Inspiring Stories: Cobb the Havapoo 

You might have seen our new Havapoo design that was recently added to our store - if you haven't, let us introduce you to Doodled Cobb the Havapoo. 

Cobb was the winner of the Popular Vote in April's Pet Contest. With his adorable face and wheelchair, we can totally see why he's captured the hearts of everyone who voted for him - he certainly captured ours! So when his Mom reached out to share his story with us, we were delighted to find out more. We think you'll agree that it's a very inspiring story indeed. 

Cobb's Story

I've been an Inkopious fan for years and have many of their shirts, kitchen towels, totes and pillow covers. Like many of you, I am also THAT dog "pawrent" and I take advantage of every opportunity to talk about my dogs.

I've often wondered where the inspiration comes from for each breed in the Inkopious collections.

Cobb the Havapoo is one of the newest designs in their offerings. You'll easily recognize him as the handicapped doodled Havapoo in the wheelchair. I don't know about anybody else, but I am beyond thrilled that they now have a special needs dog in their collection!

The inspiration for this doodled drawing, by the very talented artist, Michele, is none other than my very own dog, Cobb. I'd like to tell you his story.

Cobb was found, dragging himself across many lanes of traffic on South Cobb Drive in Cobb County, Georgia. There were severe storm warnings and torrential downpours at the time, and a Good Samaritan saw him, stopped and put the sopping wet, traumatically injured stray in their car. He was taken to the Cobb County Animal Shelter and this is where his name comes from.

The shelter determined that Cobb's injuries were so severe that he would not be suitable for adoption, so he was going to be euthanized. At the last minute, someone at the shelter reached out to a local rescue to see if they would want to try and rehabilitate him first.

Luckily for Cobb, this is exactly what happened. I had followed this particular rescue for quite some time, so when I saw Cobb's story pop up in my feed, I was immediately drawn to him. Years before, I had suffered spinal cord compression from a ruptured disc in my neck. The pain was excruciating and unbearable before I had surgery. Because of this, my heart went out to this devastatingly injured little Havapoo. Having never fostered before, this particular dog had me submitting my application to foster immediately.

Fostering Cobb was no easy task in the beginning. It was determined that he was paralyzed in his hind end from a blunt force trauma. Initially, the vets that first examined him thought he may have been hit by a car, but his neurologist knew being hit would have likely killed a small dog like Cobb instantly. It was later determined that he was either abused or possibly thrown from a moving car.

Because of where his particular spinal injury was, and the kind of injury itself, he was not a surgical candidate. Also due to the location of his injury, he was left with permanent urinary retention and bowel incontinence. The only way for him to empty his bladder is that someone must manually do this for him by hand, multiple times a day.

Cobb was in intense rehab for months, and showed small improvements here and there, but he never regained bowel or bladder control or the ability to walk again.

It was in rehab that I learned to hand express his bladder and get him on a bowel program so that they were predictable and we rarely had accidents.

When you care for a dog with such mandatory and personal needs, you quickly develop keen instincts and a bond like no other. He literally could not exist without my help. More importantly, I grew to realize that I could not exist without him either. He and I grew to share one soul in two separate bodies. He became the canine love of my life.

When my husband and I adopted Cobb, I knew I wanted it to be as special as he was. We took "reveal" photos and used them to send out adoption announcements. We then had an adoption ceremony, inviting those closest to Cobb and his rescue. I engraved champagne flutes for each guest to keep as a memento and a local donut shop even made donuts that spelled out his name!

That very night, Cobb initiated play with my two Schnauzers. He had NEVER done that before. I realized that he must have known he was now in his forever home and it literally brought me to tears.

Since then, Cobb has gone on to star in a few TV shows and even a commercial. He has shown a sensitivity for the elderly and the dying and has done many hours of unofficial pet therapy, snuggling with those who are in their last days.

It's clear that he has the capacity for empathy. Watching him work his magic with these vulnerable populations has been miraculous. I never taught him to do this. He naturally seeks out those whom he senses need him the most. The beauty of watching him do this escapes words. Cobb is truly one very special little boy.

Now nine years old, he's starting to slow down a little. His upper body puts in a lot of hard work since his lower body is paralyzed. We don't know if he will have the normal life expectancy of an able-bodied dog of his size or not. What we do know is that we are giving him as much love and experiences as we can, for as long as possible. He returns that love ten-fold.

Written by Joni Gommo, Cobb's Mom and primary caregiver

We hope you enjoyed reading Cobb's story as much as we did. Joni created Cobb's Purpose to show that handicapped dogs can have a wonderful life and to inspire others to rescue. We think that Cobb and Joni are both very special indeed, and we're sure that you'll agree! 

To learn more about Cobb, visit his website www.cobbspurpose.com or follow him on Instagram.