Author Topic: Brutus & Me  (Read 11934 times)

Offline BrewMaster

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Brutus & Me
« on: November 02, 2008, 03:05:49 pm »
Hi everyone!
I'm new here and I would like to introduce my very special dog to everyone.  His name is Brutus, though he also respond to Brew, Brew Master, Boo, & Bruce - which is what our 2 year old son calls him.  Brutus is a mixed breed dog with 50% being great pyrenees, 25% irish wolfhound, & 25% st bernard.  All of that being said, I guess he is our Irish Saint Byrenees.  As are many mixed breed dog, Brutus was an accident but let me explain to you why this accident means something extra special to me and my family. 

In 2005, one of my best girlfriends had the opportunity to rescue some very special dogs - a pure bred irish wolfhound that had been abused and neglected and her 10 puppies!  The puppies were not pure bred irish wolfhounds though as a free roaming pure bred st bernard who lived next door had access to her while she was in heat. My husband and I had just moved into our own home and we were looking for a puppy to adopt, so I was very excited to hear about the puppies, who would be available for adoption.  My girlfriend kept the mother and one of the puppies for herself and my family also adopted one of the puppies.  He looked mostly irish wolfhound but he had that beautiful saint bernard coloring complete with the while forehead stripe.  We named him Barron and this dog was my baby.  I took him to work with me every day and we worked on training from an early age.  We kept up to speed with some of the other families who owned the puppies and took them to the dog park for play dates. 

About a year after adopting Barron, my husband and I made a heartbreaking decision to give Barron to another couple who already had one of his siblings.  Barron had really bonded with his wolfhound "pack" (we think because the puppies stayed together for a long time before being adopted out) and we felt that Barron was more happy with his sibling than alone with us.  It was fantastic to watch Barron grow with his new family and he soared to new levels of love and happiness.  Still we were heartbroken to have given up our giant sweetheart and not a day went by that I did not think about my sweety. 

Several months ago I got a phone call from my girlfriend who informed me that one of the original Irish Saint mixes was being surrendered back to her as the owner had to move out of state.  I was thrilled at the chance to adopt another one of these dogs and had never dreamed that I would have the priveledge to live with another one of these amazing animals again. I was crushed when the owner did not show up to his appointment and then terminated his telephone service, leaving no way for us to reach him.  My dream had faded just as quickly as it had come about. 

Less than a week later I saw an ad for an irish wolfhound mix that was up for adoption from a local rescue group and had my hopes up that this was Barron's sibling.  The dog had belonged to the same owner who was going to surrender Barron's sibling but it wasn't an irish saint. We discovered that this new dog, named Brutus, was the irish saint's son (Barron's nephew) and he had been abandoned in a trailor home and left for dead. 

So years later we have finally connected with this special pack again.  We are so honored to have the nephew of our original dog and are enjoying every minute of him.  Brutus was not socialized and does have some behavioral issues that we are really hoping to correct with help.  He does submissive peeing when he is afraid or when he sees someone new and he spooks easily.  He loves other dogs but is wary of people he doesn't know.  I have been trying to avoid putting him in uncomfortable situations as much as possible for now as we are still building trust with him, but I took him to the dog park today and he did fantastic - even allowed everyone to touch him.

Here are some photos of Brutus:
 

     





Here are a few photos of our original dog, Brew's uncle, Barron:




Enjoy!
-Anna

 
Brutus - 50% Pyrenees, 25% Irish Wolfhound, 25% St. Bernard

Penny - Welsh Corgi Mix

Peggy Sue - Blue & Gold Macaw

Benny & BatToo - Cockatoos

...And Flock!

Offline Binky

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Re: Brutus & Me
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2008, 03:14:55 pm »
Oh my gosh, those are beautiful dogs!  You can really see all the breeds in him.  What a round about way you came by Brutus- it must have been meant to be! 
Binky-Great Pyrenees
Sophie-Leonberger
McDougal-Papillon
Chicklet-Papillon
Sigfried-Cat  RIP Sigs
Spooky-Cat
Jasper-Nigerian Dwarf goat
Ferdinand-Nigerian Dwarf goat

Offline Ursa

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Re: Brutus & Me
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2008, 03:33:24 pm »
Brutus is just beautiful!  How wonderful that you and he found each other!
Ruthanna - the Triplets' mom

Ursa, CGC -  11 month old Great Pyrenees
Fargo, CGC - 9 month old Newfoundland
Sadie, CGC - 8 month old Newfoundland

What Now!? - www.muttdog.us

Offline ZooCrew

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Re: Brutus & Me
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2008, 06:18:29 am »
Hello and welcome!
What a beautiful story.  How wonderful you can still have a kind of bond with the original litter.
What gorgeous dogs they both are.  I love how shaggy Brutus is and I love Barrons' whiskered face.

My name is Chris and my crew is listed below.

Offline BrewMaster

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Re: Brutus & Me
« Reply #4 on: November 03, 2008, 08:32:53 am »
Ah-ha!  I spot another parrot person! Aren't they great?
-Anna
Brutus - 50% Pyrenees, 25% Irish Wolfhound, 25% St. Bernard

Penny - Welsh Corgi Mix

Peggy Sue - Blue & Gold Macaw

Benny & BatToo - Cockatoos

...And Flock!

Offline ZooCrew

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Re: Brutus & Me
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2008, 08:35:48 am »
Yes, the birds have quite the personalities.  I'm actually down 2 birds as my canaries both passed away last month with little notice (no notice for one). 

I have always wanted a cockatoo, but simply don't have the room right now.  Maybe when I'm back down to only one bird.......... ...lol.

Offline BrewMaster

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Re: Brutus & Me
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2008, 08:39:39 am »
We do rescue and have 22 right now.  14 of those are our flock - the others are fosters.  cockatiels to cockartoos and everything inbetween.
-Anna
Brutus - 50% Pyrenees, 25% Irish Wolfhound, 25% St. Bernard

Penny - Welsh Corgi Mix

Peggy Sue - Blue & Gold Macaw

Benny & BatToo - Cockatoos

...And Flock!

Offline People Whisperer

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Re: Brutus & Me
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2008, 11:24:47 am »
Welcome aboard!!! Brutus is just stunning  :-* :o
Now, 22 "birds" is A LOT!!!  :o :o :o You must be very laid back person, eh?
"To once own a Great Pyrenees is to love and want one always."
Mary W. Crane

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it :)


Offline BrewMaster

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Re: Brutus & Me
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2008, 11:25:12 am »
Moluccan cockatoos are a real challenge and though I don't know you, the majority of pet owners out there cannot handle living with one and end up broken hearted and feeling forced to give them up.  I feel a little sheepish to admit that I am usually relieved when I hear that someone passed one up but some people do wonderfully with them and those are also happy stories to hear.  We get lots of cockatoos at our rescue and it's heartbreaking to see them in captivity where they drive themselves nutty with bordem.  Some of the other species of cockatoos are not as complicated though and make better, more stable pets.  We have a Triton cockatoo (about as big as that big pink one) and a smaller Bare eyed cockatoo - both are wonderful!
-Anna  
I love cockatoos!!!! There was one I met years ago (as a broke grad student) that I wanted to own SOOOOOOOOOOO bad. He was huge and pink and liked to lay in your lap and be scratched like a dog. Instead I adopted a Meyers that hated everyone on earth but me and my best friend. Man did she torture the dogs (she’d call them over, bite them, and then laugh; they fell for it every time).
Brutus - 50% Pyrenees, 25% Irish Wolfhound, 25% St. Bernard

Penny - Welsh Corgi Mix

Peggy Sue - Blue & Gold Macaw

Benny & BatToo - Cockatoos

...And Flock!

Offline BrewMaster

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Re: Brutus & Me
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2008, 12:26:54 pm »
I would usually TOTALLY agree with you Re: parrots harder to care for than dogs because they are much more complex and needy, but I have to admit - Brutus is a pretty big handful.  If I don't brush him twice a day his fur starts to turn to dredlocks and loose hair flies everywhere! His behind turns into curly clumps of fur that would make any real Jamaican proud, but it is not terribly becoming on him!  We also feed him 3-4 times a day instead of once or twice a day to avoid any gut twist issues.  He's such a long dog, I really worry, even when he isn't active after eating.   

Here is a picture of Brew when we first got him.  I doubt he had ever been brushed:
 
-Anna
Brutus - 50% Pyrenees, 25% Irish Wolfhound, 25% St. Bernard

Penny - Welsh Corgi Mix

Peggy Sue - Blue & Gold Macaw

Benny & BatToo - Cockatoos

...And Flock!