Bruno Learns to Play

Last night on a whim I picked up a bright pink hard rubber ball that our friend Pam Kuhn of Interiors in Green and her dog Gabby (a dog I rescued 10 years ago) donated to Bruno and tossed it across the room. Bruno actually chased it and brought it back to me! This is completely new behavior. Thus far he has enjoyed his rawhide bones (reducing them to limp noodles before consuming) and chilling. Our little dog Greta, by way of comparison, plays like a maniac and is especially fond of her squeaky toys which Bruno has showed no intererst in. Jay and I are thrilled that he is learning to play. We try to imagine what he did before we met him to pass the time and we have only been able to speculate. Until this morning.

We loaded him into the car to head off for his surgery. The car was running and Jay started to scrape the frost off the windows when Bruno suddenly went ballistic, barking and charging at Jay through the glass. I got Bruno out of the car and at a distance so Jay could finish. They had to reaquaint a bit as Bruno seemed uncertain that Jay really was still his friend. He wouldn't get back in the car until we turned off the engine. Then he was fine for the ride.

We remembered that he had barked at Jay's 14 year-old son when he first met him. Bruno was in his crate at that moment. It's the only other time he's showed fear. We think he was confined in some sort of pen or cage and taunted. Jay thinks someone may have been trying to make him mean to become a fighter. We are so happy he won't have to go through that anymore.

We dropped him at Kingsbury Animal Hospital this morning where his surgical team will be taking good care of him. We'll post the results this evening.