BRIDGEPORT — Trooper might look like a big, bad dog — but he’s quite the scaredy-cat.
Take a stroll past Emil’s Body Shop at 3113 S. Morgan St., and you’ll likely find the four-year-old German Shepherd sitting on the sidewalk out front.
That's where I found him.
At first glance, I thought Trooper was grizzled guard dog tasked with watching over the shop. I soon tracked down his owner, Emil Hageline, who told me the truth: Trooper is just another cool character from the neighborhood.
“I don’t believe he has a mean bone in his body,” the 67-year-old body shop owner said. “He’s the real deal.”
The reason Trooper is always at the shop might surprise you. He's afraid of cars.
I played fetch with Trooper in the alley next to Emil's Body Shop and saw for myself. On the way back to drop his gnarled, purple tennis ball at my feet, a loud truck rumbled down the road a few blocks away. Trooper bolted into the shop.
He just hates cars and all the horrible sounds they make.
“He’ll play fetch forever, but there’s one thing that dog won’t do,” Emil said. “He won’t get into a car. … You couldn’t get that dog in a car if you had a bag full of cheeseburgers.”
It turns out Trooper's fear runs so deep, he has refused to leave the shop since Emil brought him there for the first time four years ago.
Trooper was born on St. Patrick’s Day in 2011, the smallest of eight puppies. The pup’s birthday prompted Emil to call Trooper an “Irish Shepherd.”
Emil’s aunt took care of the litter and asked her nephew if he wanted one. He had just lost a dog and stopped by to see the litter.
He picked Trooper and took the pup to his new home in suburban Willow Springs. Little did Emil know: Trooper would adopt a new home at Emil’s Body Shop.
Emil could never figure out why Trooper feared cars — so he built him a bed in the corner of the shop. Trooper has his own blanket and pillow.
Carlos Vera, a 49-year-old painter who has worked with Emil for a decade, often jokes about Trooper’s humble abode.
“He sleeps better than me,” said a laughing Vera, who has found a best friend in Trooper, who has quietly become a hit among the neighborhood kids. They often stop by to pat his head.
During business hours, Troopers sits on the sidewalk in front of the shop. The Bridgeport Coffee Company is as far as Trooper will go — but only if Emil is with him.
Trooper’s a homebody. It just so happens his home is a body shop.
“That’s HIS place,” Emil said.
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