Loudoun Rescue Dog Enjoys Comfort Of Home Hospice Care

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — A stray dog who was taken in by the Loudoun County shelter and then later diagnosed with canine lymphoma has found a loving home to live out the rest of his life. The couple who brought the dog into their lives takes him on trips to get chicken nuggets, lets him sleep on their bed at night and enjoys his solo singing routines.

When Troopster, who is 11-years-old, arrived at the shelter earlier this summer, staffers were amazed by his spirit, given his condition. The Loudoun County Animal Services' medical team was working hard to help him get comfortable. After only a week of treatment, his skin was healing, his aches were subsiding, and his vision was returning.

But in a depressing turn, Troopster was diagnosed with lymphoma and the shelter went into action to find a loving home where the dog could live out the rest of his life as comfortable as possible.

A couple had seen photos of Troopster on their social media news feeds. And then a rescue group in Northern Virginia reached out to the couple about potentially fostering him. Jenna and Colin Gates struggled with the decision to take in Troopster. Their previous dog had died last November at the age of 11.

"Losing a dog is one of the worst things that can happen in life and it's especially unfortunate when it's not a senior dog passing of old age," Jenna said in an email to Patch. "When I first approached Colin about Troopster, he wasn't keen on the idea at all because he didn't want to live through another dog dying so soon."

Jenna and Colin had fostered dogs before. In 2015, they fostered a dog from the Fairfax County shelter who had been used as a bait dog for dog fighting and had extreme fear aggression toward people and other animals.

The dog, Zee, was able to overcome the fear and now lives with Jenna's parents on two acres of land. Zee is best friends with her parent's other three dogs. "She is owed all of the credit for changing our lives and opening our hearts to saving dogs," Jenna said.

When Jenna picked up Troopster from the LCAS shelter near Waterford, she struggled to keep her emotions in check. "I thought if I broke down in front of the staff that they might not let me take him home. But as soon as I put my car in drive, I was a mess," she said. "Colin didn't even want to ride with me that day because he knew he'd also be upset when he saw him."

SEE ALSO: Loudoun Patch Pet Of The Week: Troopster Deserves A Loving Home

Jenna said it is hard to tell how much pain Troopster is feeling. He does have a skin condition that causes him to constantly scratch himself, so they give him medicated baths to help. Unlike most dogs, Troopster actually loves bath time, she said.

"We have noticed over the past several days that he has been more sleepy than usual. But he's about 11 years old and he has a terminal illness, so we think that's pretty expected," she said.

At his age and with his illness, Troopster goes on short walks, especially in the summer heat. Colin takes him out early in the morning for a walk before breakfast when the temperatures are not unbearable and then all three go together for walks in the evening. When he gets back inside, Troopster is sometimes too tired to get a drink before he lays down.

Troopster loves going to the drive-thru at various restaurants. "He definitely has a healthy appetite. He doesn't discriminate between McDonald's or Chick-Fil-A nuggets and he loves a good Krispy Kreme donut," Jenna said.

"We also love that he sleeps in the bed with us at night like a human, on his side with his face on a pillow," she said.

In his new home, Troopster also has free range of all couches, chairs, beds — and he takes advantage of those things. "Animals just want to be loved and love can do amazing things when it comes to healing," Jenna said.

Troopster already is comfortable singing in front of his new family. "When we first brought him home we thought it could be that he wanted to just be snuggled on the couch, but sometimes he's in our laps singing, too," Jenna said. "That's why we've resorted to calling it singing because he's not really whining — it's more of a concert in that he likes to entertain."

When they discussed whether to bring Troopster into their lives, Jenna and Colin thought about the thousands of dogs who are euthanized or die alone at shelters every day.

"Since 'Troopy' was a hospice dog, we really had to think about what that meant," Jenna said. "At the end of the day, we knew we had to take him in because the thought of him passing away in a shelter was much more depressing than him passing in a home."

LCAS is open for adoptions from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Its address is 39820 Charles Town Pike, about a mile west of Paeonian Springs on Route 9.