Newly adopted golden retriever bolted and walked 40 miles back to former home
It is a plotline reminiscent of a sentimental blockbuster; a rescue dog who battles against the odds to find his way home.
Yet for Cooper the golden retriever, the story became reality after he walked 40 miles over 27 days to make his way back to his previous owner.
Cooper’s escape came as he arrived at his new home, jumping out of the car and “bundling his new owner out of the way”.
He then went on the run for almost a month as he began his pilgrimage from Dungannon, Co Tyrone in Northern Ireland, to his original home Tobermore, County Londonderry.
But sadly he had been given away by his previous owners – whom he was so desperate to reunite with – along with his brother George, and spent days in kennels.
He is now finally back with his new owner, Nigel Fleming, who said he “couldn’t believe” Cooper was now home after he “vanished in an instant” at the start of April.
The charity Lost Paws Northern Ireland, which helped Nigel, a photographer, track the adventurous pup down, said that the dog’s instinct guided him through the long journey through woods and main roads – and evading wary sheep farmers – without any help from humans.
Mr Fleming had adopted Cooper from kennels thinking he would be good company for Molly, his other golden retriever. He said he was sad that he could not adopt George too but “three big goldens would have been too much for me to look after”, and so after a coin toss decided to choose Cooper.
Speaking after Cooper’s dramatic journey, Mr Fleming told Belfast Live: “I'm sitting here looking at him and I cannot believe he’s home. It was a disaster. The poor boy had no idea where he was and he was in the wind. I tried to chase after him but he was gone in an instant so then the search was on/
“We had literally driven from the dog pound to my home when he bolted.”
He added that he is delighted that Cooper is now safe and is eating small meals to build up strength and put weight back on after losing a lot on his long journey.
Mr Fleming said: “Even when he was missing my faith in humanity was restored thanks to the incredible help I was offered, and today with him here by my side and with Molly, I don’t really have the words to explain the gratitude I feel.”
“I'm a very happy and relieved man,” he added.
Lost Paws NI helped with day and night searches. The charity also discovered that as soon as Cooper escaped he hung around the same area for a week or so before being tracked on camera.
Disappeared into a forest
He then vanished again and the charity completed door-to-door searches before finding him four miles away in a quiet lane. Again, charity workers set up cameras but he disappeared again. He was then seen more than 10 miles north at another village where he disappeared into a forest.
Following more door-to-door searchers, postering, video surveillance and a thermal drone put on standby, Lost Paws received a call from a member of the public who recognised Cooper from his previous home and said that he had run all the way there. The charity then verified this and reunited him with Mr Fleming after 27 days.
A spokesman for the charity, who said not much is known about Cooper’s previous history, said: “'It seems incredible that he was able to do this. But dogs are incredible and that’s why we work so hard to help them every day.
“Cooper crossed main A roads, forests, fields, country roads all over 27 days to make his way back to his old home from an area he’d never been in before.
“We are absolutely delighted to have been part of his rescue and a story that will live on in his family for generations to come.
“Cooper is a clever boy. Instinct took him back to a place he was familiar with. How he did it I'll never know but he managed it.”
