From commentor Dog Is My Copilot:
This is a memorial, sadly… RIP, Brandy…
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In December 2006, Golden Bond Rescue contacted me to do a dog evaluation in Puyallup, Washington. The dog’s name was Brandy. After the evaluation was done, GB asked if my husband and I could foster her. My husband (the softy) said that if she came into the household, she’d be a permanent part of the family. Well… She came… and she stayed.
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From the very start, we could see that Brandy was going to “need a little work.” It was obvious that she had a mind of her own and didn’t regard most humans as “master.” She quickly earned the nick-name “PITA.” (Yes, that’s an acronym!) Brandy was somewhat like a bull in a china shop and claimed the role of lead dog in our small pack. Without much behavioral training, she was a handful.
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We worked with Brandy over the next two years to instill some manners and she eventually came to respect us “humans” but there was always that “me first” attitude. She, like many other Goldens, wanted attention and a paw in the lap was her first approach. Snapping at treats (and most food in general)… one had to be careful about handing her tasty morsels. Breaking her from that “I’ll go through the door first” habit was difficult. In as much work as she was, she still worked her way into our hearts and home.
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One of our fondest memories of Brandy is the day she came home from the groomer with pink bows in her ears. Knowing Brandy’s demeanor and temperament, pink bows just weren’t fitting for a tom-boy. She looked up at us with a happy “grin” as if to say “look at me! Aren’t I cute?” We laughed profusely that day and likely we will in the future. The attached picture pretty much tells the story.
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We have three other dogs, a Golden named Buddy who I adopted from Golden Bond, the Rat Terrier/Chihuahua we refer to as the “little man,” who we adopted from Puyallup animal rescue just this year, and a little Pomeranian named Millie. Millie was rescued by Old Dog Haven and “found us” on PetFinder.com. Brandy has been a huge help to little Millie, who was terrified of human contact. You see, Millie was likely a puppy mill dog and Brandy served as Millie’s mentor and guide through the human world. For that we are grateful. Millie has blossomed into a lovable little creature with Brandy’s help.
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It is with great regret that we said our final good-bye to Brandy. Greeting my husband at the door, she paused for one more petting and one more hug before collapsing on the floor. It was as if she waited to say good bye as well. We will miss Brandy, our little “PITA” dog. Things just won’t be the same without her.
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Here’s to all that take the time to rescue an unwanted and unloved animal.
Jman
Brandy looks just like my little Buddy who came home from the groomer once with ribbons, a bandana and painted toe nails. We just laughed so hard. I visit the Golden Bond website from time to time. One of these days the spousal unit will say yes. Memory hugs and ear scratches for Brandy.
Keith G
A precious photo indeed.
JPL
What a happy picture and Brandy appears to be quite proud.
Dog is my copilot, please share photos of your other pups.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Thanks for sharing. As a species, we seem to be hard wired into believing in some kind of afterlife. If that’s the case, I hope our pets are there floating on a sea of love waiting for us to give em a scritch and a treat.
debbie
That picture is what I love about dogs: Always making lemonade out of lemons.
satby
My sympathies on the loss of Brandy, who I’m sure felt she was so lucky to have found just the right family to have a full and happy life.
WereBear
Awww, what a nut. With those challenges, sounds like she found just the right, understanding, home.
My sympathies on your loss.
geg6
Sympathies on the loss of Brandy. She sounds an awful lot like our Otis, behavior-wise. He, too, was a rescue and still has some behavioral problems that will drive you nuts, right up until he looks at you with those eyes, puts a paw on your knee, tries to climb up into your lap (size and weight notwithstanding), and you melt. Goldens are such lovable dogs, aren’t they?
Ash Can
Brandy was obviously a cutie. Condolences and kudos to Dog Is My Copilot.
elmo
Oh, Dog. So sorry about your loss.
Our most recent rescue is a 5- or 6-week-old beagle mix that my partner found on the side of the highway on Black Friday. Yes, I did say 5- or 6-week old. She weighs less than four pounds.
When she was found, she barely had the strength to lift her head. Severely dehydrated and near frozen — the temp was about 35, and would later drop into the twenties, with a stiff breeze.
We are feeding her puppy kibble soaked in goat’s milk, 6 or 7 times a day. She has a large, open fontanelle and severe strabismus — we aren’t at all sure how well she can see — but this morning, she was chewing on the end of my nose like it was a tasty rawhide, and she races around the kitchen with her tail wagging like crazy.
Svensker
Well, snork, sniff, gurk, now I have salty coffee. What a sweetie.
Joy
So sorry about Brandy. I know it’s left a huge hole in your heart. I love the bows! My golden comes back from the groomer with orange bows and we crack up. They stay in for about 2 seconds after the little rat terrier mix (my PITA) tears them out of her hair. How wonderful you have adopted the other dogs and how lucky you all are.
ruemara
a lot of mist in the air here. Condolences on your loss, Dog. Buddy looks like a sweet minx in that pic.
wonkie
Old Dog Haven is a wonderful organization. They have agreed to accept a very rightened old blind dog who is living in an abandoned shack about six miles frm my home. I have been giving her food but I can’t take care of her from a distance for ever. I am going to attempt to tarp her this week and hopefully she will be in a foster home by Sunday.
I wonder if for some reason tis doesn’t work out would you be willing to foster her? You seem to have experience with frightened dogs. She is an Aussie mix. She does not bark or snarl. Her pattern is to scuttle off with ther tail between the legs.
I will chewck this thread for a response. Please don’t feel obliged. However ifyou are inerested and the ODH thing falls thorugh maybe we could exchange info anjd figure something out. I live on an isalnd in the South Sound.
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asiangrrlMN
Brandy is a beautiful girl–and full of spunk she was. My condolences to you on the loss of your loved one.
Dog is My Copilot
Thanks for the kind thoughts from everyone. It’s going to take awhile to get used to Brandy’s absence. She was a handful, but was such a sweet dog. It was hard to be upset at her for very long.
Wonkie – I’m hoping OldDog Haven can help you out. I think if we had more time on our hands (we both work full-time) and had a bigger piece of property, we’d love to help out more dogs. We had four, and are now down to a more manageable three dogs. So I hesitate to commit to something I may not be able to follow through on.
We transported a couple senior dogs for OldDog Haven yesterday – picked them up from a vet clinic and transported them north to Tacoma, WA. One went to a final refuge home and the other is going to a foster home until she can be offered for adoption. I’m glad ODH exists to help out these senior dogs. They need places to go where they can feel loved in whatever time they have left.
Again, let me know what happens with this dog. I would certainly help them all if I had the means. It breaks my heart to hear of dogs that have been abandoned like this. They really do not deserve to be treated this way.