At 13 years old, Bruiser had earned the right to like things exactly the way he liked them.

He was a big, sweet senior dog — nearly 100 pounds of loyalty, habit, and quiet stubbornness. His world ran on routine, and one thing mattered more than most: when it was time to go outside, he went out back. Always out back. No exceptions.

“Bruiser is stubborn and doesn’t like change,” his owner, Nicole Michell, often joked. And like most families with an older dog, they’d learned that keeping the routine meant keeping the peace.

But one small change was all it took.

When Nicole and her boyfriend left town for a short trip, they asked a trusted friend to stay the night and keep Bruiser company. At the same time, construction was underway on a new deck — right in the backyard where Bruiser usually did his business. To be safe, Nicole suggested the pet sitter take him out front instead.

Bruiser disagreed.

When it was time to go outside, he flat-out refused to use the front door. So the sitter clipped on his leash and tried to guide him out back instead, carefully steering him away from several deep holes dug for the deck’s footings.

But Bruiser wanted freedom — not guidance.

“He’s very stubborn,” Nicole said later. “And he’s strong.”

As Bruiser pulled the opposite direction, his back foot slipped.

And suddenly — plop.

Bruiser dropped straight into one of the holes.

The fall wasn’t dramatic, but the result was. His big, round body fit perfectly into the narrow opening, wedging him inside like a cork in a bottle. He couldn’t climb out. The sitter couldn’t lift him. And the harder they tried, the clearer it became that this wasn’t something they could fix alone.

Panicked, the sitter called Nicole right away.

Nicole and her boyfriend immediately tried calling others nearby to help. But Bruiser was stuck — really stuck. Eventually, they made the call no pet owner ever wants to make: animal control.

Before long, local animal control officers and members of the Baldwin Volunteer Fire Company arrived. For Bruiser, who preferred calm predictability, this was anything but routine.

The rescuers assessed the situation carefully. Bruiser wasn’t hurt, but he was uncomfortable, dirty, and confused — wondering how a simple bathroom break had turned into such an ordeal. The team widened the hole just enough to get a secure grip on him, working slowly to avoid stressing the senior dog.

After about an hour and a half from the moment he fell in, Bruiser was finally lifted out.

Safe.

Dirty.

But completely unharmed.

When Nicole and her boyfriend heard the news, they cut their trip short and rushed home, hearts still pounding. They braced themselves for limping, soreness, or fear.

Instead, they were greeted by… Bruiser being Bruiser.

“He was 100% fine,” Nicole said. “Just dirty. Not a limp. We got home about two hours later, and he acted like nothing even happened.”

The holes in the yard were quickly covered. The deck construction continued with new precautions. And Bruiser? He didn’t hold a grudge against anyone — not the sitter, not the construction, not even the hole that swallowed him whole.

His family, meanwhile, was overwhelmed with gratitude.

They thanked animal control. They thanked the volunteer firefighters — some of whom even checked in the next day just to ask how Bruiser was doing. What started as a stressful accident ended as a reminder of how quickly strangers will show up when an animal needs help.

As for Bruiser, he’s back to his routine.

Older. Wiser. And maybe — just maybe — a little more careful around holes.

But still stubborn.

Just the way his family loves him.