11/21/18
Hi Copper, Happy Thanksgiving, I know you loved the turkey & other treats & I hope you can have what ever you want now. I wish you were still here with us because we miss you. I left a few other comfort items for you to make you feel cozy. Hope you are having fun & found Uno, he's the uncle of Bailey & Penny. We love you & one day we'll see you again.

9-22-20
Hi Copper, my first Beagle. Happy Fall, hope you are enjoying running around playing with Bailey & Maui & Chaco in the crisp air free from epilepsy. I am so sorry we couldn't do more for you. You left us so soon but left such a big hole in our hearts. I left you some things to chew on & blankets to snuggle in. We love you.
Love you,
Mommy & Daddy

10/17'18
Sorry Copper we haven't visited you sooner. It is fall now so you can snuggle in your blankets for a nap. I hope you are happy playing with other dogs. You would have fun with Bailey & Penny. Bailey calls me from the bottom of the steps like you do... We love you & some day we will see you again.
Love Mommy & Daddy

4/17/17
Happy Easter Copper. I'm sorry I didn't change your scenery to spring sooner. I hope you enjoy. I gave you some new bones to chew & play with & a fluffy new blanket to lay on. We always miss you. Baily & Penny would have loved playing with you & hunting for the hidden biscuits on Easter morning like you loved to do. Baily is just like you & calls me at the bottom of the steps like you did. Wish you were still here with them. Tell Maui & Chaco & Caesar we miss them too. Hope you are having fun with no more seizures.
Love Mommy & Daddy

12/13/16
Hi little boy! Merry Christmas and a happy New Year at the Rainbow Bridge. I hope you're playing with Maui, Chaco and Caesar, and that you're all having a wonderful time. The 3 of you would love to play with Bailey and Penny. We miss all of you, and wish you could all still be here with us. Until that time comes when we can reunite at the Rainbow Bridge, we send you love, love, and more love, plus lots of biscuits with peanut butter and all your other favorite foods! Tell Maui, Chaco and Caesar we love them too!

Mommy and Daddy

12-23-15
Hi Baby. Merry Christmas & Happy new year. Wish you were here with us to celebrate Christmas. Baily & Penny would love to play with you! Baily is just like you! I hope you are happy in the sun running around with no issues. I hope you are loving mounds of nyla-bones to chew to your heart's content! You were always a good boy & should have still been here...We love you & miss you & someday all of us will be together
.
Mommy & Daddy

2-11-2015
Hi Copper. Happy Valentines day because you are still our love! We hope you are playing in the warm sunshine & sunning yourself in the windows like you always loved to do. It is very cold here & Baily & Penny like to do the same thing, especially Baily who is so much like you. We will always miss you & love you. I hope you made a lot of friends & enjoying your chew toys.
Love Mommy & Daddy

2-18-2014
Hi Baby Copper. It still hurts to think of you no longer with us. We miss you so much & you would love playing with Baily & Penny! They are so much like you! I left you some new soft blankets to lay on & some new toys to play with. I gave you a recliner for you to lay on & relax. We miss you & Love you !
Daddy & Mommy

12-25-2013
Our Baby Boy Copper. Merry Christmas. I wish you were here with us & your cousins Baily & Penny. We miss you so much. I hope you enjoy your presents. We love you.

Daddy & Mommy

2/6/13
Copper, you are still very much in our thoughts. We just gave you some new toys & treats & things to make you more comfortable! We have your pictures on display to show what a special beagle you are. I'm so sorry I was short with you at times & got upset sometimes when you needed to go out at 2 in the morning mostly from you just being a beagle & ate things you shouldn't & got an upset stomach. Despite that you still wanted to be with me & loved to snuggle on the sofa, like Baily does now! I wonder if part of you is in him because he reminds me so much of you. LIke calling me from the base of the stairs when I am upstairs. You would have fun with Baily & Penny. Someday we'll all be together with Maui & Chaco & we can all play. We love you & miss you!

Daddy

2/7/12
Copper we are thinking of you today as on all days. I hope you are playing with your new toys. We all still love you and wonder if you are somehow still with us in Baily. He does a lot of the same things you did. Someday we we reunite & all play together. You will never fade from our thoughts. Love you

Daddy & Mommy

2/2/12

Well Copper, today is daddy's birthday. We wish you could be with us to share in the celebration with Bailey, Penny, Grammy, Grampy, and of course, me. We all still miss you so much and think about you all the time. Our hope is that you've connected with Maui, Chaco, and Caesar and that you're all waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge. Some day, we'll all be together again and share in the joy of eternal love. That's what we feel in our hearts for you now, and it will never fade. Love and kisses to all our little boys!

Mommy and Daddy

2/14/11

Happy Valentines Day, Copper!

We all miss you very much, especially on days like today. Our love for you is as strong today as it was when we were together. I hope you're playing happily with Maui, Chaco and Ceasar at the bridge. Grammy and Grampy miss you very much, too. Until we meet again my little boy, just remember how much you're missed. Bailey and Penny keep daddy very busy, but he always thinks of you and how much he wishes you were here. No matter how sick you were, we'd do everything all over again to try to help you if we could. Love and many kisses.....

Mommy and Daddy.

Merry Christmas, baby boy!

Mommy, Daddy, Grammy and Grampy all miss you very much. We think about you, Maui and Chaco all the time. Especially around Christmas. I hope all of you are playing and having fun at the Rainbow Bridge. I know in my heart that each of you is no longer in pain, and free of the constrictions that plagued you all throughout your lifetimes. We think you would love playing with Bailey and Penny! They're just your size and very, very adorable. Mommy and Daddy hung your ornaments on the tree, just like we always did - right next to Maui and Chaco's special ornaments. We will always think of you; all of you, until the Christmas comes when we're all together again. There will never be a time when I walk Bailey or Penny in the snow, and I don't think of you. Those we're our special times together, running all the way up the street in the snow. Then, we'd come inside and you'd rush over to me so I could cuddle you until you got warm. Some day, we'll cuddle again my little angel! Maui, Chaco and Caesar, please look after him until we finally reunite at the bridge. Until then, Merry Christmas to all my baby boys!!!

Love very much,
Mommy and Daddy

Baby Boy,
Mommy and daddy loved you from the first moment we saw you in the kennel with that stuffed bunny in your mouth. I knew I had to take you home and that's just what we did the very next week. In the four years that you spent with us, we couldn't have asked for more love than you showed us. In spite of your epilepsy, you always remained the "merry little hound" that loved to sniff, snack and snooze. Our hearts are aching and we can't tell you how much we miss you. Grammy, grampy, your uncle and aunt all miss you very much, too. We know that you're playing with Maui and Chaco in the sunny meadows of the Rainbow Bridge and that someday, we'll all be together. We never had a chance to take you to the beach for vacation like we wanted to, but some day, we'll all share wonderful times together forever. We love you baby boy and miss you so much. Please forgive us for the decision we had to make. We couldn't stand to see you suffer anymore and knew that you would be renewed, healthy and full of life in at the Rainbow Bridge. We will think of you always and miss you terribly until we can all play together again.

Love you...
Mommy and Daddy.

Our Dear Copper,
We will be bringing home 2 beagle puppies this weekend but we want you to know that they will never replace you in our hearts. We just miss paws running around the house & we all still think of you. I still have dreams about you and miss you terribly. Even Fiona still looks for you and calls you when she passes our house. She was loose last night & spent the entire night around our house calling you in her familiar beagle howling, but you are not there to answer & it still hurts! Know that even though the puppies will be sharing your areas of the house they are not there to replace you but in addition to you. We love you.

Copper, Our Sweet Epidog

Copper, our beagle, indirectly lost his struggle with epilepsy on Feb 7th, 2008 in my arms
at our vet.
We adopted him from a local shelter 4 years earlier when about 4 1/2 to keep our remaining
dog Maui, company when we lost his buddy, our shepherd mix, Chaco. We didn't know
Copper had epilepsy when we adopted him, but when the insidious disease revealed it's
nature a month later he had already bonded with us & was a part of us. Indeed it was as if
he adopted us & once home, behaved as if he had known us all his life. Just before
Christmas 2003, he was the last dog in the shelter and close to the last allowable adoption
day before the holidays, because they had a policy of having to adopt a couple of weeks prior.
They wanted to ensure you were adopting out of love & permanence and not just to bring a
pup home as a prop for Christmas morning then return after the holidays.
Copper showed his playful side at the shelter office when we brought in Maui, our, at the time
almost 15 year old white lab shepherd mix to see his opinion of this new member of the
family for his new brother. Maui seemed to accept him by sniffing his head and looking
at my wife as if to say can we go home now? Copper for his part was excitedly racing
around the office and jumped up on the computer keyboard where the shelter representative
was keying in the info & causing it to erase and had to be reentered.
Once we had Copper home Maui took some adjusting to the situation but I think he was
glad for the company and took to following him around as if keeping an eye on him.
When he was in the shelter Copper had a baby's little stuffed bunny toy that he always
carried with him and was careful not to chew. He carried it in his mouth and used that
image to great effect when we saw him the first time a week before we decided to adopt him
and still had it when my wife had returned for him. After we brought him home the shelter
had called and said we forget his toy and would be heartbroken without it. I picked it up and
gave it to Copper who then proceeded to try & rip it up as if to say I don't need this anymore!
We retrieved it to keep and still have it as one of his memories.
Once Maui was used to having Copper there he seemed protective of him and when lying
next to him in the sun near the front door carefully arranged his body so as not to sit on him.
Copper had no such qualms & would sometimes use Maui as a pillow when resting next to
him for a nap. Maui seemed to think Copper was a puppy possibly because of the size
difference and acted accordingly and remained that way until he crossed over the
Rainbow bridge the following August at the age of 15 1/2.
Copper, being a beagle was an escape artist, a fact we were unaware of & had wriggled
free of his harness one evening while walking him, a couple of weeks after bringing him home.
Only with God's intervention was I able to keep up with him and see where he was
scampering in the dim light through a yard through brush & trees and down into a small
valley meadow slipping on the snow into a field where Copper hesitated by a stream where I
was able to finally get a hold of him. He escaped 2 other times until we thought to add a
collar in addition to his harness with 2 leads so we always had him by at least one connection
should one fail. Later it was revealed by the shelter that he had escaped from there once &
only by a miracle was not killed by a car, as the shelter is located on a busy highway in
Branchburg, NJ . He showed up in someone's yard, & was returned to the shelter where
he remained until he entered our lives. Ironically the direction he had run was headed in the
direction of where he would eventually live with us within a few minutes.
When the epilepsy showed up we were really frightened, being unfamiliar with this condition.
We took him to our vet & ran a series of tests & determined it was idiopathic, being of
unknown origin, since we didn't have records for the first 4 1/2 years of his life. We then
started on the trial & error dosages of just phenobarbitol originally & later Potassium Bromide
to see what would work since there are no exact dosages determined to control the seizures.
At first he was having them every 2 weeks then over the course of the next 4 years with
much effort & adding acupuncture & vitamin B, had him averaging 1 or 2 every 4-5 weeks
or so & even occassionally going 9 or 10 between.
Aside from his seizures he was a very happy, loving beagle and seeked attention from
everyone. He had a collection of nylabones, his prized possions, that he happily trotted
around the house with as well as other toys, and deposited in every room as if to stake his
claim to those areas. He loved the sun and would follow it around the house & snooze in it's
warmth and shift and manipulate the pillows on the chairs and sofa to suit his comfort. We
learned what his different barks meant, he had his alert bark when he observed someone
outside or at the door, another when he wanted his snacks or dinner or even when it was time
for his medication that he knew with uncanny precision. He would usually position himself in
the afternoons in his "command center" as we called his armchair by the front bay window
where besides being able to see the goings on on the street, he can also see into the living
room & kitchen. He would move to the other arm chair near the stairs when he wanted to
summon us if we were occupied upstairs. When alone in the house he would occupy himself
with his own routine & played with various toys from his toy basket or nap until we returned &
would let us know if he was ready for a walk by running to the door. In the evenings he would
get animated at various times after snoozing & start teasing us by pretending to nip the sofa
or chairs and pull on his little steps he used to get on on his armchair, not that he needed it,
he leaped on and off with great agility when he decided he wanted to go to bed. At this time
he would rearrange his area of the covers until satified and settle in with a great sigh of
satisfaction until the next morning. Once awakened would roll over to get his belly rubbed
before retreating under the bed where he had another stash of chew toys that he would
partake of with great glee until his breakfast and walk before work. He would love to go to
Dunkin Donuts on the weekends and would wait by the inner garage door to get ready for me
to take him. Somehow he knew the difference between the work week & the weekends as he
never expected me to take him during the week.
We gave Copper a very comfortable, loving home and continued trying different levels of
medications in an effort to gain him as much time between seizures as possible. We had
arrived at 60mg Phenobaritol tablets twice a day & 4ml of Pottasium Bromide in the evening
as well as Accupuncture which seemed to work for a while as he averaged 1 or 2 seizures
every 4-5 weeks then come out of it as if nothing had happened.
Unfortunetly he came to a point where this dosage became toxic and he began to wobble
when he walked, just not himself and seemed drugged. Our vet backed off on his med levels
slowly & within a week was back to normal. At this point he was on 30mg of Phenobaritol
twice a day and 2ml Pottasium Bromide & acupuncture every 3 weeks or so as well as a herb
supplement called Bu Xue Xi Feng. This seemed to help and last year was pretty good as he
averaged having 1 seizure every 4-6 weeks and even went longer at 9 weeks or even 10 just
before the holidays.
With the unpredictably of this horrible disease or condition, whatever you choose to call it
several weeks ago Copper started going into cluster seizures for several days in a row then
seemed back under control until February 7th, 2008 when our vet felt she can do nothing else
for our sweet baby after having several bouts with seizures earlier that day. He had been
there for observation and having witnessed his seizures first hand felt that his wonderful
quality of life he had been enjoying was just about over & thought we had to make the
decision to either take him to a neurologist but might not make it there without having more
seizures, or allow him to cross over the rainbow bridge which we ultimately did. I really wasn't
mentally prepared for that at that time because I didn't hear anything all day & assumed he
was back on track & I was there to bring him home, not put him to sleep! Needless to say
that devastated me at that time and all of us later. We miss him terribly and his absence has
left a huge hole in our hearts & home. We still see & hear him in every corner of the house
and will never forget him & his love of life he showed between seizures. Copper we will
always love you!

12/23/2014
Copper, my little boy, I still miss you very much, especially when your step brother Baily
has the same habits as you! He goes to the gate & looks upstairs & calls me like you did!
Mommy & I still love you very much & know that we love Baily & Penny also but you will
always be in our thoughts. Your Christmas ornaments are on the tree along with
Maui & Chaco's. I hope you are playing with them & having fun. Share your toys with them
& enjoy the new toys & Christmas present & peanut butter I left you. Don't open until
Christmas morning! We love you. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year & someday we will
all be together again playing & no more seizures for you!

2/7/19

Hi Copper,
You left us on this day many years ago but we still miss you & think of you. Left you a new blanket to snuggle in & soon it will be spring. Hope you are happy & running & playing with Maui & Chaco & hope that God has healed you & showed you his boundless love like he does for all of us.
We love you & someday we will all be together & you can play with Bailey & Penny who are just like you!

3/27/20
Hi Copper
I know you crossed over the rainbow bridge so long ago but we still think of you. I hope you & Bailey are buddies & met up with Maui & Chaco & all 4 of you play long games of statues. I hope you enjoy your chews & now that it is spring you can get fresh air. I hope you enjoy long naps knowing that we will always love you & God willing will be together again.

11/23/23
Hi Copper, Happy Thanksgiving! I wish you were hear to small the turkey & enjoy eating it. I hope you & Bailey are together with all the other friends & enjoying Thanksgiving. We love you & miss you. Enjoy the leaves & running through them!

Please also visit Bailey and Penny.