Then, he started growing peach fuzz 🥹
Last August, when Cleft Pup Brigade posted a photo of Harold, a 4-month-old French bulldog, foster mom Andrea felt compelled to take him in. The little guy wasn’t like other pups — he was completely hairless with pink, inflamed skin that required serious care — but Andrea was willing to go the extra mile for him.
“We saw him on their Instagram and immediately fell in love with him,” Andrea told the Dodo in a recent video. “I said, ‘I know that I can get this puppy turned around.’”
Facebook/Cleft Pup Brigade-originally Mr Fig Newton
Andrea welcomed Harold home, and as she fell more in love with the pup, her heart broke knowing just how much he’d been through in his first few months.
“Harold is not a hairless Frenchie; he just doesn’t have hair because he was rescued from a severe neglect case,” Andrea said. “For him to go from birth to the state he was in, that is just such a concentrated amount of time for a small puppy to be in discomfort.”
Facebook/Cleft Pup Brigade-originally Mr Fig Newton
Harold was in desperate condition, but he luckily landed a foster family determined to care for him. They immediately started him on a skincare regimen that involved three essential steps.
“We gave him [medicated] baths every other day, and he was, like, so comfortable in the bath. He just likes being warm,” Andrea said. “And then we would slather him with lotion because that was what was gonna help that hair growth. And then we would put T-shirts or sweaters on him just to kind of soak it in extra.”
Andrea Haverland
The resilient pup was grateful for his therapeutic baths and cozy sweaters. Thanks to his foster parents’ tireless care, Harold’s skin quickly improved, and his personality blossomed.
“After a week or two, we started to notice his peach fuzz growing back all over his body,” Andrea said. “It was really quickly after we brought him into our foster care that we could see that he just had this incredible personality. It’s almost like he enjoys making people laugh.”
Andrea Haverland
The only thing Harold loved more than making his foster parents laugh was being nestled in their arms.
“He loves to be held,” Andrea said. “We would take him to a lot of places, and we would hold him really close to us.”
Sometimes, while accompanying his family on an outing, Harold would be mistaken for someone completely different.
“When he wasn’t fully potty trained, sometimes we would have a diaper on him, and people would say, ‘I saw you sitting over there, and I thought you were holding a baby,’ or ‘I thought you were holding a Sphynx cat.’”
Andrea Haverland
Passersby were always shocked to learn he was just a Frenchie recovering from a difficult past. Still, Harold delighted everyone he met — including his new forever family.
“We found a perfect family for him, and they have a dog already named Hippolita, who’s a very beautiful bully breed, and she and Harold at the meet-and-greet were so sweet together and so playful,” Andrea said. “[Harold’s] a puppy. He’s a wild puppy, but she was so patient with him. We knew that that was gonna be a perfect home for Harold.”
As Andrea predicted, Harold adapted to his new family seamlessly. And he’s been enjoying life with them ever since.
You can see Harold with his new family here:
Andrea misses having Harold around, but she’s happy he scored a loving family for the rest of his life. While their time together was brief, Andrea is grateful to have even been a part of his story.
“When you are able to just give all of this love and attention to a dog who really, really needs it, the reward is seeing them heal, seeing them thrive,” Andrea said. “It really is so special to be a part of that.”
To keep up with Harold’s adventures, follow him on Instagram.
To help pups like Harold get the care they need, you can donate here.
