Bruno is enjoying his new lease on life.
The pooch who gained the Miracle Dog title last fall after surviving for 27 days in the bottom of a 10 metre abandoned well near Hitchcock, is “pretty well back to normal now,” said owners John and Cindy Billesberger who reside on an acreage not far from the old water well where Bruno was found by John, his son Joseph and another family Labrador retriever, Luna in mid-October 2016. Bruno had gone missing in mid-September and was the subject of a feverish search by family members for several days before they pretty well gave him up for lost.
“He usually didn’t wander off, and never missed a meal,” said Cindy, so when he didn’t show up on that September evening, the search began.
Nearly four weeks later, while working near a nearby neighbour’s field, John Billesberger was distracted by Luna, who was refusing to come to his side when called. She remained as a sentinel near a spot of well-grassed land. When John cleared the grass away to reveal the old well, he was shocked to discover the family’s pet, at the bottom, more dead than alive, but still able to lift his head out of the muck at the bottom.
With the assistance of his son Joe, who went down into the well to lift Bruno up and out of the well, the Billesbergers phoned Prairie Animal Health Centre in Estevan to inform them they were bringing Bruno in.
“I could see by the looks on the assistants’ faces it wasn’t good,” said Cindy.
An intravenous line was started, Bruno was cleaned up and a recovery process began, but a setback was experienced within a week which prompted a transfer to the College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon where an expert team of veterinarians and nutrition specialists reset his treatment and feeding regimes. It was a first for them since they had no history of any dog living as long as Bruno had, without food and only spots of water that he might have been able to consume at the bottom of the well after rainstorms.
The special diet and additional attention worked well and Bruno was brought back to Estevan and the PAHC and the Billesbergers for follow-up care and diet monitoring. It was not unlike a person recovering from anorexia nervosa, said clinical nutritionist Dr. Tammy Owens.
Electrolytes, phosphorous, magnesium and potassium were all slowly re-introduced into Bruno’s then delicate system as he slowly began the long trip back to a normal weight since he had lost over half of that total while languishing in the well.
“Now, he back to normal weight, and probably then some,” said Cindy with a laugh.
“And we can’t keep him from rolling in the mud all the time, so yes, I’d say he’s pretty well back to normal. Although he still prefers to stay indoors now, especially if it’s cold,” she said of the eight-year-old chocolate Lab.
The family was concerned with the fact that after they brought Bruno home after the ordeal, the other five dogs on the Billesberger acreage, which is shared by two families, shunned him at first, but that too, has since changed.
“No problem with socialization with other dogs now, although it did take awhile for the other two male dogs in the yard to come around again,” said Cindy, who suggested earlier that due to Bruno’s stay in various medical centres, his scent was probably foreign to the other dogs upon his return.
“Now they can hang out near the pigs we have on the farm here, so it’s back to normal, and that’s not always pleasant, but it is normal,” she added with another chuckle.
Bruno did go missing for a while not long ago, which sent the family into another frenzy as they hopped on bicycles and ATVs to go looking in the early evening.
“As it turned out, he was just stuck between some bales of hay right next to the Quonset, staring at the tennis ball he was trying to retrieve and he wasn’t barking or making any noise, but at least he was easy to find this time.”
Bruno lost some toenails during the ordeal, probably due to his early frantic efforts to try and dig out of the well. The foot pads were restored, but some nails were lost which means Bruno now walks with a decided limp, but is still able to run with the other dogs, when the mood suits him.
The Billesbergers and Bruno gained all kinds of international attention when the story broke and thousands followed his path to recovery, through social and traditional news circuits. The dog became a celebrity and Cindy said they still get occasional inquiries from visitors to her husband’s law office in Estevan or through media connections.
Bruno, the miracle dog survived terrible weather conditions and impossible survival odds and proved his mettle.
“But now, the weather has to be good before he’s even interested in going out. He’d rather lounge around and sleep in the sun and we let him,” she said.
“Right now he’s on the deck, just watching the world go by. He’s not doing any wandering.”
That’s the dog’s world right he has earned.
