A woman who agreed to foster a malnourished puppy from a rural shelter quickly discovered she had taken in more than she bargained for—literally.
After a trip to the vet, Georgia-based Laurel Lingenfelter told Newsweek she learned that the tiny, underfed rescue named Brucey was not a small bully-breed mix as listed, but a 12-week-old Great Dane with the legs, tail and appetite to match.
A TikTok video chronicling the discovery was shared by Lingenfelter under the username @mythologicaldogs on September 7, and has since gone viral, racking up more than 162,000 views.
“I was under the impression he was 4- to 6-months-old and a bully mix that was just severely malnourished,” Lingenfelter said in the clip. “But, after we brought him home and we really looked at him, I started to get suspicious that we actually might have a giant-breed puppy on our hands, and our vet confirmed we were right.”
Lingenfelter told Newsweek that she was alerted to Brucey’s condition through a video shared by a local rescue group.
“He came from a rural town a few hours from me,” she said. “He was found completely emaciated, a 2 out of 9 on the dog body-condition scale.
“We saw a video of him in this awful and heartbreaking condition, but he was still carrying a toy around and wagging his tail,” Lingenfelter added.
The shelter had listed him as a 5-month-old mixed breed. Lingenfelter said her family drove to pick him up, suspecting that, in such a remote area, he would not stand much of a chance of being spotted and adopted.
Once home, though, things did not quite add up.
“We brought him home and started to notice the similarities between him and our own Great Dane—the lanky legs, long tail, his general build,” Lingenfelter said. “The next day, we went to the vet, and she confirmed through his build and examination of his joints that he was a Great Dane.”
Lingenfelter also learned Brucey had been fed far too little for a puppy of his actual breed and age.
“He was only a 12-week-old puppy, getting fed way less than a dog his age and size should be,” Lingenfelter said. “We immediately switched his food to a large-breed-specific puppy food and have already seen improvements.”
That change needed to be gradual. The experienced fosterer said that feeding a rescue dog this malnourished normally could kill them.
“That is called refeeding syndrome,” Lingenfelter said. “We are slowly upping his caloric intake daily, but, in a week, he should be eating like a normal puppy would.”
Despite everything he has been through, including being put on a dewormer size far too small, Brucey’s cheerful spirit has remained intact.
“He is the happiest puppy we have ever met; his tail truly never stops wagging,” Lingenfelter said.
The TikTok video has drawn hundreds of comments comparing Brucey and his spirited demeanor to viewers’ own pups.
“I love the comparison in the comments of Bruce to the viewers’ own dogs,” Lingenfelter said. “I think it is so sweet that he reminds people of dogs they have loved.
“I love that he brings a little joy to people’s feeds; he is truly a ray of sunshine, so bright, that it is plausible through a phone screen.”
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