May 17, 2012

Subscriber Forum
September 2007

In Tribute: Bruff, a Dog Who Would Not Quit
by Daniel Leahy

here are certain things that teach us the virtues of perseverance and the will to thrive in the face of adversity. We have all had incidents occur that make us feel useless, and this sometimes causes us to stop fighting and give up. This is when we need inspiration.

Bruff came into this world as part of a litter from my female dog, Bray. He was born without breath; he was born dead. Fortunately, our veterinarian, who was also a family friend, happened to stop by our home to see how the births were proceeding. He immediately recognized the puppy was not breathing and gave him CPR. It worked, and the dead puppy became a live puppy. My children thought this was a miracle and nicknamed the puppy D. P. (dead puppy).

D.P. quickly became a very gracious member of the litter and my children’s favorite, so we kept D.P. as part of our family. But we could not let him go through life named D.P. so we changed his name to Bruff II. It had long been established that our English setters had to have Irish names, to be part of an Irish family. The name Bruff is derived from the town in Ireland where my grandfather was born. He became Bruff II since we already had a wonderful English setter named Bruff who lived to the grand old age of 12.

Bruff became a very warm addition to our family. He loved to play with the children and grandchildren. He learned quickly to point and retrieve gamebirds, especially pheasants. He started hunting at the age of two and never looked back… Bruff became a friend at home and in the field. He knew how to hunt for me, to check in with me, and to follow hand signals by the end of his second year of hunting.

A very sad thing happened to Bruff near the end of his third year. He was put under sedation to have his teeth cleaned, and in a rare case of complications, lost 99 percent of his hearing in both ears. My veterinarian friend made it possible to take Bruff to the University of Illinois Veterinarian School of Medicine. They informed me that it was beyond their power to bring back Bruff’s hearing and that the problem was probably caused by the anesthetic used for the teeth-cleaning procedure.

Bruff was a dog that ranged in the field as the cover required, but now he could not hear a whistle no matter the distance. This loss of hearing did not change his gregarious and friendly personality or his love of hunting. We therefore set out to overcome this obstacle by finding a way to communicate with each other in the field.

Thankfully, Bruff had learned to follow my hand signals at an early age, but I had to find a way to get his attention while hunting. It had never been necessary to use an electronic collar on him while training, but I felt it would be the only way to get his attention. Bruff quickly learned to stop whatever he was doing and to look at me for direction whenever I would give him the lowest possible stimulation. This allowed Bruff to persevere when up against this enormous obstacle in order to continue hunting. Friends who hunted over Bruff with me were amazed at his ability to hunt without the ability to hear. He was truly an inspiration.

ruff’s problems were not over. One year later inMarch he was diagnosed with a mass cell cancerous tumor on a scale of C+ by the doctors at the Wisconsin University Veterinary School Oncology Department. The Oncology Department at Wisconsin University School of Veterinary Medicine is recognized as one of the best in the United States. The prognosis was not good. I was told that I had two options to put him to sleep or leave him there for at least one month of radiation, after which his chances of pulling through were slim. Knowing that Bruff was such a fighter, I choose the radiation option. He made it through the one-month radiation treatments and I brought him home. The area where he was radiated was an open sore that required the lamp shade at all times.

The sore did not heal during the summer months. The doctors at the hospital found it was necessary to operate on that sore area and found that the radiation had caused an internal blister to form that impeded the healing process. Bruff could not hunt that season because he needed sufficient time to heal. His wonderful personality around the house with the family never wavered during this very difficult period of his life.

The following hunting season Bruff was ready to go. He picked up his hunting with gusto where he had left it before the cancer problems. He continued to learn all of the fine things that great hunting dogs learn through their own nature and ability. He learned to corral running pheasants, make blind retrieves, and to hold points no matter the circumstances.

Bruff was determined to live out his life as a great hunting and family dog until he was 12 years old. He overcame his hearing deficiency and bout with cancer because of his tenacity and courage. Bruff never lost his cheerful disposition and never let his obvious problems get in the way of his fun-filled life in the field or at home. The manner in which he handled his life’s problems became a true inspiration for my family, friends, and most certainly me. Bruff’s ability to cope and conquer the problems he encountered in life should be a lesson to us all.

I now have Bruff III who is a wonderful English setter, but Bruff II will always live in our memories.

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