Trooper, He was a Dog

Trooper: Patron saint of new fosters,
Maya's savior and consort, Guardian of the property, Secret Snuggler, Friend of the Few, Defender of the Faith. We lost him today, and lost a true friend and an important part of our lives.

When Molly died, Trooper took over the role of greeter for the incoming foster dogs. He's the one who had the job of being the first of our dogs to meet the incoming fosters. He would meet them, and evaluate them. Some would come with an attitude, half scared and defensive. Trooper never escalated a tense situation with a new dog, in fact he would bring calm where there was chaos.

But Trooper's real genius was the way he handled the scared, frightened, and forlorn. He seemed to tell them that they were safe, had nothing to fear from us, and that whatever had happened in their past, the future was going to be better. Maya was one of the primary beneficiaries of this skill, but there have been many over the years that Trooper seemed to calm and reassure with just a gentle touch of his nose.

When Gypsy died, Trooper inherited the post of Sergeant at Arms and he took his job seriously. Trooper never cared for strangers. He was only close to Clay and me, and he took a liking to my mother. The only other person who could get close to Trooper was Teresa who boarded him for many years when we left town. Trooper's security sense extended to trucks and school buses that went up our road, the UPS man, and large birds, particularly vultures. All those people and things were bad, didn't belong here, and he did his best to keep them away. He did a fine job of it too, possessing one of the fiercest barks I've heard from a dog.

This was Trooper on our way home after I picked him up.
I had spent a little time walking around with him and
managed to earn his trust. He never gave it freely.

Trooper was about 12 years old and he's been slowing down a lot in the past year. We knew this day would come even if we didn't know just when. He started out as a foster that we couldn't adopt out because he didn't show well at adoption events due to his fear and distrust of strangers. Although that complicated many aspects of our lives over the years, particularly travel arrangements and vet visits, it was also the reason that he became our dog and no one else's, so I can only see it as a good thing now.

To paraphrase Shakespeare's Hamlet: He was a dog, take him for all in all. We shall not look upon his like again.

Only Sparky and Trooper have worn this leather harness.
It may be retired now.

Maya loved him most of all.

He loved hiking. He wasn't a hunter but he liked to sniff.

Trooper hasn't been able to get up on the bed in the long time
and I had forgotten how he used to get up and snuggle
closely in the morning. 

I will forever feel blessed for being one of Trooper's chosen few who could get close to him,
face to face, even nose to nose, and look through his eyes into his beautiful soul.