Lovable dog who runs 6K to greet town residents becomes local legend
Bruno, who for much of the past 12 years has run 6K to town to greet local residents, has become a town legend for his daily commutes.
A Minnesota dog’s daily run has made him legendary in the small town of Longville where he’s known as the town’s ambassador.
Bruno, who lives just outside of the town of 156 people, runs up to 6K each direction every day to greet the townspeople. The canine has done the daily commute, more than 12K round trip, for 12 years. Bruno is believed to be 13 and was profiled in a Kare 11 video.
In the early days of his run commute, town residents would regularly call Bruno’s owners, Debbie and Larry LaVallee, notifying them that their dog had been found. Eventually, Bruno’s appearance around town became so regular that people expected to see the dog during their morning routine.
When Bruno was young, a man stopped by the LaVallee house to drop the dog off thinking that he belonged to Debbie and Larry. Bruno didn’t and was believed to be a stray but the Minnesota family took him in and soon realized he was an avid wanderer.
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According to the Tri-City Herald, Bruno is Chesapeake-Lab mix though many say he resembles a wolf.
“He’s our buddy, we kind of watch out for him the best way we can,” says one resident in town. “Last week he came in stayed about an hour and a half or two hours.”
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Once in town, Bruno is often greeted with snacks and scraps from local shops. His commute includes dirt roads as well as a navigating traffic on local highways. Bruno discovered the route when his owner Larry would drive a garbage truck to town and has made the same trek ever since.
Longville residents have built a statue for Bruno in a local park with an accompanying plaque that recognizes him as the town’s ambassador and the town’s dog. Bruno has his own Facebook page with regular updates being posted about his daily commute.
Now that he has aged, his gait has slowed and his run often turns into a slow walk. Still, as often as he can, Bruno continues to make the daily trek to hang out with local residents.
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