Copper worships ‘four-paws brother’

Meet Copper (front) and Darryl.

“We adopted Copper about eight months ago and Darryl eight years ago. 

“Darryl came from the Pals for Pooches organization. When they rescued the three puppies from a river bed area, the organization named them Larry, Darryl and Darryl. You know, like from ‘The Bob Newhart Show.’ He has another brother Darryl out there somewhere.

“He had a torn CCL, which is like a human ACL. They don’t know for sure how it happened, probably just running, jumping, and the way he’s made. He has a rod in his back left knee. It definitely has slowed him down. He doesn’t run and jump like he used to. 

“The surgery cost about $2,000. Researching it, that was pretty reasonable. I have teenagers who had grown up with him and they were like, we’ve got to save money and do this for him. When he’s hopping around on three legs because one’s hurting so much, you feel bad.  

“Copper (from Tall Tails Animal Rescue) doesn’t really meet any dog that he doesn’t love. He loves playing and worships his four-paws brother. He loves to follow him around and do whatever he does. 

“The kids and I had wanted another dog for a while, and my husband had always said no. But then he decided to surprise us just before last Christmas. The guy from the organization knocked on our door and said he was coming to do a home visit to deliver Copper. We were thinking he must have found a lost dog or something. We just kind of stood there dumbfounded. It was a nice surprise.”