BETHEL — Bing Fishman and Cooper were walking along the Valentine trials when suddenly, Cooper stopped. Fishman told his Golden Retriever to stay, and Cooper obeyed. Fishman walked forward to discover a baby owl in his dog’s path.

“I went in to see Barbara and tell her that there is a baby owl on the ground because we knew they were up there in the tree,” says Fishman. “And she came out and she contacted a professional tree climber and the other owl fell out so there were two on the ground.”

The professional tree climber put together a laundry basket and put it in branches near the nest where the owls had been. Then, he took the baby owls back up to the nest. Regarding Cooper’s reaction, Fishman says, “When I said stay, he stayed, and he didn’t try to attack it. That’s the story, that’s how he got involved with the owls!”

Cooper is a certified therapy dog. Up until the pandemic hit, Fishman and Cooper would go and visit a daycare center for Alzheimer’s patients multiple days of the week. Some of the people might not have been able to remember what they had for breakfast; however, they did remember Cooper’s name.

“He would go up and just put his head in their lap, and they’d tell you these stories from years ago about the dogs they used to have!” Fishman says. “They had that memory.”

Cooper’s gentle ways have been used in multiple medical facilities. Once, Fishman’s wife was in the hospital, and he brought in Cooper to come cheer her up. When he was about to leave, a nurse asked him if he could visit a patient with Cooper. He walked into the patient’s room and saw a woman in there who was very sick.

“She started to cry because she had a golden when she was a kid. And he just stood there, and she pet his head,” Fishman recalls somberly. “And as I walked down the corridor, it took me probably 15 minutes or more because other nurses would say can you come in here, can you come in here? And it was a good feeling.”

Fishman and his wife lost their son, Rob, a few years ago. Cooper became attached to Fishman like Velcro.

“He took a lot of the sting out of the sorrow,” Fishman says.

As the conversation carries on, Fishman, petting Cooper whose head is in his lap, starts telling a story about Cooper.

“He was heading towards the lift, and I said, “Cooper, come.” And I said, “Cooper, come.” His favorite food is the word chicken. So I holler, “Cooper, come. Chicken, coop!””

At that moment, Cooper stands up and cocks his head sideways, looking at Fishman, expecting chicken to appear. Fishman starts laughing as Cooper waits expectantly. “The woman says, what’s his name? I say, Cooper. She said, you said something else. I said, chicken coop. And she thought his name was chicken coop…you wanna piece? Okay, here,” Fishman says, giving a treat to the delighted Cooper.

The entire time Fishman is talking, Cooper is in sync with him. When Fishman moves, Cooper moves. When Fishman laughs, Cooper relaxes. When Fishman poses for the photo, Cooper poses happily next to him, smiling just as big. As they leave together, they walk at the same pace. As the old saying goes: dog is man’s best friend and Cooper is indeed that to Fishman.

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