and 1/2-year-old Golden girlfriend around, Cooper slipped and broke a bone in his foot, but after 8 weeks in a cast, he healed nicely. Cooper is all around a well-behaved dog, but he does sometimes growl at Skip’s daughter-n-law. Skip jokingly wonders if “somewhere, sometime, years ago, a strikingly beautiful blond woman must have done something very bad to him.” However, Skip does report that the first growling occurred right after Cooper injured his foot, and since that time, Cooper has gotten better with each visit to Skip’s son and his wife.
