Saving a Particular Dog Life

I normally concentrate on the dogs in my immediate region when it comes to who I will foster. Still, the story of this little senior dog that resembles a dog I lost in the fire really tugged at me. She was being tortured by some immature teens in Concord who were kicking her, made her bleed (I’m told) and who were trying to stick firecrackers up her butt on July 4 or 5. It was a story I could not ignore when I heard she was on the euthasia list for a NON-skin breaking bite after that whole ordeal and running into the street to get away from the torture. I saw that she would ONLY be released to another rescue or shelter, so I pulled my card as president of the Board of Humane Society of the North Bay and got her out of the Martinez CCAS shelter one day before she would have been euthanized. The outpouring of graciousness from people in that area who were trying to rescue her is very nice to see. I’ve asked people who want to donate on her behalf (she was previously known as Edna Bode or Mode, but I have renamed her Brandy) to give to our struggling shelter at HSNB, and I will foster her myself. I groomed her very carefully with Shea’s help. I still have a few burrs left to pull out, but she somehow let me groom her on the first day, even though she was understandably agitated when we first met her. I had the muzzle on for a second, but she was so tired that she basically fell into my arms and let me cuddle her by the time the grooming was done. I was exhausted myself. She’s already sort of a completely different dog, as you will see in pictures and videos. She is now an HSNB dog.

The first pictures and postings I saw of Brandy (formerly Edna Bode or Mode):

Picking her up from the shelter in Martinez.

Brandy’s first video at my house after she arrived from the Martinez shelter, still full of hundreds of burrs and not knowing when we’d be able to clean her up. She was excellent in the car, but confused and probably very suspicious. I left the leash on just in case I needed to guide her around, but she immediately got along with the other dogs. A few of them, like Ella, wanted to confront her, but she did not react AT ALL. I’m glad this video captures the countless burrs visible even on her tail and all of the staining and matts in that area. It was nerve-wracking, but little by little I was able to clean that all up.

Later in the day, we got to see a whole different side of Brandy. I find that with new dogs with recent trauma like she had, sitting down at their level helps to be less intimidating, taking off hats or glasses, and letting them come to me. I try to speak calmly around her and let her know she’s a good dog because hopefully somewhere in her long life she was treated with some love and kindness.