BY KYLEE MCFARLAND (’18)

November 10, 2013, is an important day for the Long family. On this day they adopted a dachshund-shepherd-lab mix from the humane society and named him Copper.

“I knew he was the right one when we saw he was the smallest and all his siblings were jumping all over him,” Maddie Long said. “Even though they did this, he continued to jump on the cage to be seen. He was the cutest little guy there and I just knew he was the right one.”

He was found with 61 other dogs in an old house with a slightly twisted foot due to a fracture that occurred in the home.

“It healed incorrectly and it sticks out a little, but we love him anyways.” Long said.

Despite his crooked foot, he still loves to get outside for a walk with his favorite member of the family.  

“I like taking him to the Bio Reserve and the Intermediate School because he loves taking walks with me.” Long said.

Even though he was split up from the rest of the litter, they still get to see each other on occasion.

“One lives in Granville and he had a playdate with his sister once,” Long said. “Her name is Winter and I love taking him to see her  because they remember each other and get so excited.”

Maddie and Copper are the best of friends with nothing but love to give.

“I would have to say I’m his favorite human because I take him on walks, give him lots of treats, buy him new toys and I even let him sleep in my bed at night,” Long said. “He takes up the whole bed, but I don’t mind.”

“He has several favorite foods: steak, dog treats, chicken, apples, he likes cheese,” Long said. “He likes anything really. One time I dropped a piece of onion on the floor and he ate that, too.”

“He gets into things all the time when he is bored or wants attention,” Long said. “He’s only four so he still has the puppy personality and chewing things up is fun to him.”

Although he gets into trouble sometimes (like in the photo above), Copper has become a vital part of making family memories that will last a lifetime.

“My favorite memory of Copper is taking him home the first day we got him.” said Long “He was so excited to play with my other dog Tootsie and he was so thankful to be adopted. He has never bitten me or growled, he’s just the sweetest dog and would never hurt a fly.”