Cooper Todd crawled into our hearts when he joined our family in 2007 at only about 7 weeks old. He and his brother and sister were dumped on the road near the animal control officer's home in Clay Center, Kansas and when we heard that they were to be put down within a day or two, we just couldn't let that happen. Cooper, his brother Brody and their sister Felicity crawled right into our hearts and made themselves right at home. Cooper was always shy and timid and didn't trust easily, but once he finally placed his trust in you, he was ever loyal and faithful. He loved the kids and was always trying to round them up ~ the border collie traits in him were deeply rooted. Last Sunday, we put the dogs out into the dog run (the backside of our home that is about 25x50 feet long). Within about 20 minutes we realized that they'd escaped through a small hole they'd chewed in the fence. Within a couple of hours we'd rounded up Brody and Felicity but Cooper kept evading our rescue efforts. He'd never been without his brother and sister by his side his entire life and didn't seem to know what to do while he was all by himself.
We searched for nearly 5 hours Sunday in sub-freezing tempuratures to no avail. We nearly had him several times but then someone he didn't know would come up behind us and he'd get spooked and run again. We continued to search for Cooper each day. All our neighbors searched as well. Every time anyone spotted him, they'd call and we'd run out to search. By Wednesday we thought we would get him... we saw him across a field; so very close. The first blizzard of the year was rolling in; it was raining then turned to sleet, then the snow began to fall heavy and wet. We continued to search and call Cooper. We walked Brody down every trail we could think of between our home and every place we'd spotted Coops, to leave a scent for him to follow home. By Thursday morning there was a pure white blanket of snow covering everything. We worried about him staying warm and dry, and getting something to eat, but we knew that he would stay holed up if we went searching in the snow. By Friday we were still looking, hoping, and praying... but nothing. Then at about 3:30 Friday afternoon, we got a call from animal control. My excitement at the thought that they'd caught him, instantly turned to heart break as they told me that he was gone. He never felt anything they said and some very kind people stayed with him until the officer could get there.
We made cremation arrangements this morning and came home with only his red collar and tags. We will finally bring Cooper home after the holidays... not in the way we had prayed for, but home with us none the less. We told the girls the truth ~ God knew that Cooper had no intention of letting us catch him and the only way He could keep him safe was to take him to Heaven. Sweet Gracie quietly said "Mamo is taking care of him now that he's in Heaven". Then began the questions of what's Heaven like and why didn't God just pick Cooper up and bring him back home. I don't have the answers really other than to say that God had Cooper's life planned out, including how and when He would take him home to Heaven, before He even created Coops... just like He planned each of our lives. And, just like He gave each of us the mixed blessing of free choice, He also gave Cooper a choice. Cooper chose to stay away from us as we searched for him because he was so afraid of other people. There really is no other answer. God showed our family tremendous mercy and gave us a closure; we aren't left with questions and worry, we aren't left to continue searching every day and worrying about driving down the street to find him hurt. There is a certain comfort and peace in that. What we are left with is 5 years of memories and the joy Cooper brought our family. Cooper Todd Schroeder 2/14/07-12/21/12
(This is a video I made several years ago, when Cooper and his siblings were pups. Happy times)
