![]() He’s been brought in to sit with trauma victims during police interviews, as comfort for the grieving in the wake of on-campus suicides or simply as a friendly presence for those going through a hard time. The Cooper “trading cards” are delightful bits of swag, but they’re also a means by which the Northeastern community can call upon him for support in crisis situations. But that occupation takes on a variety of dimensions-some fun and lightweight, like most of today, and others quite serious. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University Photos by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University Job takes on a variety of dimensionsįundamentally, boosting the mood is Cooper’s job at Northeastern. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University Coopers gives Northeastern student Philip Ricciardelli, a third year finance and entrepreneurship major, a hug in Stetson Quad. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University Coopers visits Northeastern students with his friends from GOFI Dogs on the Boston campus’ Stetson Quad. Coopers gives Northeastern students a “boop” while visiting with them in Stetson Quad on the Boston campus. “It’s nice to have a piece of home here it boosts your mood a little,” she says. “Forget Pokémon I’m starting a collection of these,” quips Sabrina Brochus, a first-year student whose family in Vermont has a golden retriever. Jolliffe passes out cards printed with Cooper’s photo and contact information she prints different sets of them periodically. “This is my good luck charm,” says Josh Barde, a business school graduate student on his way to an accounting exam. Unlike the “Don’t Pet Me, I’m Working,” warnings worn by many K9s and seeing eye dogs, GOFI dogs often have harnesses that say “Pet Me.”Ī small crowd of admirers forms the moment Cooper settles down on the grass, taking pictures and offering belly rubs. Many, like Cooper, are community resource dogs for town police forces he has cousins on duty in nearby Needham (Officer Rocket) and Dedham (Ruby). The puppies (Buddy, Lucy, Skipper and Dusty, to name a few) are from Golden Opportunities for Independence (GOFI), an organization in Walpole, Massachusetts, that breeds and trains golden retrievers for a variety of service jobs around New England. Quad on East StetsonĪfter Starbucks, the pair heads to the quad on East Stetson, where Cooper and a dozen other golden retrievers of various ages lounge around waiting to be petted, part of a stress-relief event put on by members of Northeastern’s Greek community. He does 15 minutes of basic obedience training every morning before hopping into the car and heading to Boston. Meals are small because Cooper gets a lot of treats throughout the day, both from Jolliffe and passersby on campus. Breakfast is a portion of TLC, a high-quality dog food only sold online. It’s a holdover, she says, from the schedule he kept with his first handler, the early-rising, now-retired NUPD officer Joe Mathews. He lives full-time with Jolliffe on Massachusetts’ north shore, and perhaps her only gripe about the serene, impeccably behaved dog-as a housemate or otherwise-is that he wakes up between 3:45 and 4 a.m. It’s 10 a.m., but Cooper has been up for several hours already. Photos by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University Cooper enjoys a Pup Cup from Starbucks in Northeastern’s Curry Student Center. Cooper enjoys a Pup Cup from Starbucks in Northeastern’s Curry Student Center. But celebrity has its perks they’re quickly called to the front, where the dog laps up his favorite treat to an appreciative audience. At first, Cooper, patient yet visibly drooling, and Jolliffe take their spot in line. The first stop is for a “pup cup”-a small bowl of whipped cream-which the baristas know to whip up when they see him coming. “You coming to Pilates, Cooper?” Boggs calls out. On the way into Curry, he and his handler, Northeastern University Police Department Officer Rachel Jolliffe, say a passing hello to Bri Boggs, a graduate student working a shift at a campus information booth. It’s the last week of classes, and also Mental Health Awareness week, which means Cooper has a full itinerary ahead. And he starts this busy Wednesday at the Curry Center Starbucks. He’s a “lifelong learner,” with a busy extracurricular schedule of obedience and rescue dog certification classes on the weekends. He has his own Husky Card, printed at Speare Hall. In some ways, Cooper, the 2-year-old cream-colored golden retriever and community resource dog, is a lot like his human counterparts on Northeastern University’s Boston campus. ![]() Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University Cooper plays in the grass on Northeastern’s Centennial Common.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |