Our family has been without a dog for 7 years, after our previous pointer x greyhound Pepsi wandered off one night, never to be seen again. At the time, our youngest child was only 2, and we had a lot on, so delayed finding a new dog. Eventually after many years of saying 'soon' to the children, we decided this year was going to be the right time. We decided to look at an adult dog, as we are all at school and work 4 days per week, so in January, the search began.
We adopted Brandy after an extensive on-line search and many phone calls to people who needed to relocate their pets. We had seen Brandy on the Keysborough site and flagged her as a dog we wanted to meet, although we thought that a 10 year old would be too old.
The day we met her, she charmed us all with her bouncing and her immediate wish to fetch a ball. Somehow, she found one in the yard of the dogs home, and got us to throw for her, so we could see what a great fetcher she was. That was it! It was the one thing our old dog had never got the hamg of - somehow Brandy knew! I made the children come away from the home while we had a discussion about the pros and cons of Brandy - her size (large rather than medium) her age (a little older than we had wanted) but of course her winning personality had us hooked! Within the hour, we were back at the home, hoping no one else had taken her!
Since bringing Brandy home, we have had so much pleasure - even on the long trip back to Gippsland, she just settled right down and slept or watched out the window (yes, she was a bit excited some of the time!). She is a great pal, who adores us all, loves to go on walks (we go twice a day) and enjoys fetching that ball!
Our local vet gave Brandy a clean bill of health when we took her to be introduced, and he commented on her good health and manners - he also thinks she has been lying about her age, and may only be 6-8 years old. We hope so!
At home, she spends more time in with us than out, and has taken to sneaking (if a 31kg dog can)onto the couch - although I don't like dogs on the furniture, she looks so funny that I often turn a blind eye to her antics, especially when she sits on our 9 year old, who disappears under a very pleased and squashy Brandy! We've also discovered that she hates the wind, and on windy nights needs to be settled (hmmmm).
I have attached some photos of Brandy at a local river, which being a Lab, she loves - she also loves to wade in the pond at our local park, and even retrieved a footy for a family who accidentally kicked it in. Some days though she wanders in and drops her ball in the middle as she picks up some interesting scent. Never mind, she's also good at finding balls other dogs have left! I have taken her to the children's hockey practice, but she caused a bit of chaos when she tried to retrieve 13 balls all at once!
We have discovered Brandy's only vice (if you can call it that) which is that she chases cats with absolute abandon and single mindedness. Apart from that, she is a well schooled dog who we really love - none of us can imagine our lives without her, and we think she loves us too! I hope her old family can read this, so they know she is doing well and is very happy with her adoptive family. Thank you for the training you obviously put into Brandy, and for her beautiful nature with people - she has not growled at any wanted visitors to our house, and doesn't bother other people when we are out.
Thanks also go to Keysborough Animal Shelter, we have recommended you to many of our friends!
Tina, Richard, Caity, Jesse, Pippa and Brandy (also known as Brandy Butter!) |
