{"id":6809,"date":"2023-12-03T08:30:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T13:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=6809"},"modified":"2023-12-03T08:30:44","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T13:30:44","slug":"brunos-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2023\/12\/03\/brunos-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruno\u2019s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Left Hanging<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Last Sunday, I left a dog story \u201changing\u201d (A Tale of Turkey and Dogs<\/a><\/em>).  I started the tale of Bruno, the Mastiff wandering a mobile home park thirty minutes south of here.  He\u2019s been \u201cout\u201d for almost a year.  No one really knows how he turned up at the Park. Did a resident move out and leave him, or did someone drop him off at the front gate, or did he just wander onto the place?  Only Bruno could tell that part of the story, and he\u2019s not talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he did find himself in a good place.  While he spent last winter finding shelter under empty mobile homes, he also found people who would help him out with food.  In fact, even the mailman became attached to the wandering boy.  Bruno wouldn\u2019t allow petting, and shied away from \u201cgo for a ride\u201d, but he would take a treat, right from his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another resident, who lives towards the back of the Park, fed Bruno since last February.  They bonded.  She could pet him, and he\u2019d follow her around. They spent the summer playing with toys in an open field.  And he would go up on her porch. But he still wouldn\u2019t go inside, even in the worst weather.  And when she tried to put a leash on him, he wriggled out and disappeared for two days.  But he came back.  Unfortunately, the resident is terminally ill.  So she and the mailman reached out to our group, Lost Pet Recovery:  what could we do to help Bruno?  She wanted to be sure he\u2019s safe, with someone to take care of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trapper\u2019s Instinct<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My wife Jenn is a \u201ctrapper\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0She is able to think \u201cwith\u201d the dog.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not about making him do anything, the rule is, \u201cIt\u2019s all on the dog\u2019s terms\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But she tried to convince Bruno to go into a trap.\u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s a foster home waiting for him, if only Bruno would \u201ccome in\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0It excruciating:\u00a0\u00a0as the winter sets in, and the temperature dropped into the teens, we\u2019d drive off watching Bruno huddled on the grass by the mobile home, shivering with the cold.\u00a0\u00a0A warm home, with food and friends and other dogs, is only a couple of steps away. But he wouldn\u2019t go in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s \u201ctrap smart\u201d; especially since the local dog warden already tried three times.  And he even ignored our much larger trap, with the \u201cmagic\u201d McDonald\u2019s double cheeseburgers as bait.  So Jenn tried a different kind, a panel trap, one that looks like a kennel fence instead of a wire crate.  And Bruno slowly eased into it, stepping farther into the doorway each time.  Dinner time was 9:30 pm, so Jenn spent almost two weeks, driving over to the Park, and leaving paper plates with a mix of Kroger roast \u201csavory\u201d chicken and dog food, four plates staggered to draw Bruno farther into the trap.   On Thanksgiving night, there was even a portion of our hickory smoked turkey from our table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dancing in the Back<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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It took more than a week.  Bruno was waiting at 9:30 pm, right at the corner of the mobile home.  If Jenn was a couple of minutes late, and he\u2019d give her \u201cthe look\u201d \u2013 where have you been?  He allowed Jenn to get close to him, in fact, she sat on the ground and Bruno ate chicken from her hand.  In his mind, Jenn was \u201cThe Chicken lady\u201d.  But Bruno always kept an eye on the other hand, the one without the chicken:  \u201cNo funny business, Chicken Lady!!!\u201d.  And each night, he went a little farther into the panel trap.  We could see him on the trail camera, dark night shots of the dog with first his front paws over the transom, then four paws, then stretching his whole body forward to get to the next plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, in the middle of the night on Tuesday; he was all the way in the back of the trap, getting the prized fourth plate with the biggest portion of dog food and chicken. He danced with joy.   We did too, he was where we needed him.  Thank goodness: the Park Management didn\u2019t like Bruno, and they didn\u2019t like the trap and camera either.  We had a deadline \u2013 get him by Friday, or get out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical Glitch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday night we set the trap.  Bruno stood and watched Jenn lay the plates out, a pathway to the \u201cpot of gold\u201d at the back.  He even watched Jenn hook up the electronics, a laser light that when broken, de-activated an electro-magnet that held the door open.  It sounds high-tech, and it kind-of is:  like a garage door version of the famous Tom Cruise scene with laser beams in Mission Impossible.  <\/em>A lawn mower battery powered the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Wednesday Bruno went all the way back \u2013 and —  comfortably ate.  The system didn\u2019t work.  As John Wayne would say: \u201cMy fault, your fault, nobody\u2019s fault\u2026\u201d.   The door didn\u2019t close.  Bruno was very pleased with the \u201cpot of gold\u201d.  Jenn, and LPR Director Don, were disappointed:  try again Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was almost three weeks since LPR got on the case, more than two weeks with the panel trap.  And, unlike most of the \u201ccases\u201d we work on, we not only had Bruno in sight, but in contact, day after day.  We talked to him, and watched him play, and dance, and run around on the warm nights. He looked happy.  But he shivered so much from the cold as the temperatures dropped.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There weren\u2019t many good alternatives if the panel trap failed.   \u201cKnock-out darts\u201d are hazardous.  They can hurt the dog if they hit in the wrong place, the dog can react badly to the drugs, but most of all, the drug takes minutes to take effect.  Meanwhile the dog\u2019s been \u201cshot\u201d, and he\u2019s running.  So after the dart hits there\u2019s a frantic search \u2013 can we find where the dog is hiding, where he passed out?  The window is only a couple of hours.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deadline<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thursday was the last night.  We showed up at 9:34, and, unlike other nights, Bruno wasn\u2019t around.  Jenn put the plates in and set the trap.  She nervously came back to the truck to wait. Already something was different \u2013 no Bruno waiting for his \u201chandout\u201d.  But it only took a few minutes, and Bruno was IN, all the way back!!   The door still didn\u2019t close.  Bruno finished up the \u201cprize\u201d and wandered out to find what other \u201cgoodies\u201d might be around.  Don texted \u2013 well, not a nice acronym, and Jenn determined that we\u2019d reset and try again.  The \u201chigh tech\u201d system got the ultimate fix \u2013 a system restart, pull the plug, then power it all back up.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time, the prize was a plate of Vienna Sausages.  And this time, before Jenn could even it back to our truck, the trap door slammed shut.  There were four startled barks, and the sound of the panel trap shaking furiously as Bruno tried to force the door.  But then, the \u201cChicken Lady\u201d was there, saying \u201cNO-NO-NO-NO\u201d.  Bruno stood still, terrified, but trusting enough to stop trying to wreck the place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then he laid down, eyes glazed.  He was drooling, almost frozen with fear.  Jenn continued to talk to him, and Don came to figure out how to get him out.  It wasn\u2019t like a regular trap, where we\u2019d just pick the whole thing up and transport trap and dog to a closed environment.  And it was clear Bruno wasn\u2019t going to come out on a leash.  Don had us place a regular trap up against the panel door, then went into the enclosure to coax Bruno out.  As soon as he felt the lead go around his neck, Bruno made a mad dash,  out the door, and straight into the trap.  We could now transport him to his new home at the foster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safe and Warm<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But Bruno still didn\u2019t unfreeze, didn\u2019t settle, until the lady in the mobile home came out.  He heard her voice, felt he hand; and immediately relaxed.  She cried a little bit, but he knew that if she trusted us, he could as well.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruno\u2019s at the foster home now.  He\u2019s met the foster parents, hung out on the couch, had a bath and slept beside his new foster brother.  He\u2019s still a huge flight risk, the fosters have to watch every door.  But he\u2019s warm, and fed, and seems happy to adjust to a new life as a \u201chouse\u201d dog.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and the lady from the Park made sure he has his favorite toys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019d like to donate to our group, Lost Pet Recovery \u2013 here\u2019s the link \u2013 hit the Donate button:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            <\/em>Facebook \u2013 Lost Pet Recovery<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or if you\u2019d like to send a check –  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n