Auslander
Well-Known Member
It struck me that as I'd inadvertently hijacked other peoples threads (sorry folks), I should probably do Bruno his own thread.
I lost him 3 weeks ago, with old age related issues, primarily congestive heart failure. He's left a huge hole, as he's been my shadow for the last 11 years. It hit me a lot harder than I was expecting, and although its getting easier, I still really miss the nose appearing on my knee.
I got him when he was 5 years old, after he was spirited out of Ireland under cover of darkness, after biting a child. He spent most of his early years chained up on a farm, and became the target for local kids to tease/hurt. As far as everyone involved in the bite incident was concerned, the child was at fault, but the parents were insistent that Bruno was PTS as a "dangerous dog".
I collected him from Beaconsfield Services at 5am one morning. He came out of the van he;d travelled over in, came straight over to me, leaned on me so heavily that I nearly fell over, and took the biggest deepest breath - he definitely knew he was safe at last!
He was fear aggressive for a number of years, and not safe around children - but as the years passed, he gradually forgot all his demons, and became the happiest dog in his world! We always joked that a day where he didn't make a new human friend was not much of a day at all - but it was absolutely true! He adored everyone he met, although he always kept one eye on me, and if I wandered off, he was right back at my heel.
Just after he was pts, one of my friends described him as delightfully eccentric - which just summed him up perfectly
He was a very very good dog. I miss him terribly
I lost him 3 weeks ago, with old age related issues, primarily congestive heart failure. He's left a huge hole, as he's been my shadow for the last 11 years. It hit me a lot harder than I was expecting, and although its getting easier, I still really miss the nose appearing on my knee.
I got him when he was 5 years old, after he was spirited out of Ireland under cover of darkness, after biting a child. He spent most of his early years chained up on a farm, and became the target for local kids to tease/hurt. As far as everyone involved in the bite incident was concerned, the child was at fault, but the parents were insistent that Bruno was PTS as a "dangerous dog".
I collected him from Beaconsfield Services at 5am one morning. He came out of the van he;d travelled over in, came straight over to me, leaned on me so heavily that I nearly fell over, and took the biggest deepest breath - he definitely knew he was safe at last!
He was fear aggressive for a number of years, and not safe around children - but as the years passed, he gradually forgot all his demons, and became the happiest dog in his world! We always joked that a day where he didn't make a new human friend was not much of a day at all - but it was absolutely true! He adored everyone he met, although he always kept one eye on me, and if I wandered off, he was right back at my heel.
Just after he was pts, one of my friends described him as delightfully eccentric - which just summed him up perfectly
He was a very very good dog. I miss him terribly
He was gorgeous. What a devastating loss. I can’t understand why we put ourselves through their loss, but what life is worth living without a fabulous dog by your side? 
both in his youth and in older age - those greying faces really tug at my heart. Thank you for sharing his story
