Rescue Pug Separated From Brother at 8 Weeks Old, 'Fate' Reunites Them

A dog owner has described the fateful circumstances that led to her rescue pug being reunited with the brother he was separated from at just 8 weeks old.

Yuka Tanaka from Santa Cruz, California, believes in fate. She believes it played a key role in bringing her 14-month-old pug Ozzy into her life.

"Last year I met a medium who told me I was going to get a new dog," Tanaka told Newsweek.

"She told me that my current dog would be passing very soon. But she told me not to worry because he was my soul pet and would make his way back to me."

The loss of a dog can be a heartbreaking experience. In 2017, the New England Journal of Medicine reported the case of a woman brought to hospital with symptoms of a heart attack. She was diagnosed with "broken heart syndrome" or "takotsubo cardiomyopathy" which was most likely caused by the recent death of her 9-year-old dog.

When Tanaka's dog Buzz passed away three months later, Tanaka was understandably "devastated." However, she soon felt a "deep sense of ease knowing that he was going to come back."

Soon after she embarked on a search for the "perfect pug" trawling shelters, rescues and breeders all over the west coast. She eventually found Ozzy online.

"I instantly knew he was the one," she said. "He was the last of his litter. All of his brothers and sisters had been adopted at 8 weeks old and he was left behind for six months...it was fate because he was meant to be mine."

The perfect canine companion, Ozzy's days are often spent running on the beach with his friends, or being chased around the house.

"He loves being chased," Tanaka said. "His favorite thing is when he has a toy in his mouth and sprints around the house trying to get me to catch him."

Though he's certainly an outdoors dog, happy to explore trails alongside Tanaka, Ozzy is also a fan of the simple things in life.

"Anytime we pass a bench, Ozzy will try to sit on it," Tanaka said. "He appreciates the slowdowns of life. He loves to cuddle and can fall asleep at a drop of a dime."

It was during one of his trips out to the beach with Tanaka that Ozzy made the unplanned pitstop that changed everything.

"We were walking to the beach when Ozzy just stopped dead in his tracks and sat down on the ground in the middle of the sidewalk," Tanaka said.

That prompted someone passing by at that exact moment to comment on Ozzy. It turned out that he also had a 10-month-old pug called Enzo who was also from Oregon and born on the same day.

It turned out Ozzy and Enco had been adopted from the same person. They were biological brothers. "The funny thing is he didn't even have Enzo with him when we met him. What are the odds of that?" Tanaka said.

"I met Ozzy's biological brother's owner in the middle of the street 500 miles away from where they came from, when he didn't even have Enzo with him at the time we crossed paths. I believe that was fate."

Tanaka had been planning to go hiking with Ozzy that day before deciding to go to the beach at the last minute. "If Ozzy didn't stop for no apparent reason, we wouldn't have met," she said.

Separated at 8 weeks old, hundreds of miles away, Ozzy and Enzo were suddenly living 10 minutes away from each other. Tanaka wasted little time in organizing a playdate, with the pug siblings reuniting the very next day. It was a reunion chronicled in a video posted to Tanaka's TikTok @Snoozinooze.

"There was an instant click and connection," Tanaka said. "I'm sure they have some sort of natural instinct or intuitive sense to be able to tell, but it was so apparent with the way that they played together. Ozzy does not play with other dogs the same way he played with Enzo."

Earlier this year, Ozzy and Enzo celebrated their first birthdays together, while the pug pair regularly meet up for playdates. Fate may have brought them together but, it's thanks to Tanaka and Enzo's owner that this pup duo are never going to part again.

Tanaka said: "Life can be really beautiful and magical if you believe it can be."