Written by Katja Herr of Staffordshire Terrier Rescue SA
Professional photography by Jackie Wernberg Photography
Bruno was dropped off by his owner, who was a farmer from Joostenberg Vlakte. He’d been put on the back of his bakkie and driven all the way to the farm in Klein Dassenberg.
He was put in his kennel run by the owner, a vet card was handed over, and we were told that he moved to a farm where no dogs are allowed, so Bruno had to go.
Only afterwards did we discover that something was terribly wrong with this handsome young Staffie…
Fear of being hit
We couldn’t come close to Bruno. If we even tried to touch (under an evil eye given to us), his entire stocky body would shake like he’d received an electric shock.
He’d come without a collar and we tried to put one around his neck – but there was absolutely NO CHANCE to get anything on him or around him. He was terrified and ran into the corner of his run and just sat there. When he saw anything looking like a leash, he either barked or just got out of eyesight, hiding away.
We left it there, gave him some time to settle and adjust, got him some CBD drops to help him to relax, and started with slow moves around his kennel. But even if someone was just walking up to his kennel door, he was cowering out of fear of being hit.
We would have to be patient. The more we spent time with him and the less we tried to touch him, the more comfortable he got around us. It took several months of perseverance to be able to touch Bruno without having him recoil in fright, freeze, and then walk away from me.
He was afraid of the collar and leash
Once he felt more comfortable overall – about a year later – we started to leave a leash and collar on the ground and fed treats around it. He ate the treats but, even then and a few weeks in with no rushing, we still had no chance. I once put a little piece of string over his back and he froze and ran away; he sat down, but the string didn’t move, so he ran further until it was off his back. Bruno was clearly a deeply traumatised dog.
We asked many behaviourists for advice; they’d come and see him, try and help us to get him on a leash, but to no avail.
Yet, he was as happy as Larry in his run and, when we spent time there, to have the kennel door open so he could run around and play with us. We got the priceless Staffie smiles and tons of kisses. He was overall happy.
As, at the time Bruno had a certain “look”, a vet advised putting him on Lorien (an antidepressant) to see if this would help him to relax and calm down, which it did… but it didn’t help with the struggle to get a collar on him.
We just simply couldn’t get him to the vet, to a home, or anywhere without a collar and lead. We looked out for home options and had a volunteer offering to have Bruno at her home for some time to see how he behaved.
We seized the opportunity to have Bruno in a foster home to assess his overall behaviour. With some effort, we managed to catch him and lift him into the car, and he was on his way. In the home, he felt like a normal dog. We all were delighted to see that he had a friend to play with as he’s a social dog. He had a good time.
Disaster strikes
About a week later, Bruno had a massive epileptic fit. We got a huge fright – we didn’t know if this was all too much for him or what was wrong. Getting him to the vet was near impossible as he didn’t want to cooperate to be caught, and he became crazy and scared. We backed off, but eventually we managed to get him into the car and to the vet to be checked out.
It wasn’t a nice experience for anybody. The vet was understandably concerned about being bitten, so Bruno was sedated for the check-up and drawing of blood – and to put a collar on him. He didn’t freak out about it when he came around later, and so at least we had a collar on him. But still no chance for a leash.
We then got evicted from the farm we’d been staying on for the last five years and had to move very quickly, having been given three-and-a-half weeks to move. (It ended up being the best for us as well as for our dogs.)
A life changer
At this very time, by chance, I saw a post by Louise Basson from Dog-Care-Centre about working with a fearful dog. I investigated her page, approached her, and she came out to meet Bruno. She said she could help him. He was to join her training camp for four weeks. This changed his entire life.
What a blessing for Bruno!
It was hard for him to be moved from his known environment where he felt so safe and comfortable. It ripped our hearts out what he had to go through, but he had to go the way by himself, and he was very willing to do so.
To work on Bruno’s fears of being handled, Louise used a combination of behaviour modification and the use of self-medication. As she explains, “The animal self-selects plant extracts in the form of essential oils, herbs, and hydrosols to help the animal work through emotional and physical trauma. This made Bruno’s training the success it was. It’s a holistic approach where we don’t just use positive reinforcement training but also do zoopharmacognosy and animal communication to help the animal move on from old trauma and thought patterns – it even helps them with physical ailments. (You can read more on Caroline Ingraham’s website to understand this; I am one of her students of self-medication.)”
Bruno was able to leave the Dog-Care-Centre after four weeks of this treatment feeling comfortable with a collar and walking with a harness and lead. He was a changed dog.
Unfortunately, at the end of this training period, the foster home we had for him fell through and Bruno had to come with me to my dog day care, Bow-Wow, in Woodstock, Cape Town. Here, there was no farm or things he was used to, and slippery floors he much disliked, but we made it better with rubber mats and he followed the training given like a champion. He was so willing and kept pushing his way in his new chapter in life; it was amazing to see.
It got to the point where I couldn’t offer him more than to jump over obstacles, walk stairs up and down, and to go for walks. What Bruno now needed was a lawn under his paws and a home and love.
A whole new world for Bruno
I asked Lynne Weight, one of our amazing volunteers, if she could give Bruno a break from Woodstock life and she generously agreed. Bruno loved it. He loves car rides and he loves walks – he could walk all day if you’d let him – and soon Lynne fell in love with Bruno. It even gave her purpose in life and, I must admit, he’s a bit of a goofball and can make one laugh seriously.
He had a check-up at the vet and was slowly taken off his Lorien as he had some more terrible epileptic fits while with me – it broke me to witness these and not to be able to do anything, then to wait it out and to be there for him. We wondered for how long he must have had these seizures and if they just hadn’t been picked up at the farm kennels amongst all the other dogs clamouring for attention. BUT we focused on going forward, weaned him off the Lorien, and Lynne started his new meds. Since then (touch wood) he’s had no more fits and even goes for multiple walks a day and swims.
It was the most intense and heart-breaking, touching rescue we’d ever had in Cape Town BUT with a truly Happy Tail ending.
We’re so grateful for what Bruno taught us and how far he’s come; how he pushed himself to grow. To experience his determination when he did a trick he didn’t like but persevered and was afterwards so happy about getting our clapping hands. And would be rewarded back with the most beautiful Staffie smile ever – he was so proud of himself.
We humans can learn so much from dogs with no words! Bruno taught us patience, and we feel honoured that we could help him and he could help us all to grow with him.
Lynne Weight, Bruno’s owner, shares...
A good friend, Tracy Williams, introduced me to Bruno for the first time when I went with her and her husband, Clive, to visit the farm out in Klein Dassenberg where the Staffies were being kennelled. That was in March last year, so I’ve been a Staffordshire Terrier Rescue South Africa volunteer for almost one year now.
Bruno was the Staffie that had been there for the longest time – almost two years! (He was surrendered when he was two years old.) We walked and gave the dogs treats every week on a Sunday, come rain or shine. We couldn’t walk Bruno on a lead as he’d been so abused, so we let him out of his enclosure to run around and we just played with him.
In August 2022, we were told we had to leave the farm where our kennels were – we had until the 30th of September to have the dogs and kennel structures removed. At this stage, we’re still looking for a home to re-erect our kennels so that we’ll be able to rescue more Staffies. We currently rely solely on foster families to look after them while we search for suitable homes.
By the end of September, we desperately had to re-home five dogs. Some went to kennels, while Bruno went for intensive training with Louise from Dog-Care-Centre for four weeks. Afterwards, while we were waiting for a suitable home for him, he went to live with Katja at her dog day care, Bow-Wow.
One day, Katja asked if I could take Bruno for a couple of hours one or two days a week. Having a pair of Staffie dogs herself made it difficult for him to wander around and he needed to adjust to normal home life.
I fetched Bruno early from Bow Wow and he spent most of the day in Marina da Gama, where I live in a waterside house with a small garden… and no fence. I watched him carefully when in the front garden. Bruno loved being more free and enjoyed lying next to me while I worked on my laptop in the dining room. I took him for many short walks to build up his fitness. New noises that he had to adjust to were the vacuum cleaner and the blender while making smoothies for the family.
Bruno had two outings at my house until, on Sunday the 18th of December 2022, I fetched him to come and live with me and my two sons.
I was anxious at first as Bruno has epileptic seizures almost every two weeks. He had plenty of meds that I gave him with his food. Four days later, he had three seizures – one late that night and two in the early hours of the morning. Thankfully, two days before Christmas, he started his proper epilepsy medication (having been slowly weaned off his anxiety medication and calming drops). Happy to say that to date he hasn’t had any more, and that’s almost six weeks now. The only drawback is that the medication makes him extremely hungry, so he needs a midday snack, and I give him two frozen chicken necks a day.
Our cat who adopted us and moved in about three years ago from a neighbour (she obviously thought she was happier in our family) also had to be introduced to Bruno. This was quite easy as Katniss didn’t run and Bruno never chased her. For about three sessions, I held her on my lap and allowed Bruno to smell her head and tail, and that was that. Goal accomplished.
Bruno is now part of our family. He can be a stubborn fellow, but he’s so loving and his life has changed, all due to his intensive training from Louise and Dog-Care-Centre. He’s walking happily on a lead and even swimming in the vlei when I take him to our Park Island sanctuary for his daily walks.
Getting to know the Staffie breed was a huge learning experience as I grew up with two miniature Dachshunds and, while married, had two terrier-cross dogs from TEARS. Looking after a power breed is so different, and Bruno being well-trained and obedient makes it not only safer but easier to handle him.
Bruno has settled very easily into our lives and I love having him as part of our family. My honest opinion is that he’s saved my life more than I’ve saved his!
About Staffordshire Terrier Rescue South Africa
Staffordshire Terrier Rescue SA started in 2012 to help this misunderstood and often abused breed. This volunteer-run organisation rehabilitates and rehomes surrendered and rescued Staffordshire Terriers throughout the country and focuses on education. You can read more about this wonderful organisation in our Happy Tails Magazine article here.
