‘Cooper Gump’: Loyal Rescue Dog Spends Nearly Month Walking 40 Miles Back to Old Owner

Golden Retriever Cooper spent 27 days surviving by his own wits in a bid to get home after his original owner surrendered him to the pound and the dog was found a new home.

A lost dogs charity compared one runaway to Forrest Gump after the dog escaped from a new owner shortly after being adopted from the pound and then spent nearly a month moving across country to return to his original home in Northern Ireland.

Cooper was rehomed this year but ran from the car of his new keeper on April first and embarked on an epic journey to return to his old owner. Lost Paws NI raised awareness of the lost pet and tracked several sightings as he moved across country, reassuring local farmers that “He is avoiding livestock and we’ve had no reports of him annoying sheep”.

Ultimately, after 27 days on the run and a distance of at least 40 miles covered, Lost Paws received a call from Cooper’s old owner saying he’d made it home.

Underlining the ingenuity and navigation of Cooper, Lost Paws said: “[he] crossed main A roads, forests, fields, country roads all over 27 days to make his way back home from an area he had never been in before.”

Cooper has now been reunited with his new family and is settling in well.

The story has captured imaginations and hearts in the United Kingdom but Lost Paws, reflecting on the media interest it has gathered, regretted that some decided to focus on the fact Cooper was put up for adoption in the first place. They said:

…it is a little disappointing that some media outlets have grabbed the story and put a negative spin on it. We don’t know why Cooper and his siblings were surrendered and truthfully, we don’t need to know… Sometimes things can happen in life and the absolute best decision is to find a new home if there is a genuine concern for your dogs welfare. We know there are people who do this as if a dog is a commodity but it can also be one of the most selfless acts and it’s important not to judge.

This story is one about positivity, perseverance, loyalty, battling for what you want in life and never giving up. Against ALL the odds Cooper didn’t stop battling and travelled a long distance through an area he had never been and had no way of knowing how to get back home, but he figured it out and arrived back at his previous address. We think if humanity took a leaf from Coopers book then the world would be a much better place.