Angus had a tough start in life. The Neapolitan mastiff/ Bull mastiff mix had a grade 5 heart murmur and wouldn’t survive without surgery. The dog was alone with no owner. Adding to his immense challenges, Hurricane Irma was barreling toward his community. But Angus got a second chance.
Samantha Scott was at the Gulf Coast Humane Society helping with storm preparations when she saw the puppy.
“I saw him, and I fell in love,” Samantha begins. “He was 22 pounds, just under 3 months old. We had three dogs at the time and Hurricane Irma was coming.”
Officials at the humane society asked Samantha to foster him because of his heart murmur.
“We took him and fell in love,” Samantha describes of meeting Angus. “He had heart surgery at under six months. Now we work with the humane society and use him as an ambassador for the Second Chance fund.
Second chance is the dog’s motto and the name on his Instagram and Facebook pages. The now 3-year-old dog is 125 pounds, and though he takes heart medication, he is healthy. His story and social media posts are used to bring awareness to other dogs in need. The humane society has a Second Chance program that raises money to help dogs with medical necessities.
“There are lots of other dogs that come in there with very serious health conditions,” Samantha points out. “We use his platform and his audience to promote him. If they are doing a fundraiser we tag it. We are trying to create awareness for Second Chance and for the humane society in general.”
Angus didn’t just get a second chance at life — he got a luxury life. He sleeps with his owners in their king-size bed each night. It’s so comfortable; he doesn’t like to get up in the morning.
“He is like another human,” Samantha describes. “He doesn’t move once he is down. He loathes getting out of bed. You have to coax him.”
Once he is finally up, he has his walk and then breakfast. Angus is allergic to many foods including chicken, so he eats a special diet that includes Canidae dog food, apples, yogurt and a few other foods.
“People ask us how much he eats,” Samantha says. “He eats just under two cups in the morning and just under two cups at night.”
When Samantha goes to work as president of Pushing the Envelope, Angus comes along.
“He is very calm in the car,” Samantha adds. “He loves sticking his head out of the window. He loves the breeze.”
At the Fort Myers office, he mostly lays around enjoying attention from staff.
“He has his own special corner where he is by the window where he can see all of downtown,” Samantha says. “Also he likes to lounge on a couch in the back of the office. He will sit on the couch like a human, which amuses people because you don’t normally see that.”
He also tags along when Samantha goes to meetings.
“He goes to the (Fort Myers) Chamber of Commerce,” she continues. “He is an unofficial chamber member. They care more if he comes than if I do.”
Recently Angus has been spending more time at home. Samantha had a baby in September and has been working from her house.
“He loves her,” Samantha says of her daughter, Charlotte, and Angus. “He is very gentle. If she is crying he comes running.”
He’s also enjoying playing in the fenced-in backyard with Samantha’s other dog, Ana, an 8-year-old Bahamian Potcake that was rescued from the Bahamas.
“He grew up with her,” Samantha says. “She is his big sister and his boss.”
Being at home has taught the dog some new skills. He learned to stand up on a door handle and then pull the door open. A video of him on Instagram doing this received thousands of views.
“We have French doors in the back and he can open those,” Samantha says. “Any door that has a handle that is the long one he can open. His favorite is to open the French door in the back and go on the patio by the pool and lay on the ottoman or the chaise. If we leave the door unlocked he will go out on his own.”
He’s also spending time in front of the camera posing for his owner and his Instagram posts. For Halloween he was a firefighter. He has long john pajamas with red-and-white stripes that he wears for Christmas. On his birthday, June 11, he wears a birthday hat.
Most of all he wears bow ties. The dog has 40 of them in a variety of colors.
“A friend gave us a bow tie when he was little and now he is a brand ambassador for Prim ‘N Proper Paws,” Samantha says.
His other claim to fame is having more than 4,000 followers on Instagram and having more than a million views of a video that was linked on the AnimalKind website. Yet Angus prefers pats to popularity. He gently greets people with a soft sniff.
“Kids love him,” Samantha says. “Especially little kids. He’s their size. He will sit down and wait for them to come over. Small is not in Angus vocabulary. He is just a big love bug.”
"Angus is unique in a few ways,” Samantha’s husband, Derek Scott, adds. “Not only is he an oversized puppy at 125 pounds, he thinks he's a human. He sits on the couch like a human, opens doors letting himself in and out, and goes to work like a human. He's like a living teddy bear who loves to be with humans and we love him back, even if he does take up most of the bed!"
The blue and tan brindle-colored dog with black around the muzzle, is a mellow and loving dog that is living a life that is so different from his beginnings.
Samantha says the Southwest Florida Veterinary Clinic in Bonita Springs has a cardiac specialist that helped heal her dog’s heart.
“Basically, he was slated for puppy hospice if he couldn’t get the surgery, but they expect him to have a healthy life,” Samantha says.
He leads that healthy life with a name that fits his journey.
“Angus means uniquely strong,” Samantha continues. “We thought that was fitting since he had to fight for his life, with the humane society’s help, and was going to be such a big dog. The double entendre that he’s a big beefcake and Angus is a type of steak, didn’t hurt either.”