VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. – A Georgia man figured out a way for his aging dog to enjoy the beach. And even though Kakao died, Tom Antonino’s invention still triggers a smile for his pet.
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Antonino built a mobile bed so Cocoa, his 16-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever, could enjoy the great outdoors, WTKR reported.
“My wife and I – we figured out a way to go for a walk with a mechanic creeper and something like that with her,” Antonino told the TV station. “We had a rope and a bed and we would take them out.”
Antonino and his family travel to Virginia Beach often, and a few months ago he was pulling cocoa on the coastal boardwalk when a woman stopped him, WTKR reported.
The woman asked for a photo of the couple. Since Antonino doesn’t have a Facebook account, he didn’t know that the mobile bed had gone viral on the internet.
“I found out from my brother-in-law,” Antonino told WTKR. He said, ‘Is that you? ‘and then other people would ask, “Is that you?” and I say, “Yes, that’s cocoa. This is Cocoa and I am going for a walk. ‘”
The bed was a sweet touch for the man’s best friend. Cocoa recently died, Antonino said, but his pet’s legacy lives on.
“People were excited that we bond with our dogs and pets,” Antonino told WTKR. “It’s strong.”
