Bruin's Story: A happy ending close to Home

Bruin is a Cocker Spaniel who came to us as a very young puppy in June 2023. He was incredibly malnourished when he first arrived and had to be taken to the vet immediately where he had to stay for a brief period.

He looked so unwell that we suspected serious health issues such as problems with liver function.

Our Animal Welfare Operations Manager, Wendy, told us, ‘His teeth were so awful for a puppy that we could not believe he was as young as he was.’ 

Bruin was in a bad way when he arrived, dangerously thin, injured, and terrified. A team member told us, ‘He was so scared, he would just sit in his kennel and not do anything.’

On top of this, his tail had previously burst or been cut and had partially healed, however, the wound opened again when he came to us due to ‘happy tail’. This is when a dog wags their tail so much that it hits against walls and gets injured.

Fortunately, however, it became clear that dental issues due to being fed the wrong diet were the root cause of Bruin’s problems.

Once he was put onto an appropriate dry food diet, the plaque on his puppy teeth quickly cleared up and Bruin finally started to gain weight.

From the day he arrived in our care, little Bruin had caught the eye of Kennel Assistant, Emily. Bruin was so terrified and unwell when he came to us that he stayed in our quiet kennel block to minimise the stress he was feeling as much as possible. Emily was helping in his kennels that day and he immediately captured her heart. She told us that ‘seeing his bad condition and scared face just made my heart bleed for him.’

Emily began visiting Bruin for cuddles and updates even on days when she wasn’t working in his kennel block.

She could see him growing in strength and confidence with every visit. Once Bruin was well enough, Emily knew she wanted to be the one to rehome him; ‘I couldn’t bear to see him go with anyone else and not know what his life would be like, I had to take him home’.

She was able to foster him for a couple of days to see how he would fit in. To her surprise, he settled immediately, she said ‘it was like he’d been with us his whole life’. 

Before long, Bruin was starting his new life with Emily and her partner. She shared, ‘we live in the middle of nowhere, so Bruin gets to run around all day and play with my boyfriend’s dog who is also a spaniel. He even goes to with my boyfriend to work, he’s a gamekeeper and has a working dog. Bruin doesn’t work but he just loves to hang out and be part of it.’

Emily tells us that Bruin is a different dog from the scared, malnourished puppy she first met.

Where before he was too frightened to engage with people or toys, now he is confident, curious, and playful. ‘He loves carrying his toys about and using his nose.’

In his new home, he has plenty of space to run free, he loves watching the sheep and taking rides across the hills in the buggy with Emily’s boyfriend. Bruin is his new name, it means brown bear, a name to suit his strong character within.