We have received this wonderful update on Brân, who was originally known as Zippy when in our care.
There are various reasons why people apply to adopt one of our hounds; often, it is to provide companionship for their own dog who has just lost their friend, as is the case here.
All of our dogs are assessed for compatibility with other dogs. Some would be best to be an only dog as they wouldn’t want to share their people or possessions, whereas some need another dog for company, often to help their confidence or to help them learn how to transition to life as a much-loved family member – Brân was the latter.
We leave his lovely mum to pick up the story.
We lost both our greyhound Molly and lurcher Lola to cancer in 2022, within six months of each other. We were going to wait and take a break before we got another dog, but a little lurcher called Burt popped up needing rehoming, and he and The Mister fell in love immediately, so Burt came home in the August following the sudden and heartbreaking loss of Molly in the April. When Lola lost her 19-month battle with lymphoma in the October and crossed rainbow bridge, Burt became an only dog. He loved the undivided attention but had no one to play with, and we were used to having two dogs in the home.
We took ‘Zippy’ home on December 19th 2022, as an emergency foster as he had been in kennels for nine months and wasn’t coping well. We brought fellow brindle Burt along to meet him to make sure they got along, and they romped around the secure field together. It was a very cold day, so everyone, including the dogs, were wrapped up in several layers, and our breath hung in the air like clouds. The meet was successful, and he came home with us.
It became apparent very quickly that he would become a foster fail as he dropped into our lives as if he’d always been here. He mastered our stairs – steep and narrow – and cautiously laid claim to the low four-seater sofa – Burt didn’t mind as he was on the pull-out sofa with us, which he views as Top Dog #1 spot!
We chose the name Brân – a king of Welsh mythology who was so giant that there was no house big enough for him, so he and his court had to live in tents! Brân is nearly twice the size of little Burt and takes up the entire four-seater sofa all by himself! (although he likes to cwtch in with Cuddlepillar and leave room for Burt and I, so we can all share my mug of tea and digestive biscuits in the morning).
He is the most calm and gentle hound we’ve ever had; he adores meeting people and having a fuss made of him. He follows me around the house and garden always wanting to see what I’m doing. He does wonderful happy teeth chatters and big, puffy contented sighs with the famous greyhound balloon cheeks.
We briefly considered the name Sauron because of his glowing eyes! He eats like a horse and breaks wind like one too! He was roaching and biiiiiig stretching within days of coming home with us, and settled in so quickly.
He’s an absolute dreamboat, and we couldn’t imagine our lives without him.
Brân’s mum
If you’d like to hear more from these two brindle boys and you’re on Instagram, you can also follow them on @burtandbranthebrindleboyos
Happy Emotional Health Day!