Russell Brand's dog will make a "full recovery" following an operation

He shared a throwback picture of his canine companion on Instagram and wrote: "He will make a full recovery.

#bear #germanshepherd (sic)"

But the 'Get Him to the Greek' star also admitted the dog won't be appearing in any new Instagram posts for a while.

He also shared a video of Bear and wrote: "Currently Bear has a lampshade on his head and bizarre shaving and cannot appear in videos. Here he is in happier times, with a Madonna theme.(sic)"

Earlier this week, Russell attempted to cheer up his pup with a song.

He shared a video of himself singing the theme tune to the 1979 TV show 'The Littlest Hobo' before having his phone knocked out of his hands by the excitable pooch.

He captioned the video: "Last song before Bear's op."

In the 40-second video, Russell could be heard calling his dog's name and the pooch then ran up to him and caused the camera to fall over.

Russell could then be heard saying: "Who's a good boy? Give me that stick. You ridiculous boy."

'The Littlest Hobo' was a programme about a German Shepherd who wanders only to stop and do a good deed or help a person in need.

This is not the first time the 'Arthur' actor has posted a video of him serenading his dog, as in December last year he sang love songs to his pet on 'The Jonathan Ross Show'.

Russell gave his partner Laura Gallacher - with whom he has two-month-old daughter Mabel - Bear as a gift as he thought it would be good practice looking after the puppy before becoming a father for the first time.

At the time, a source said: "Ever since Russell moved to the countryside he has been desperate to get a dog - and saw this as the right time.

"He reckons looking after Bear will be good practice for him and Laura before baby arrives this summer.

"If he is as hands-on as he with Bear, he is going to be all right."