BRUNO’s TALE

 

 

At the age of 14 years, our beloved Bruno Bear left us to go over the Rainbow Bridge. His heart became too big for this world, a heart stuffed full of love for all things, which finally gave out on 4^th August 2020.

 

Here is his story……..

 

After we lost our sweetpea, Pepe, on Valentine’s Day 2008, the dog shaped hole was much too hard to bear and we wanted to share her legacy with another rescue dog. We visited Leigh Dog’s home and whilst all around us dogs were barking and clamouring for attention, this one dog, very striking in appearance, was sitting quietly, gazing out of his cage. As we spoke with him he picked up his bowl and went into the back area of the cage and lay down.

They knew very little about him other than he was a stray from Salford, was about 2 years old and had been at the shelter for just over 4 months. We took him out of the cage for a walk around and it was very clear that he was well liked and was used to receiving treats from the volunteers/staff there. We put a deposit down which held him for 24 hours and went home to have a think.

We were concerned about his breed – Staffy Cross, having heard bad things about them. We let the deposit lapse.

 

But he never left our thoughts and we decided the next weekend that if he was still there then it was meant to be – he was – and we brought him home 2^nd March 2008. First thing – bath! He hummed!! He had very few baths in his life and it never failed to amuse how he could become a starfish at the very mention of bath! He would become all legs and angles making lifting through doors and into the bath very difficult – but once in he resigned himself to being there and tolerated it. He was actually a very clean dog overall – his head always smelled of washing powder for some strange reason, and his feet of biscuits. However he moulted lots (always little dust bunnies around and Bruno hair weaved into cushions etc) and he did have a penchant for dipping into stagnant water on walks!

 

He very quickly became Steve’s shadow and went on long, long walks with him and often with Suzanne and her dogs. We think he was crossed with a Lurcher and his speed and tendency to barge into smaller dogs showed this to be the case. He could spin on a sixpence and get away from others really quickly – our Billy Whizz. 

If Steve went out, Bruno would sit on the stairs with an occasional howl until he returned.  

 

Tennis balls in particular were his most favourite toy – we called them Wilson – and he could often be found running after one – or playing “scrum” with one (throwing it through his back legs). He also used to like to “toy surf” – where he’d chase a toy, land on it with both front feet and slide across the floor. In later years he liked his large Scrat soft toy (the squirrel from Ice Age). His first toy we bought him was a soft elephant but overall – a ball was his favourite.  

We developed “The Game” which he would play for hours if you let him – and always unsuspecting visitors were subjected to this. It entailed having nose to nose contact and the one who kissed the nose before the other moved away scored the point. Writing this brings a tear to my eye thinking we will never be able to play this again – life is so unfair that gives a pet such a short life span.

 

He had quite a work ethic! Steve, working from home, would only need to say “let’s go to work” and he’d either be up on his chair in the office, or on security on the stairs – either at the top or half way up (like Kermit’s nephew) where he would bark at anyone who dared to walk past the house.

He also had regular “jobs”. When I came back from shopping he would take items into the house, dump them anywhere and rush back for more. These would be car keys or produce. It would take me a while to find where he had put everything! He also would carry the post in (as long as it was only junk mail as he had a tendency not to give this back!).

However, all work stopped at 9pm. Once he had eaten his toothbrush (dentastick) he would switch off and could usually be found on his back in his favourite chair either downstairs or in the office (if Steve was watching football – Bruno even had his own Chelsea shirt!).

 

 

He was always concerned if anyone was poorly – Nurse Bruno would stay by their side and occasionally stare at them with acute intensity as if willing them to be better.

 

For 3 years he was our only dog and was taken on a few holidays (camping and cottage). He liked the beach but not the sea (only stagnant pond water as mentioned already). In fact, our first holiday with him was 2 weeks after we got him – in a large house in Mundesley. It was here we found that his party trick (!!) was to leave a little “present” in a random room when visiting for the first time. He did this a few times to unsuspecting friends!

 

Our second holiday that August nearly didn’t happen. On 7^th August Steve took him for a short walk across the road in the cemetery. The next thing I know there’s a frantic knock at the door and Steve is there with Bruno in his arms. He’s slipped his collar and run into the road and been hit by a car. We rushed him straight to the vets where he was put on a drip and kept in overnight. We called in the morning to be told he was still under observation, then at lunchtime they called to say please come and fetch him – he’s driving everyone crazy! Phew – no major damage – just bruising. We decided he should stay downstairs that night so put the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs, Steve slept downstairs with him. In the early hours I was awoken by a wet nose in my face – he needed a wee (a “quick quick”) and, unable to rouse Steve, he’d jumped the baby gate (from a standing start!) and come up to ask me. Needless to say we were able to join Sarah & Bill a few days late for our holiday in Southrepps. However, 2 days into the holiday, whilst visiting the Wheatsheaf pub in West Beckham (where I had my hen do) he ate a wasp! He was very proud of himself but his tongue started to swell. A quick dash to Sheringham to see the vets for injections etc. He was always wary after that of “buzzy things” and would often leave the room if he heard it.

 

He loved opening presents. Christmas was an exciting time for him and he would love to watch the tree being decorated and would have a sniff at all the soft toys under the tree. He would get so excited opening his presents that if you weren’t careful he would pinch other people’s gifts from under the tree and try to open them too. He was never so pleased as when sitting in a mound of paper all ripped to pieces. We would give him a gotcha day birthday too with presents and special, dog-friendly cakes.

 

He was quite a highly strung dog (possibly the lurcher influence) and was sensitive to noise and movement, he liked other dogs but was also a bit wary of them and we were never sure how he would respond. A family weekend away to Brackenborough Hall saw him having a great time mixing with “cousins” Astra, Jet and  Oscar. 

However, in 2011, we decided to rescue another dog to join our family. Skip came along in November 2011 and it didn’t take too long before they were curling up together and out on walks together. At times we would take them separately as Skip needed a little training but overall they were together fine. Unfortunately we had him for less than 3 years as he died of cancer August 2014.

 

Having got used to being a 2 dog family we gained another rescue dog in November 2014 – Buster. He was a little older than Skip (only 1 year younger than Bruno) so it took a little more time for them to become accustomed to each other – but it was not long before Bruno had another wing man and partner in crime. 

 

Life took an easy routine over the years (with 9pm toothbrush routine, smelling perfume and makeup, greeting at the front door carrying a toy, stairs security, jobs,)  until, all of a sudden it seemed, age crept up on us all. We started noticing that Bruno was losing his magnificent stripes to a more muted coat, he became white on his face and he started to slow down. A touch of arthritis meant he was unable to walk too far and for his last few years he has slowed down a lot. In 2019 he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and the scan also showed some spondylosis on his spine. With medication he became a different dog in that he regained his “bounce”. He had clearly been in pain and we had not realised – the meds gave him back a quality of life for about a year after diagnosis. He was “Bruno” again – he wanted to play, he was more alert and we are thankful that we got to regain him before those final few months when the meds stopped working and the disease finally took him.

 

After being poorly for a few weeks, he started to pick up and his final 3 days we saw some of the old ways – he came to meet me at the door as I arrived home, with a toy in his mouth, he played The Game, he ate some steak and strawberries, he ate his 9pm toothbrush, he came onto my bed as I was getting ready for bed to watch me and sniff the “minty fresh” toothpaste.

 

At 11pm on the 4^th August 2020 he had a heart attack, he was in the office – a place special to him, Steve & I were both with him and I hope made his passing a little easier. We were able to tell him how much we loved him.

Today we collected his ashes to bring  him home where he belongs.

 

I would love one more sniff of the top of his head, one more touch on those velvet ears or the soft part on his paw just before the pads or one more kiss from that beautiful wet nose as we play The Game. Run free over the rainbow bridge my BrunoBear, my billy whizz my dear monkey boy – wait for us there – we will be together again xxxxxxx