Bruno was born to a breeder in a litter of puppies who all had cleft lips. Unfortunately, the other two puppies died not long after birth because they were having trouble eating, but somehow, little Bruno survived. The tiny puppy had to be bottle-fed and monitored carefully for his first six weeks, and still no one was sure if he’d pull through, and yet he did.
Once he was out of the woods, Bruno was adopted by a woman who stepped in and helped the breeder care for him properly. Unfortunately, after six months of looking after him, the woman decided she could no longer care for Bruno and began looking to rehome him. Luckily, before he could be taken to a shelter or end up in the wrong hands, the perfect person found out about him: a woman named Frankie Doughty. She immediately knew she was meant to be his mom.
“I couldn’t bear the idea of him going to someone who might not be able to look after him as well as I knew I would,” Doughty told The Dodo.
When Bruno first arrived in his new home, he was naturally a little nervous, as he’d been through a lot in the first few months of his life. Doughty was determined, though, and knew that with a little effort and a lot of love, Bruno would be able to lead a completely normal life despite his differences.
“He is a very feisty little boy and a little bit frightened of people, as he wasn’t well socialized in his first few months, but we are working on this with the help of a dog behaviorist — other than that he is very loving towards people he trusts, loves a cuddle and a belly rub when he is sleepy,” Doughty said.
Bruno has only been with his new family for about a month now, but he’s already so much more confident, and seems to love everything about his new life. Bruno looks very different from most dogs …
… but the tiny pup doesn’t seem to notice at all, and hasn’t found anything he can’t do if he puts his mind to it.
“His condition doesn’t really affect him; the only thing we have to do differently from our other dogs is he has to have shallow food and water bowls so he doesn’t inhale anything,” Doughty said. “He often gets fluff and bits of soil up his nose from sniffing about the house or garden but it doesn’t bother him and he definitely doesn’t act any differently to other doggies.”
Despite his shaky start to life, Bruno is now thriving, and is proving every day that just because a dog looks a little different, doesn’t mean he deserves to be any less loved.
You can follow Bruno and all of his adventures on his Instagram account.