Cooper ended up at the shelter at 9 years old when his family moved away. He spent too long at the shelter waiting for someone to notice him, and when his foster mom finally found him, she knew he needed a change.

“I went into the shelter one day to volunteer and asked, ‘Who are some of the longest dogs who’ve been here?’” Victoria Vazquez, Cooper’s foster mom, told The Dodo. “I wanted to take them on a fun outing and adventure. He was one of them, and when I saw him there, I just knew I had to bring him home.”

Cooper is now 11 years old, and Vazquez describes his personality as “old man meets toddler.” His favorite things include sunbathing, napping, shredding toys and being with the people he loves. While Cooper is so grateful to be out of the shelter, he can’t stay in his foster home forever. Vazquez has another dog whom Cooper doesn’t see eye to eye with, and she also works more than Cooper would like. It works for now, but longterm, he needs a forever home.

“It’s obviously a much better situation than the shelter, but I know he’d thrive in a home where he can relax and have the whole house to himself 24/7,” Vazquez said.

Vazquez has been doing her best to get Cooper noticed by potential families, and over the nine months he’s been with her, he’s almost been adopted seven times. Each time, though, the adoption falls through at the last minute, and Cooper is left without a family once again.

“He looks a lot like a beagle, and even when I tell them he’s not — he’s tall and 70+ pounds — they’re still shocked,” Vazquez said. “Some people have told me they just expect him to be super short and fat. He’s basically like a skinny beagle on stilts. Then there’s the age … I’ve found a lot of people don’t want to fall in love with a dog in their golden years.”

Cooper also suffers from separation anxiety. The only family he’d ever known left him behind, which naturally left him feeling very on edge.

“His owners had him his whole life and dropped him at a shelter at [9 years old],” Vazquez said. “After being there for so long and being passed to different foster homes, I’d have anxiety too. A lot of dogs actually do! There [are] a lot of little things, [and] it’s things like this that have made him overlooked time and time again.”

After watching him wait so long for a home, Vazquez started collecting screenshots of every time someone said no to adopting Cooper, and seeing them all lined up one after the other is beyond heartbreaking.

Even though it’s been a long journey, Vazquez hasn’t given up hope. The perfect home for Cooper is out there somewhere, and she’s determined to find it.

“Cooper’s ideal home is definitely a home without cats — he likes to chase them,” Vazquez said. “And while he does extremely well with kids, I think he’d prefer older kids. Also, with someone who’s home often, whether that be working from home or a stay-at-home mama/papa. He just wants to be around family and it’s when he’s most at peace. He’s flexible in the active lifestyle department. He would love to go on adventures if someone was willing to take him on hikes and walks! But, he’d also be totally okay with watching movies and TV on the couch. He’s a love bug who goes with the flow and likes to eat, sleep, sniff, potty and repeat.”

At the end of the day, Cooper just wants love, and hopefully he’ll find it soon.