# The Story of a Golden Retriever Taken Away by Tetanus Within 12 Days



## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

I am truly sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing your story. There are many of us who do understand the pain you feel right now. To lose the best friend so young is every ones here a nightmare. Hugs. 

Run free sweet Cooper, you will be loved and missed forever.


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## Forever Cooper (Jun 29, 2013)

Thank you Buddy's mom. We appreciate it very much, knowing we are not alone. It was indeed very inappropriate to say that no one understands how heartbroken we are - especially for a golden retriever owner. Sorry for having said that since it all happened too sudden... 




Buddy's mom forever said:


> I am truly sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing your story. There are many of us who do understand the pain you feel right now. To lose the best friend so young is every ones here a nightmare. Hugs.
> 
> Run free sweet Cooper, you will be loved and missed forever.


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## Rob's GRs (Feb 25, 2007)

thank you so much for sharing your story. We truly understand the loss of your Cooper. May he live strong and long in your heart and soul.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I am so sorry for your loss. Wow, I never knew dogs were at risk for tetanus. Thank you for sharing your heartbreaking experience with us. 

I googled this and found this article helpful in explaining tetanus in dogs in case others are interested in reading:
01 Tetanus in Pets (Lock Jaw) - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!


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## CharlieCooper (Jun 11, 2013)

I am so very sorry for your loss of your beautiful Cooper. He looks like such a sweet, happy boy. It is the worst pain to have to deal with a young dog's life cut way too short. My boy Charlie Cooper died 4 weeks ago unexpectedly, we brought him to the vet Saturday morning and by Sunday night they called us in and told us he would not make it through the night. He was 3, much too young like your boy Cooper. I still cry daily. I hope you know you're not alone, so many of us here feel your pain. He will now be able to run free at rainbow bridge until you meet him again. Rest peacefully, Cooper.


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## *Laura* (Dec 13, 2011)

Cooper's mom- I am so very sorry you lost your beautiful boy this way. So tragic Run free dear boy..


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

Forever Cooper said:


> Thank you Buddy's mom. We appreciate it very much, knowing we are not alone. It was indeed very inappropriate to say that no one understands how heartbroken we are - especially for a golden retriever owner. Sorry for having said that since it all happened too sudden...


Don't worry about your words, nothing to be sorry about. When you spend some time on this forum you will know that people here understand beyond the words. For some is just hard to come to this section and read those sad but beautiful posts written with so much pain and love at the same time. We are here for you, we are just a bunch of people with our own sad stories ready to help as much as we can and offer you shoulders to cry on. For many, I know I feel that way, losing any golden is as losing our own. Hugs.


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## HolDaisy (Jan 10, 2012)

I had no idea about Tetanus either in dogs so thank you so much for sharing your story and alerting other dog owners.

So very sorry for your heartbreaking loss of Cooper. I lost one young too so understand your heartbreak. He will live on in your heart and memories forever.


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## DieselDog (Oct 16, 2012)

I am so sorry for your loss and all of the worry and heartache that you've been through. I do thank you for sharing Coopers story. Hopefully it will someday save another's life. 


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## KathyL (Jul 6, 2011)

I am so sorry. It's heartbreaking to lose your dog in the prime of his life and under such unusual circumstances. That has to be very rare and not something you would even consider to check for. Thank you for posting your log of events, this may help prevent this happening to another dog. Cooper is a beautiful boy.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Thank you for sharing your tragic story. I'm so sorry that this happened to you, but not knowing about this I'm so grateful for the info. Thank you.


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## Always51 (Feb 19, 2012)

what happened is devastating...RIP beautiful boy...and welcome to you ,even under such sad circumstances..you can let all your emotions out here...we will listen..


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## GoldenMum (Mar 15, 2010)

My heart is breaking for you, losing a best friend is always hard; but such a young boy is tragic. Thank you for sharing your story, it had to be difficult to write. Writing it for us all to share may save another with symptoms, I too had no knowledge of tetanus in dogs. Please stick around and share more pictures and stories of your boy; you'll find some very compassionate people here who know loss all too well.


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## Mjpar72 (Jun 4, 2013)

Thank you for sharing. I am so very very sorry for your loss. My heart is breaking for you.


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## USAFWife74 (Jan 13, 2013)

Thank you for sharing this. So tragic. I'm very sorry for your loss.


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## PrincessDi (Jun 8, 2009)

I'm so sorry that you lost your beloved Cooper. It is so wonderful that you reached out of your pain to educate us about Tetanus and the tragic story of your loss. Thinking of you at this dark and painful time.


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## elly (Nov 21, 2010)

I am so so terribly sorry, Cooper was a beautiful boy and the story is so tragic. Thank you so much for alerting us of the possibility of tetanus in dogs.
Run free beautiful boy x


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## olliversmom (Mar 13, 2013)

What a terrible loss and horrible ordeal you have been thru. Having raised tons of animals my entire life I truly understand the times when you question if what you are doing is right, whether the vet you trusts is righ, or that nagging instinct that something is not right. We all lead busy lives and when we are reassured by two medial professionals that our pet will be o.k., we reluctantly do our jobs and rush home to our babies at days end.
So very very sorry you have gone thru this. I have loved and lost a beautiful Golden recently and feel your pain. But the tender age of your dear boy makes things so much worse.'
Your dear Cooper knew you were there for him, doing everything you could. He felt your love and concern thru every movement you made. 
May your heart and mind be filled with loving memories of him forever. And if your helpful post helps one poor pup from dying too soon, then Cooper will have given back more than he already has.
Robin


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## goldensmum (Oct 23, 2007)

So sorry for your very sad loss of Cooper - like others I have never given Tetanus in dogs a second thought, so thank you for having the strength and thoughts to share your very sad story with us.

I agree with Buddy's Mom Forever - when others lose their goldens we feel their pain and loss too.

Cooper will now be running free at the bridge

"WHAT MOVES THROUGH US IS A SILENCE, A QUIET SADNESS, A LONGING FOR ONE MORE DAY, ONE MORE WORD, ONE MORE TOUCH

WE MAY NOT UNDERSTAND WHY YOU LEFT THIS EARTH SO SOON, OR WHY YOU LEFT BEFORE WE WERE READY TO SAY GOODBYE

, BUT LITTLE BY LITTLE, WE BEGIN TO REMEMBER NOT JUST THAT YOU DIED, BUT THAT YOU LIVED. AND THAT YOUR LIFE GAVE US MORE MEMORIES TOO BEAUTIFUL TO FORGET"

Run free and sleep softly Cooper


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## jacksilas (May 26, 2013)

I get that you don't want sympathy.
It is pointless.
Nevertheless, as I sit here crying, you have mine.
Completely.
There aren't words.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

Welcome to the Forum, especially in such sad circumstances. My heart goes out to you. It is very kind of you to invest time and energy in sharing your experience with canine tetanus. I certainly had no idea that it could affect dogs.

I hope you'll post more stories about and photos of your sweet Cooper, both as a memorial to him and a way to process your grief. You will find a very supportive community here, as all too many of us have lost a dog suddenly.

Peace be with you.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I am so very sorry for your loss of Cooper, he was a beautiful boy.

Thank you for sharing his story, I know it was hard for you to do. I was not aware of dogs getting tetanus. I just read a few articles, again, thank you for sharing this information.

Godspeed Cooper


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## Forever Cooper (Jun 29, 2013)

Thank you all so much. You guys make me feel that I am sharing our hardest lessen and dearest loss in the right place, with the right people.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

I am so sorry you lost your beautiful Cooper despite all your best efforts. And I thank you for sharing your story. I will keep it in my memory in case my dogs ever turn up with those symptoms.


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## Ylan's Mom (May 14, 2013)

Thank you for sharing this story, for raising awareness and for reminding pet parents, and that our instincts towards our 4-legged loved ones are valid, strong and important. 

I am sorry you had to go trough this. My heart goes to you. 
Run free Cooper....


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## Whatsupdoc (Apr 11, 2013)

Sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing.


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## valibin (Jun 28, 2013)

Thank you so much for the information. I am truly sorry for your loss of Cooper. I know how you feel. Both our Cooper's are now healthy and happy at RB. We will be reunited with them one day.


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## Forever Cooper (Jun 29, 2013)

Thank you valibin. Just read your story. We share two boys with the same name, we share the loss, and we share the greatest love that they've both given us. X



valibin said:


> Thank you so much for the information. I am truly sorry for your loss of Cooper. I know how you feel. Both our Cooper's are now healthy and happy at RB. We will be reunited with them one day.


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

Thinking of you and other Coopers moms. I know how hard those first weeks are. My first post here was 5 weeks after I lost my Buddy, it is so, so hard. Hugs.


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## valibin (Jun 28, 2013)

I'm so sorry for your loss of Cooper. I understand how hard it is to loose them when they are so young. You will be in my thoughts and prayers. RIP Beautiful Cooper and run free and happy!


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## MercyMom (Dec 19, 2011)

All I can say is how sorry I am that you lost Cooper. What a traumatic way for him to die. And how he looked at you wtih a wagging tail right before he died.:bawling:Words cannot describe the magnitude of your loss.


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

Thinking of you.
Will add you Cooper to 2013 Golden Bridge list.
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/grf-goldens-have-passed-yearly-list/124789-grf-goldens-passed-2013-list-5.html#post3148794


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## Forever Cooper (Jun 29, 2013)

Thank you all. Since I could not edit the post anymore and some more details came up, I updated it in this blog: Life is like a shooting star: June 2013


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

I am so sorry and I thank you for all the info. I am 68 and have had dogs of my very own since I got my first, an English Setter for my 11th birthday, named her Beauty, and lost her to distemper 6 months later at age 8 months (she had had the shot, but back in those days they were not as reliable.)Over the years I have lost English Setters, Irish Setters and Goloden retrievers at ages 8 months to 12 years of heart failure, cancer, distemper, one to autoimmune hemolytic anemia, one to a supposed spinal infection that would not clear up (I truly bleive it was cancer, tho), but I never thought about tetanus. It never crossed my mind a dog could develop this. so I am thankful for all the info.

I know how much the loss hurts. Each time I hae lost one of my beloved dogs it seemed like I had never hurt this much before. But I had, at each loss. Dopg lovers understand this. We all know how much oour dogs are loved, how much they are missed. I like thinking about that entire pack of setters and goldens waiting forme at the Bridge.


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## Forever Cooper (Jun 29, 2013)

3 goldens said:


> I am so sorry and I thank you for all the info. I am 68 and have had dogs of my very own since I got my first, an English Setter for my 11th birthday, named her Beauty, and lost her to distemper 6 months later at age 8 months (she had had the shot, but back in those days they were not as reliable.)Over the years I have lost English Setters, Irish Setters and Goloden retrievers at ages 8 months to 12 years of heart failure, cancer, distemper, one to autoimmune hemolytic anemia, one to a supposed spinal infection that would not clear up (I truly bleive it was cancer, tho), but I never thought about tetanus. It never crossed my mind a dog could develop this. so I am thankful for all the info.
> 
> I know how much the loss hurts. Each time I hae lost one of my beloved dogs it seemed like I had never hurt this much before. But I had, at each loss. Dopg lovers understand this. We all know how much oour dogs are loved, how much they are missed. I like thinking about that entire pack of setters and goldens waiting forme at the Bridge.


3 goldens, thanks for your response. One of the reason why we were so so shocked is that, Cooper has always been such a healthy boy. He has never been sick once, not even once. And every year when we went to the vet for his annual checkup and vaccinations, the vet kept on telling us how well he's been taken care of. And this year he got a little bit heavier so the vet said we'd better start paying more attention to his weight since he's gonna turn 5. Then we changed our original plan and took him to swim instead the weekend after that, that stupid swim... that swim which made me lose him... 
It's been more than two months since he's gone. And everyday I'm still thinking about what I could have done to make a difference... I'm still asking myself why they had to take him away from me... above all, I'm still regretting not having trusted my own instinct that allergy was not the case just as several professionals assured us... But after all, I realize something: no matter when they leaves us, at age of 4, 8, 14... under what circumstances, natural aging, long-term sickness, sudden disease...our days spent with them are just never long enough. We wish we had forever with them.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

You are so right. And another thing, we alays ask what we did wrong, why we didn't notice, why we did such and such. You have not read the store of my beautiful golden boy, Hunter. Ten years ago I decided to switch him from monthly pills to the 6 month heartworm prevention, ProHeart6. He had never been sick, was perfect in size--we called him the Long Lean Playing Machine. He was 79 pounds, tall, big head,

Six weeks after that fatal injection he was gone. Ie brought on autoimmune hemolytic anemia, which is a HORRIBLE disease. Fifty percent of dogs eie within a couple of weeks of developing it, another 30% die within a month. Twenty percent survival rate, and a relapse can happen any time. Hunter was ibn ICU from Oct. 9 til he death Oct. 16 (2003). Necropsy showed that his liver had been damaged by the drugs, "drug induced necrosis of the liver) As I researched I found story after story after story of dogs that died or had severe reactions to ProHeart6 and two of the leading killers wwere the anemia and the liver damage. One in Colorado, Jean Brudd lost one to each, and the 3rd has been onmeds the rest of his life. 

It was pulled from the market 10 months after Hunter's death (he is my profile picture) and was off for 4 years being "reformulated" It returned with a ton of warnings and vets have to take a computer course before they can get it to give. I blamed myself for having switched him, it was all my fault, if I had just researched first. But I had trust my vet who trust the drug company. 

I lot his littermate sister 4 1/4 years later. She was 8 yrs 9 months.old. One morning she threw up a couple of times and I thought she had a repeat of a virus she had had before. But when Rickey examined her he found a mass in her stomach. He operated and the surgery lasted 2 hours. ..longer than my hip surgery last Sept. When he came out I knew by the look on his face it was bad. He said the tumor was in the worst possible place. It had engulfed her appendix ad totally encircled where her large and small intestants joined. He showed me that horrible baseball size thing, all red and black with about 2" of intestnt sticking out each side. He had not expected her to survive the surgery. But she did. However, 48 hours later she died in my arms on the mat on the floor in the ice. I could not understand why I had never felt that huge thing in her stomach with all the belly rubs I gave her. If I had noticed it and had the surgery earlier would she have lived? Probably not, but still.

You are so right, no age is right to lose them. And no matter how hard we try we can't seem to not blame ourselves in some way. I even felt guilty when I let my 12 1/2 yer old Irirsh Setter go to theBridge with bone cancer in rear leg. I guess it is just natural. And again,k thanks for that post, it has really enlightened me.


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## Goldenhopeful (Dec 21, 2013)

I sit here with tears streaming down my face. I'm so sorry for your loss. May you find some peace knowing that so many people care about your story and your cooper. His memory will live on in so many hearts.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Forever Cooper*

I am so VERY SORRY about Cooper and God Bless you for sharing his story with us.


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