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| Name: |
Coco
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Age: |
Fourteen years old
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| Gender: |
Male |
Breed: |
Miniature Poodle
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| Home: |
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA |
This is my sweet miniature poodle Coco. He came to live with us when he was about a year old. His owner had been transferred overseas and could not take him with her so she turned him in to the local shelter. A friend who does small animal rescue as a volunteer told us about Coco and suggested that he might be a good addition to our family as our poodle Nick was getting on in years.
Nick, however, was arthritic and stiff and almost completely deaf and blind. He spent most of his days taking long, deep naps which were near impossible to disturb due to his deafness. We were concerned that a young dog would be an annoyance to this elder in the twilight of his years but the opposite turned out to be true.
As soon as Coco came into the house, Nick perked up and started to fulfill his doggie duty of showing Coco the ropes in his new household which included avoiding the claws of the cranky tabby cat and the joys of riding to the park in the car. Nick was truly the boss – playing the role of the grandpa dog, and keeping young Coco in line. The two would run up and down the halls of the house together and I was always in fear that the half-blind Nick was going to run smack into a wall or a piece of furniture, but somehow he always stopped before that happened. I believe that the fun and responsibility of having this energetic young Coco around added at least a year to his life.
Coco can sit, stay, heel, lie down, roll over and give paw. He learned from the cats to "ring the doorbell" (a giant jingle-bell tied to a ribbon and hung over the doorknob) to ask outside. Coco is a bit of a loner. He is good for limited snuggling and at night he prefers to sleep on the couch in the den where there are is no annoying and unexpected movement from either me or his Bichon brother and where he can look out the front window to alert us to any suspicious activity. He is an early riser and wakes me up every morning at sunrise to go outside.
Although a bit shy, he loves to dress up and his favorite holiday is Halloween. He likes to wear his cowboy hat and greet all the trick or treaters. He loves long walks, taking rides in the car (as long as it's not to the vet), following his people Mom (me) everywhere and bossing his brother Bebe around. He's a great watchdog and notices anything that's different. Taking a walk with him on January 1 when Christmas trees start to be put out on the curb in our neighborhood is especially challenging due to the many suspicious new things that must be cautiously approached and sniffed out.
Coco has brought great joy into my life!
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