Key Club's Cooper fills big paws as new office dog

Mellow. Must love people. Willing to put in time at the office.

Those were a few of the traits the Longboat Key Club and Resort was seeking out of a candidate for an open position.

But the resort didn’t find Cooper, one of its newest staffers, through a search firm or job fair. He definitely didn’t email them his résumé.

Cooper found his new job as the resort’s office dog through Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida.

He had some big paws to fill.

Late last year, the Key Club was left short-staffed when Cash, who held the office-dog position for a little more than five years, died unexpectedly, possibly due to heart-valve troubles. The Labrador/chow-chow mix was adopted in 2006 at age 4 when he was one of two pups to attend a wellness fair for Key Club employees and receive approval to become an “office dog.”

Key Club cashier Judy Theoret gave Cash a ride to work each day and took him home at night. But, during his days at the office, he served as the official office morale booster, gracing the cover of the card Key Club employees would receive on their birthdays and sometimes stepping in to diffuse difficult human resource situations with his calming presence.

When Theoret contacted Lab Rescue earlier this year seeking a match for the office dog position, she asked for a yellow female. Cash had been a black-haired male.

“I couldn’t accept someone who looked and acted just like Cash,” she said.

Theoret began getting emails from Lab Rescue about possible matches, but she indicated she wanted an older dog so the emails didn’t include puppies. But in March, she went on the Lab Rescue website and spotted a dog with a familiar face. Like Cash, he had silky black fur and big, piercing eyes. The eyes belonged to a lab-mix puppy named Fuzzy Cooper. He was the only surviving member of his litter and had been dropped off at a shelter.

The Lab Rescue representative told Theoret that Fuzzy Cooper already had plans for the weekend: He was going to Pet Supermarket over the weekend to see if he would be one of the lucky dogs to be adopted.

Theoret told herself if he hadn’t been adopted by Monday, maybe it was meant to be. Monday came, and Fuzzy Cooper hadn’t been adopted, but moved to a temporary home in Weeki Wachee. She didn’t think she could take the day off, but her supervisor, also thinking it was fate, told her to take the day off to meet Fuzzy Cooper.

When Theoret arrived at Fuzzy Cooper’s temporary home, he ran straight to Theoret’s friend, who had accompanied her on the drive. Fuzzy Cooper was hired on sight.

Since his adoption, Cooper has dropped the “Fuzzy” from his name. At just 3 months old, his veterinarian can’t yet determine if it will be an accurate description as he gets older.

Next month Cooper will enter Puppy Kindergarten, a training program offered by Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc. There, he’ll learn to volunteer as a therapy dog, possibly for Hospice or working with children.

He’s been on the job for just three weeks, but already his co-workers have given him glowing reviews.

“He’s already been a good morale booster,” said Sandra Rios, director of communications.