Davos is a Bernese Mountain Dog in Minnesota, and his human is a Minnesota man by the name of Al Cooper, who got Davos seven years ago after overcoming a battle with cancer. Davos is a big dog, and he wanted to play, so Cooper would take him on long walks around their neighborhoods, find dog parks and do anything to keep his puppy happy.
Cooper, an avid golfer, though, started training his pup more skills than sitting, staying and shaking paws. Cooper taught Davos to find golf balls.
“I got three Dixie Cups and I put a ball under one of them and moved them around and told him to find the ball. And when he knocked over the Dixie cup with the ball in it, I’d give him a treat,” Cooper said to WCCO-TV.
For years now, Cooper and Davos make a short trek to the 13th hole at Cedar Creek Golf Course in Albertville, where Cooper and Davos live. Each day, Davos sniffs out and picks up golf balls, and he puts them in Cooper's cart. After a while, the duo had amassed so many golf balls of all kinds, they didn't know what to do with them. One evening, a TV commercial promoting pet rescue and adoption came on, and Davos began making noise. Cooper decided they could sell the golf balls they found and donate the proceeds to the local humane society.
That added an extra wrinkle to the routine. Cooper's friend, Dusty Barrett, washes them and gets them ready for sale after Davos conducts his search-and-rescue mission. The balls are sold for just a quarter, and they've raised $600 for the humane society. That's 2,400 golf balls sold to date. No doubt they could charge more, but they're happy the way things are.
“Davos is happy. I’m happy. Humane society is happy," Cooper said. "If you are lucky enough to find a dog as good as Davos, you have it made in this world.”
