Monday evening, January 29

Dr. Clary, Bruno's physician, called today to schedule his surgery for Wednesday. He will be having his eyelids fixed, much to the chagrin of some of us older female homo sapiens on the staff, and his testicles removed, which none of the male homo sapiens on the staff want to discuss. Soon he will be ready for his forever home.

Jay and I got home to find that he had disemboweled one of the cushions in his large crate, but it is no matter since it was the extra cushion and he probably found it annoying, plus they are old outside lounge chair castoffs anyway and won't be missed.

Greta, our pointer/beagle/hound mix family member, adores Bruno and follows him around the yard picking at him until he gives chase. He's very sanguine about the whole thing and never plays too rough. Inside, she has abandoned the squeaky toys she usually loves to sneak around and take his current rawhide bone when he isn't looking. No matter, he finds another one or simply takes it back.

Jay and I are falling in love with him in spite of ourselves. We simply cannot afford to keep him and we know we have to let him go to someone who will love him as much as we do and also afford his care. It's not that his care will be extensive. After his sugery, he will just need lots of dog food, the usual furnishings and toys and regular checkups. Maybe a membership in a dog park. But our budget is maxed out. We know we want to be very selective in his placement. Bruno's forever home will need to have a fenced in yard, a healthy human who can take him on long vigorous walks, maybe another dog (possibly only female, we don't yet know), and a family who will love him but also maintain appropriate boundaries. Bruno is a big guy, loving and loyal, but big. He cannot be allowed to rule the roost or he could become a problem when strangers come around. It's hard to imagine him out of control since currently he barely even notices when someone comes to the door. He does chase our cat (probably Greta's influence) but once when I yelled at him as he headed up the stairs after said cat, he turned tail and wedged himself between my legs scared to death by my outburst.

As I write this, he has settled on a blanket next to the couch where he is worrying at his icky eyes. Just a couple more days, big guy, and your eye troubles will be over.

People are still writing and calling, making contributions and asking after him. After his surgery, shots and medicine are paid for, Jay will figure out if we have any leftover funds from the "Save Bruno" effort and make a contribution to a couple of no-kill shelters. Again, the out-pouring of generosity was amazing in so many ways.

That's it for tonight from the stewards of Bruno.