Things are going amazing with Bruce, the dog formerly known as Shane. He has added so much to our life that I get a little teary eyed thinking about it. I discovered I find true enjoyment in training Bruce and researching training methods. He can sit, lay down, jump, spin, roll over, "hop through" a hoola hoop, stay (even when we run away from him, which is pretty irresistible) plus a few more tricks. He loves car rides, and we even brought him down to Cambridge, Mass, to give him some serious exposure to the sights and sounds of city life.

I have an acquaintance who raised a puppy to be a seeing eye dog. She is extremely impressed with Bruce and suggested that we go on to train him to be a therapy dog to visit nursing homes and hospitals. He is extremely social with people of all ages ( kids he loves a little too much and we are working on this) and dogs of all sizes. He is quite the social butterfly. Two weeks ago we brought Bruce to visit a dog, Deacon, who needed some positive doggy experience. Deacon had not only become completely blind in the past year, he had been attacked by an unknown animal and was now very fearful. After a few hours together and a hike in the woods suddenly the two dogs were playing. Blind and fearful Deacon was in long unused play bow! Once Bruce figured out "keep away" with the toys wasn't working the two dogs played for about two hours straight.

Chris has brought Bruce out on about an hour hike every morning since Bruce got his puppy shots. Rain, sleet, or blizzard they hike in the park near our house. Chris stayed in great shape this winter thanks to Bruce.

We have had one big scare since getting Bruce at the very beginning of April. He had just had a growth spurt and could now reach the kitchen counter, which I did not realize. I stepped outside for just a moment and I came back to see an extremely happy Bruce and a very empty bag of what had been raw, un-risen, pizza dough. We rushed to the emergency clinic and made it just as the first painful, yeasty burps began. He spent the night and was fine when we got him the next day.

I have included pictures (too many, I am sure) spanning from months ago to present. At the end you will find photos of the fenced area Bruce has when he hangs outside. He has a covered section that is an old carport and a section in the sun with bushes and dirt. He has a children's wading pool in the shade on hot days for him to splash in, a couple of beds, and a crate, although he hasn't been using that. This area is used just for hanging out for short periods of time rather than an area to run. He gets that time on his morning hikes and evening walks now that the days are longer. We don't use it very often because our life style is to bring him with us on our outings, and if we aren't outside adventuring, then he is inside with me since I am home during the day.

Sorry for the extremely long winded email, but I always jump at the chance to gush about Bruce. I hope you all at the brittany rescue can enjoy knowing that a pup that you rescued and adopted out has found his way into an extremely loving life and home! We are so happy to have worked with you all. Chris and I need to wait until we have a bigger house, but we definitely want to be doggy foster parents in the future and give back some of the good fortune we have had.

Thank you,

-Shannon