My husband, Paul and I were not intending to adopt a third dog. After Misty, our oldest miniature schnauzer passed away, we decided that our two remaining girls were enough for now. After all, there were only two of us, so it made sense.
Not long after making this decision, however, I saw an injured dog’s story pop up on the rescue page that I follow on Facebook. With each sentence that I read, I felt my heart strings being tugged a little more. This little guy, named Cobb, had a spinal cord injury that rendered him paralyzed in the hind end. While I wasn’t paralyzed, I had also had spinal cord compression a few years back and I understood some of the pain he probably felt. Without saying anything to my husband, I looked up the family that was fostering him on Facebook and sent a message asking if we could come meet this little guy. Within minutes, she responded and invited us over the following day! Knowing that Paul has a soft spot for dogs, I then casually mentioned our plans for that Sunday. To my surprise, he was just as excited as I was.
To make a long story a little shorter, not only did we go meet him, but we ended up fostering him, initially part time, and then full time. With all of his special needs, we began to wonder, “Would anybody else want to learn to take care of him? Would they be diligent enough to maintain his 8 pill a day, multiple times a day schedule? What if someone adopted him out of the area and we never heard about him again? Or worse, what if someone adopted him, not fully realizing all the special care he needs, and then dump him a second time?” It was upon pondering these questions that we realized the answer. Cobb was meant to be a part of our family. We loved him, and he loved us and he got along great with our other two schnauzers. We even did a twist on a gender reveal photo shoot, calling it a “Cobb reveal” with him popping out of a box with blue balloons. It was these photos that became our adoption announcements and ceremony invites. We celebrated with champagne, a pet blessing and a fun and whimsical adoption party. That very night was the first time that Cobb initiated play with our other two. It was like he KNEW he was finally home and it brought tears of joy to my eyes.
Since the adoption, we have taken Cobb and his schnauzer sisters, Daisy and Lily on many RV trips across the country. Cobb has had his picture taken at Mt. Rushmore, Old Faithful, the Grand Tetons and he has even walked along the shores of Maine. Cobb has a following of thousands in the rescue page and many have driven up to a hundred miles simply to meet him. He has become an inspiration to so many who know him not just virtually, but in person as well.
Not long after adopting him, we were excited to see that Cobb was making progress in using his hind legs a little more, so we posted that we would be putting him back in rehab for another 6 sessions. Just a few days later, one of his fans had sent money covering the entire cost to the rescue, to be forwarded to us! We were astonished! This was someone who only followed Cobb on Facebook and didn’t even live in the area! We exchanged several emails and agreed that we would meet if one of us were ever in the others area. That day finally came.
A few weeks ago, while in Florida, we arranged a meeting. The day before, the wife, Nancy, reached out to me to let me know that her husband was on Hospice care and had been following Cobb’s story from the beginning. Being a hospice nurse myself, this meeting was now even more special to us. On our way to their home, she sent me a text asking, “Do you think that Cobb would snuggle in the bed with Greg?” I told her that I was sure he would. We told Cobb what a very special visit he was about to have, and how he had to be on his very best, most gentle behavior. The look in his eyes told me he understood.
Nothing prepared us for the way Greg’s face lit up when we walked in with Cobb. The very second we put Cobb on the bed, an unspeakable bond was formed between an amazingly accomplished man, his beautiful caregiver and wife and our little Cobbler. Their kindness, generosity and new friendship is something Paul and I will cherish forever. This is just one example of how Cobb brings people together.
We have been blessed beyond measure to have met so many new people, made friendships that we will cherish for a lifetime and had our lives forever changed for the better, all because of a rescued, paralyzed little schnauzer, in a wheelchair, named Cobb.
If you would like to hear more about life with Cobb, you can follow him on his Facebook and Instagram page, “Cobb’s Purpose: Life with Our Paralyzed Havapoo”.
❤️❤️