Freedom Ride

Bruno was our first foster puppy.  As much as my heart belongs with seniors, I have chosen to foster puppies while my daughter is young.  Puppies are not as unpredictable as an older dog with a potentially abusive past.  Below is Bruno's Shelter Photo.  His nose was rubbed a bit raw from rubbing it on the bars.

We got Bruno on one of the coldest nights of the year.  We were on the 2^nd day of -30 degrees.  It was the middle of the 2019 Polar Vortex.  My daughter and I drove to pick Bruno up at the pet store location that my rescue group uses.  My 5 year old daughter, Parker, was so excited and beside her self with excitement.  She had already fostered Buster, but this was a PUPPY.

We brought lots of extra blankets because Bruno was only about 5 weeks old when we got him, he was just a tiny baby.  It was so special to see him and have him handed over to me when we got to the store.  Bruno was as black as night, his eyes were closed and he smelled of stinky puppy.  He was the teeniest, tiniest thing - much smaller than Jazmine was when we got her.  The pet store employees were kind enough to offer to clip his lethal puppy claws.  

Bruno was exhausted from his transport from the shelter – and he basically slept on my chest from the moment I picked him up until we carried him to the car.  We oooh’ed and awwww’ed over him in the parking lot for quite a bit before we finally drove home.  Here is a photo of his freedom ride.  I turned on the heated seats, set up a blanket and he slept through most of the ride home.

Getting Settled

Once we got home, Bruno got settled in pretty quickly.  Since Bruno was so small, I just held him in my arms when greeted by Jazmine.  Jazmine loves other dogs, so for the first time in fostering history, I wasn't too concerned about an introduction.  Jazmine couldn't stop sniffing Bruno!!  Bruno was pretty tired and it was very late, so we just let Bruno get acquainted with his new surroundings.

Bruno was a stinky puppy!!!  They always are when they get out of the shelter - but Bruno seemed to be more stinky than normal.  Parker and I gave him a bath in the laundry tub.  Bruno wasn’t fond at first and was a bit of a wiggle butt.  He did try to climb out a few times, but he didn’t try too hard. After his bath he curled up in my lap for a nap.  This is when you could tell Bruno was starting to feel safe and relieved from being out of the shelter.

Since we had Bruno dd

During the time we had Bruno, he wiggled his butt right into our hearts.  He was so sweet and had the happiest, wagging wiggle butt I ever saw.  He was extremely smart and quickly picked up on his new routine.  He would wake up with me and hang out in the kitchen while I made breakfast for the rest of the pack.  After he ate breakfast, he would bounce up on Jazmine's bed to take a nap while I got some work done.

Since it was freezing cold outside, we used pee pads with Bruno, to start.   I had never used pee pads before, but I never had a puppy in the dead of winter.  Poor Bruno didn't need to go outside in those freezing temps.  He picked up on the pee pads almost immediately and started using them quite frequently.  We still had plenty of messes throughout his fostering but by the time he had got adopted, Bruno had gotten used to his routine of going outside to go potty.  As it warmed up, he appreciated spending more time out there.  

Bruno was the first dog I ever put a sweater on.  Here is sporting his red CC sweater, which I'm sure helped keep him warm - and it certainly added to his cuteness!!

Bruno Life

While we had Bruno he probably tripled in size. He had learned how to sit and would follow me everywhere.  Bruno loved to snuggle with humans any chance he could and loved to take naps with my daughter Parker.  I came home to check on him almost every day at lunch.  He usually messed in his kennel.  But seeing his happy wiggle butt was worth it every time. 

Bruno loved to play with the kitty toys, which we perfect size for him. 

Bruno had the cutest sit.

We had Bruno for about a month before he was adopted to a his furever home.  He was adopted by a loving family, with 2 older children, about an hour away.  Bruno had several applicants who wanted him and he ended up going to a home that had previously adopted from our rescue group before.  Bruno now has a dog sibling as well!!

Every foster is hard to say good bye to.  Bruno was our first foster puppy, which made it even harder.  Bruno was such a sweetheart and loved to cuddle, he easily could've become a permanent member of our pack but we know he went on to the loving home he's meant to be in.

Below are a few more of our favorites with Bruno:

Did Bruno wiggle into your heart too??