Trooper #3 Fox Red Labrador Retriever Male 4 Years Old ID #3704

Please read starting from the bottom to follow Trooper’s journey in her foster home.

Hi!  If you are a Lab Lover, you’ve come to the right place!  My name is Trooper and I am A WHOLE LOTTA LAB! 😀

I’m almost 4 years old.  My birthday is in May.  I used to live on a farm with a bunch of other dogs.  My mom (Sandy) came to Brookline a few months ago and she sent word back to the farm about how awesome it is to be a Brookline dog!  Me and my grandma, Misty, crossed our paws and wished on every star we could see.  This week, our wish came true!  Two nice ladies came to the farm and told us we were going to be Brookline dogs, too! They put us in the car and took us to meet our foster moms.  Here’s me and Granny meeting our foster families.

March 18, 2026

Hi Everybody!

Trooper here.  Just checkin’ in to let you know how I’m doing. As you can see, I still have staples in my head and my FMs are still dressing me up in ridiculous outfits.

Rubble told not to worry, it will be over soon.  I sure hope so.  FM is still calling me “boo boo head”.  But she’s usually rubbing my ears when she says it, so I don’t mind too much.  A good ear rub makes up for just about anything.

The other day, a box came in the mail and FM said it was for me.  I was confused because I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with a box. But then FM showed me that were lots of cool things inside the box! How clever is that? The box was filled with stuffies and treats and a blanket – all for me! I was so excited. I carried my new dragon around for a long time.

Lucy wanted to play with my new toys.  I shared with her… sort of.  We played tug… and I won!

It’s really cool to have my very own toys.  FM said I get to take them with me to my forever home!  FM says that will be in a few weeks, after I get my staples out.

FM says my recovery is going well.  I really want to lick and scratch, but my FMs said that’s a no-no. I’m trying really hard to be good.

That’s the scoop for now.  I’ll check in later!

Night night!

Love, Trooper

March 14, 2026

Hi Everybody,

It’s me… Trooper.  I have an important warning for all the dogs out there.

If your human tells you they are taking you to the vet for something called “surgery”… and promises you that everything will be fine….

RUN!!  FAST!!

Why?  I’ll tell ya why….

THIS!

Take a closer look…

And to make things worse, they messed with the other end, too!  I won’t share pictures of that.  FM says I was “fixed”. But I promise you, I was not “broken” before! Now I’m stitched up on both ends. What the heck?!

Oh, and FM keeps calling me “Boo Boo Head”.  Like that’s supposed to make me feel better?! Ugh.

Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Gary came over to see me today.  They gave me treats and lots of loving. That does make me feel better.

So, if you do end up in this unfortunate situation, tell your human that you need LOTS of treats and loving to recover!

FM said I should let you know my neuter surgery went well (Easy for her to say!) and the lump that was removed from my head will be sent out for biopsy. I have to go back to the doctor in 2 weeks to have my staples removed. (Can you believe they STAPLED me??)

My FMs feel bad when they look at my “boo boo head”… (as they should!).  I’m gonna milk this for as many treats and ear rubs as I can get.  I think I deserve it!

Love,

Trooper

March 11, 2026

Hi Everybody!

Trooper here, just checking in to let you know what I’ve been up to.

I’m having lots of fun in my foster home and trying new things.  And some of these things are really cool…. Like carrots! The first time I had one, I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I broke it into pieces.  Then Lucy came along and ate the pieces. That’s when I figured out, I’m supposed to eat them!  Now I get very excited at “carrot time”!

Trooper enjoying a carrot:

Something else that I never had before… but now I love… is stuffies!  I like to carry them around.  I like to chew on them.

Trooper and camel:

I like to tug on them with Lucy.

Trooper and Lucy:

I even like to take them for walks!

Speaking of walks… a few days ago, FM said she was going to walk the dog. I got very excited.  Then she left the house….without me!

A few minutes later, we saw her walking by with the neighbor’s dog!  Lucy, Rubble and I barked to let her know we were not too happy about this.

I’m making lots of new friends.  Aunt Lorraine came to visit. All the dogs love Aunt Lorraine.  Lucy and I competed for the most snuggles!

I went to the vet because my FMs noticed a bump on my head. One day, you couldn’t see it at all.

Two days later, it looked like this.

So FMs took me to see the doctor and get it checked out.

The doctor thinks the lump is a histiocytoma, a quick growing skin tumor arising from immune cells. He said these tumors are fairly common in young dogs and are usually benign. They often “fall off” on their own in three to four months.  But since I’m already scheduled to have surgery this week, he suggested we have it removed while I’m under.

So yeah… I’m scheduled for “surgery” this Friday.  I’m not sure what that means.  And I don’t know what I’ll be “under”.  But my FMs tell me it’s all good.  And they’ve been really good to me so I trust them.  FM says I’m getting neutered – whatever that is.

When I was at the doctor’s office, I got on the scale. I weigh 94.4 pounds!  FM says most of it is my head!

I hope you’ve all been enjoying the warm weather like we have. I’ve been spending time helping FM with yard work. I’m good at this kind of stuff since I grew up on a farm!

I keep trying to get my FMs up early like we did on the farm.  But they’re not having it.

FM said there’s this thing called ‘full disclosure’ … and it means I have to tell you the ‘bad’ stuff along with the ‘good’ stuff. I don’t think this is so bad, but here goes… so sometimes, when I get excited, I drool.  Big deal, right.  And sometimes, when I shake my head, the drool wraps around my nose.

FM gets grossed out every time it happens.  She is such a girl sometimes! 😉 I think it makes me look tough! Don’t you?

Well, that’s all the news from here.  All this typing has made me tired!  Time for a nap.

Night, night!

Love,

Trooper

February 26, 2026

I’ll bet you can tell we’re related! We are what folks call “fox red” Labs, even though we are really just another shade of “Yellow Lab”.

I wasn’t a big fan of getting into the car.  We didn’t ride in cars on the farm!  It took two Brookline Ladies to get me into the car.  But I was chill on the way to my foster home because one of my foster moms sat in the back with me.  My other foster mom says this picture gives you an idea of how big I am.

She said I have the biggest Lab head she’s ever seen.  Both my foster moms told me they love BIG blockheads and they think I’m a gorgeous boy.  Aw, shucks!

When we got to my foster home, I got to meet the other kids who live here, Rubble and Lucy.  They are both Brookline dogs, too, but they have already been adopted by my foster moms.  We hit it off right away and had fun playing in the snow.

Wanna see us in action?  Check this out.

After playing in the yard, we went in the house.  Going in a house is new for me.  I wasn’t so sure I wanted to do it.  After some coaxing from foster mom (FM), I went inside.  Then something weird happened.  FM took me into a little room.  She led me into a weird little corner of the room and put something around my neck.  The other end was attached to the wall with a suction cup.  Then she turned some knobs and suddenly, I was getting wet.  I tolerated it for a bit, but then I decided I’d had enough.  I pulled that suction cup thing off the wall and ran across the room.  FM dropped the thing she was holding and water sprayed all over the room – and all over FM!  You should have seen FM scrambling!  First, she tried to grab me, but I was too quick for her. So, she grabbed the thing that was spraying water all over and got that under control. I was trying really hard not to laugh…it being my very first day at my foster home and all, but it was just too funny and I had to laugh!  Once FM caught her breath, I figured I’d be a good sport and let her finish washing me.  When we were done, she took me upstairs and told other FM that now she had to go clean the bathroom!  😂

Living in a house doesn’t seem too bad.  There are comfy things to lay on, and I get to be with my foster moms all the time.  I like that – especially when someone is petting me.  I love being petted!  FM says I’m a big, smooshy boy.  I’m not sure what that means, but she says it like it’s a good thing. 😊 I’m a bit of an attention hog and will push in to get some pets if another dog is getting petted.  Sometimes I get excited and try to nibble on FM’s clothes or fingers.  She said we have to work on that.  I’m also used to living outside and peeing wherever/whenever the mood strikes me.  Gotta work on that, too.  For now, I’m wearing a “belly band” to keep my FMs happy.  Other than that, I’m adjusting well to living indoors.  My FMs are proud of me.

My FM told me that my grandma is doing well and in her foster home and that my mom is loving life in her forever home!  We sure are lucky dogs.  Big thanks to Deb and Katie for helping us become Brookline dogs. ❤

Love,

Trooper