BRUCE (Brutus) came to live with us in March 2019 because his owner Alan Hall sadly began to lose his eyesight through a degenerative eye condition, a very sad situation all round. Bruce had been a rescue dog in Portugal where Alan was living, he is a Rafeiro do Alentejo. This breed of dog would have lived with flocks of sheep protecting them from wolves and other predators as they were moved from mountain to plateau and back to the mountain, they are guardian dogs who are not aggressive by nature. Bruce is a wonderful dog, a real gentle giant who is very happy here, he loves having so much freedom and is another friend for Merlin our little lurcher as he joins in with the game of ‘chase the vehicles’ as they pass at the bottom of the woodland on the other side of the fence, it’s lovely to see them having so much fun. The breed are known to be quite independent and need to be socialised, something that Alan did very well from the moment he had Bruce. Bruce was thought to be around 2 years old when Alan adopted him which would make him around 7 years old now though I would say that he is at least 10 years old. As Bruce didn’t need to come to live with us permanently for several weeks I was able to do it very gradually firstly taking him for walks then having him over for a few hours then overnight then a weekend which of course helped Bruce and Alan so much giving them both time to adjust. I don’t think that people always realise what a huge upheaval it is for a dog, or any animal for that matter, to be moved to somewhere else and for their world to be very suddenly and abruptly turned upside down, they not only lose their home and family but everything they have known and love, it is quite heart-breaking. Bruce still sees Alan and we will continue to keep in touch. Both Alan and I are very glad that Bruce is now totally happy and settled with his new life.