Thank you all. I wrote this on the bone cancer yahoogroup about three hours after he passed...not that eloquent but it helped to write a little about his life. Because the cancer didn't win. He lived a life of exuberance and good grace, a life well lived. He won.

Thank you, all. I am shattered right now. So many of you know how it feels, and I am so sorry. I'll be OK. Cooper isn't hurting any more. He went easily with his head in my lap, a good dog right to the end.

I waited for a pup from this litter for months. I didn't see him until the day I went to get him - he was born in another state and the breeder came up in her motorhome to a Rottweiler specialty, as it happens the litter was 8 weeks old then.

It was the end of February when I brought him home, very snowy. He was like a little bear. One of the first things he did when I put him in his new back yard was to hump the snow shovel. I was painting houses full time for a living then, so he got to come to work every day with me and my crew. He was on construction sites, in paint stores, in people's homes, on ranches, in friends' houses,
around every situation imaginable and grew up with rock-solid nerves and calm confidence about everything. Even though he did go through a fairly challenging teenager-hood.

We competed in obedience and he got his CGC and CD, then we got bored with that and discovered agility. He is a UKC agility champion and also titled in CPE. He passed his ATTS test and Therapy Dog certification through TDI. We dabbled with tracking and Rally. He's done quite a few long road trips with me and was an excellent copilot. He adored all children and was gentle and solicitous of them, although he was basically an asshole towards other dogs unless they were little bitty dogs (he always liked little bitty dogs.) Mostly he wanted to fight and was probably upset with me for not allowing this. It took an incredible amount of work and training, and I learned a lot, to get him to the point of ignoring dogs and being well mannered enough to mingle and compete. He has been unfailingly tolerant of many stray cats and kittens.

He went to the Renaissance Festival several times every year, usually dressed in his studded leather tracking harness, sparkly fairy wings and pearls. I would tell people he was quite secure in his masculinity and this didn't bother him.

I trained him to run with my bicycle. He loved the river and beaches and lakes and hiking, especially in the snow. Everything he did in his life, he did with great exuberance and joy. He was a quiet and sure protector of me and my property, but welcomed everyone when I did and was both gracious and goofy with all his favourite people. (But did almost take out my brother once when he
walked in the door at 2 am after a long drive.) Like other Rottweilers I've owned, he chose to sleep in the bedroom doorway at night, they can be rather guardy dogs. Even in motels on road trips, or at others' houses, he would not sleep on the bed but at the door. When I got up and went about my day, he'd sometimes go sleep on the bed. Weird.

Cooper loved playing tug, rolling on his back and barking at the sky, chasing and playing with car tires and logs, and FOOD. Agility was one of his favourite things ever and people who saw him run couldn't believe a big dog could be so fast. He had three High In Trials and one Combined High In Trial (meaning combination highest scores and fastest times, not bad for a middle aged Rottweiler with an often inept handler running against scores of Border Collies and other fast dogs!) Once at the UKC Winter Classic he took the sway bridge
with such force that it fell apart under him...there were a couple hundred people watching and he got a big round of applause. And we had to re-do the run, the judge was cracking up.

Many people knew Cooper. His photo is in two books and several websites, and he even had a collar named after him (merlinspetshop.com). Many of my painting clients got to know him, and agility people in the area know him quite well.
Some as in "give Cooper space, he doesn't like other dogs." Pretty hard to miss a 100lb long haired Rottweiler!

He was supposed to be the Best Dog at a friend's wedding on July 4, with a tuxedo and everything. Damn.

Pardon my rambling, but somehow this helps. I could write so much more...Fiona and Daphne are going to have to adjust. I think Daphne will probably be happy that she gets "top dog spot" in the house now.