The first date Rachel brought her dog along to on The Bachelorette came sooner than any of us hoped, but Copper Ash looked a little worse for wear on her (and his!) first one-on-one date. So what happened to Copper's leg? The poor little guy was sporting a cast when we saw him on Week 2.
Copper is a two-year-old rescue dog who Rachel has had since at least January, but it seemed like the injury was new. In the season premiere, we saw shots of him without the cast running around Rachel's private suite on the show. But as Rachel prepared to embark on her first one-on-one of the season with Peter, the gap-toothed business owner, she asked if she could bring along a friend who had recently been in an accident. Peter consented, and out of the limo bounded a (hobbling) Copper with a sparkly cast on one of his four legs!
It was the first date Copper got to go on and it was a pretty luxurious one at that. Rachel, Peter, and Copper all boarded a private jet to Palm Springs to attend a puppy pool party called BarkFest in the hopes of cheering Copper up. Peter did ask Rachel what happened, but all she said is that it was "an accident," and promised to tell him about it once they were on the plane. We didn't learn what happened on-screen, but the important thing is that Copper seemed to have fun.
Peter seemed to make a great impression right away, and Copper was happy to let him get in some snuggle time on the plane ride to Palm Springs. "Thanks for letting me share a first date with your mom!," Peter politely said as they shook paws.
Once at BarkFest, Rachel and Peter enjoyed drinks in a ball pit while Copper splashed around in a puppy pool. At one point, Peter even picked Copper up and danced with him in his arms so that an injured Copper wouldn't have to miss the puppy dance party. (And Copper is not a small dog, so watching a very tall Peter dance with a giant dog in his arms was basically the cutest thing ever.)
Copper also joined the couple on the romantic dinner date portion of the evening, where Rachel and Peter bonded over their mutual gap-toothed experience. Needless to say, Peter hit it out of the park and got a rose at the end of the night. And hopefully, Copper is feeling better soon.
