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Copper the bunny joins family home in Sandpoint, gets warm welcome from Tucker the pit bull

Copper the bunny hangs out with Tucker the pit bull at their home in Sandpoint. (Courtesy of Robby Meyer)
By Megan Rowe meganr@spokesman.com(509) 459-5382
Copper the bunny hangs out with Tucker the pit bull at their home in Sandpoint. (Courtesy of Robby Meyer)

In the words of children’s author Melinda Rathjen, “Somebunny loves you.”

For Tucker the pit bull, that bunny is Copper.

Copper, the most recent addition to Robby Meyer’s house in Sandpoint, was a birthday gift for his 5-year-old daughter. Meyersaid he hadn’t expected any problems between Tucker and Copper, but was surprised by their instant friendship when he brought the chestnut-colored bunny home Sept. 1.

“I set him out on the lawn with my dog, and Tucker just kind of sniffed him and kept following him around and nudging his butt, just following him everywhere that night basically,” Meyer said.

The duo, who have been buddies since, received attention when Avista Utilities featured their story on the company’s Instagram account on Oct. 21.

Cooper the bunny hangs out with Tucker the pitbull. (Robby Meyer / COURTESY)
Cooper the bunny hangs out with Tucker the pitbull. (Robby Meyer / COURTESY)

“It might seem out of the ordinary that a utility company would be putting those stories out there,” Avista spokesman Scott Steele said. “With everything that’s happening in social media, and it’s not everything, but there’s a lot of negativity out there … this is just kind of our way to shine a little bright light.”

Tucker has a white coat with a black patch on his tail and a light speckling of spots that are more prominent on his ears. He found his home with Meyer six years ago.

Because Meyer was a commercial fisherman in Alaska, gone for months at a time, his ex-wife wanted a dog for protection. The Panhandle Animal Shelter said Tucker did not like other animals, children or men. After a one-week trial, Meyer realized that description couldn’t be further from the truth.

“We had a cat at the time that I had rescued as a feral kitten, and he ended up being just fine,” Meyer said. “He tried to be a lap dog. (He would) let you know when strangers showed up, but he was just as gentle as could be.”

Tucker entered the home at 65 pounds and has since grown to 115. Meyer said his daughter loves Tucker, even though he sometimes moves around unaware of his size and knocks her down, or accidentally thumps her with his tail when he gets excited.