Bruce Lefevers

When I found out where my dad worked had saved a dog named Bruce and no one came to get him, I asked my parents if we could adopt him. They said they would think about it. After awhile of lots of begging to convince them to go get Bruce, they finally said we could go get him. So the day we got him was awesome because when we got to the house he was going crazy because he wanted to explore. We walked him around the yard a lot but he was hard to keep up with because he was just pulling so hard to run around. I could tell as soon as he came to live with us, he was really excited.

Now let me tell you how things were for Bruce before he was brought to the veterinarian's office and ultimately came to live with us.

Bruce did not have a good life. He was chained and not able to run free. No one played with him or took him for walks. His life was sad. My dad told me the story of him and how when he was brought to the vet's office, it was because the chain that kept him prisoner had been wrapped around his leg for a very long time. So long that it cut off the circulation to his leg and the veterinarian could not save the leg. Bruce had to have his back right leg amputated. He stayed at the vet for several weeks while he healed. He was left there and not picked up by the owner. Meanwhile my dad kept talking about bringing him home to live with us but they had to wait a certain period of time. The time finally passed and the vet called us to see if we would want to bring him to live with us. After much persuasion, my mom finally said yes. Not because she did not want him but because he is a pit bull breed and she was concerned. Fortunately my dad had been around him for many months so he felt like he would be a great dog for our family.

He became a great addition to our family. He was my responsibility. I fed him, walked him and had a great time playing with him. He had to overcome the fear of his food being taken away and getting used to new people. It was almost instant when he came to live with us that he found out he was finally at a place where he could be happy.

From the time Bruce came to live with us, he was surrounded by love. He had his own home and kennel outside. He slept in the house at night in a kennel. He found that he would never go hungry. He ran around our yard and played. He learned a few commands. My favorite one that I taught him was to give me a "howdy." Because he did not have a back right leg, he had to sit down before he could give you a "howdy" or else he would fall down. He loved this command because he knew when he did it he would get a treat. He was extremely smart and very affectionate.

Bruce learned the meaning of freedom and what it felt like to be loved by a family. My greatest reward from this was to teach me how to be responsible for a living creature. Dogs have feelings, too.

Bruce lived with us for nine years. He is missed.