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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Reveals “Painful Decision” to Put His Puppy to Sleep

Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson shared a photo of his puppy Brutus on Instagram on Tuesday, Sept. 29, revealing he had to put it to sleep

We’re so sad about this. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took to Instagram on Tuesday, Sept. 29, to reveal that one of his two of his recently adopted French bulldogs, Brutus, had to be put to sleep after eating poisonous mushrooms.

In a heartbreaking photo of the actor and former wrestler holding his puppy, Johnson, 43, revealed the horrible news that Brutus had gotten sick from eating a mushroom that he’d found while playing in the backyard.

Related: PHOTOS: Celebrities and their pets

“Another reminder we have to live and love as greatly as we can today, because tomorrow is never guaranteed,” he captioned. At approximately 11:15 p.m. last night myself and [girlfriend] Lauren Hashian had to make the painful decision to end Brutus’ suffering by taking him off of life support and sending his soul to pup heaven. I held his lil’ paw as he was finally at peace. We’ll always love you Brutus and you’ll always be my lil’ main man and rough housing Brute.”

Johnson adopted the French bulldog and his brother, Hobbs, over Labor Day weekend, and just hours after bringing them home, jumped into his pool fully clothed to save Brutus from drowning. He described his real-life action adventure in an Instagram post that showed him soaking wet and holding the tiny pups in his hands.

Here's a fun Labor Day weekend story… We just decided to add two new members to our Johnson family. Baby French Bulldogs. In my right hand is BRUTUS and in my left hand is HOBBS. Bring them home and immediately take them outside so they can start learning how to "handle their business and potty like big boys". I set them both down and they both take off in a full sprint and fall right into the deep end of our pool. HOBBS immediately starts doggy paddling while BRUTUS (like a brick) sink heads first to the bottom of the pool. I take off into a full sprint, fully clothed, dive in the pool, swim to the bottom, rescue my brick, I mean BRUTUS and bring him back to the edge of the pool. He was a little delirious.. took a moment, threw up all the water he swallowed and looked up at me as if to say, "Thank God you didn't have to give me mouth to mouth!" and then ran off to play with his brother. A few lessons I've learned today.. A) Not all puppies have the instinct to doggie paddle. B) Some puppies (like BRUTUS) will be so in shock by experiencing water they will sink extremely fast so react quick. C) While spiriting to save your puppies life, before you dive in, try and throw your cel phone to safety. Don't keep it in your pocket… like I did. #BRUTUSLives #HOBBSCanSwim #MyCelPhonesDead #AndNoMouthToMouthNeeded #HappyLaborDay

A photo posted by therock (@therock) on Sep 7, 2015 at 3:35pm PDT

“Brutus sinks head first to the bottom of the pool,” Johnson captioned. “I take off into a full sprint, fully clothed, dive in the pool, swim to the bottom, rescue my brick, I mean BRUTUS and bring him back to the edge of the pool.”

Just a week later the Get Smart actor shared another photo of a sick Brutus at the vet, explaining that he had an upset stomach. “First I save this lil’ zombie Brutus’ life from drowning in the pool, now he decides to get all sick on me.”

Related: PHOTOS: Sexiest celebrity dads

But Brutus quickly recovered and The Rock posted a video that showed him trying to take the lazy little guy out for a walk.

Brutus is survived by his brother, Hobbs. The Rock and his girlfriend, Lauren Hashian, announced Sept. 16 that they are expecting their first child together. The Ballers star already has a daughter, Simone Alexandra, 14, from a previous relationship.

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