Cooper is not an ordinary dog. Due to his weirdly shrunk body, he caught people’s attention on the internet.
Cooper has a rare short spine syndrome (SSS), which involves the screwing and corkscrewing of his spine. As a result, Cooper has no neck, so to look behind him, he has to turn around.
Despite his constrained mobility or inability to walk on hard surfaces or other issues that come with this syndrome, Cooper is happy, now the only dog in the family. His foster mom, or as he calls her, “Ma”, continues to share Cooper’s life updates on Facebook, spreading awareness of this rare condition and giving hope to other dogs like him.
Meet Cooper, a goofy-looking dog who has a rare short spine syndrome and is one out of only 150 such dogs in the world
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Cooper’s birth defect is a result of inbreeding. It is thought that in 2017, breeders abandoned him at two months old, as animal control officers found him near a suspected puppy farm
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Luckily, soon after, Cooper moved to Minnesota, where he was welcomed into a family with 3 other dogs
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Despite his differences, Cooper, just like other dogs, enjoys life to the fullest by spending time outside, taking sweet naps, and staring thoughtfully out the window
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Unfortunately, over the years, Cooper had to see other dogs pass away, leaving him the only dog in the family
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Nevertheless, he continues to live with his foster mom, with whom he has formed an even stronger bond
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Cooper’s life demonstrates that dogs with SSS can lead full and joyful lives, offering hope to others in similar situations
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine
Image credits: CooperShortSpine