Brandy's Adventures

Shirley, Brandy and I went to Poway Dog Park this afternoon for Brandy to play with some of her friends. For some unknown reason Brandy was “snippy” at several of the dogs, which happens occasionally. Suddenly, someone pointed to Brandy and said she had blood on her. I quickly ran to her and found blood on her right front paw. Upon further inspection, I saw that she had a nail split with one piece going off at a 45° angle into the adjacent nail. She didn’t complain much when I picked her up and carried her to the car which was about a quarter mile or less away.

We immediately went to Brandy’s vet, just before closing, and she was fearful, as she usually is when she recognizes that she is going to the vet. The vet looked at her paw and then took her to the treatment room. Brandy looked back at Shirley and me, appealing for help as she was lead away.

Brandy returned with the nail trimmed and a bandage around her foot, the bandage to be worn for 24 hours. She tried to chew the bandage several times; we told her “no” and she finally left it alone. Sadly, there will be no more hiking for a while.

Due to the construction at Poway Dog Park, the small and medium dog pens have been temporarily closed and the large dog pen is extremely dusty. Brandy complained about it so we are now playing at the RB Dog Park where she enjoys the All Dogs pen.

Rancho Bernardo Dog Park had only one dog when we arrived (yesterday) and it left shortly after we arrived. So we waited hopefully for another to show. Then, Bela arrived! Bela is an Italian greyhound. Bela and Brandy quickly became good friends, chasing and chewing each other. Even though other dogs came to play, they would introduce themselves to the new dogs and then resume playing together.

Brandy suddenly yelped while running and then began severely limping on her left, rear leg. After a few minutes, she was just slightly limping, but we thought it best to end the play for the day. Brandy is eagerly looking forward to another play-day with Bela.

Wow! What a difference a day makes! Brandy visited the dog park yesterday and seemed eager to get inside the fenced area. We immediately released the leash and Brandy busily introduced herself to both dogs and people. She was soon chasing and being chased. It was thrilling to see Brandy running full out, exercise she could never get on our lengthy walks. Brandy would exhaust herself, take a short rest by Shirley and me, and, when rested, continue her vigorous exercise. Brandy repeated this for well over an hour. (Photo: Brandy(left) with her new-found friend, Missy)

Brandy was resting with her eyes closed in the car, but shortly after we returned home, she was running full out in her yard, through the patio door, around the furniture in the house and then back to the yard. Brandy is tireless!

Yesterday, just before sunset, we introduced Brandy to the Rancho Bernardo Dog Park. She seemed interested in the dogs inside the fenced area so we took her in and kept her on the leash. Because Brandy had recent surgery, we didn’t want any rough-and-tumble play. Brandy’s curly Shiba tail immediately tucked between her legs so we left the fenced-in area as quickly as we could. Once outside, Brandy’s tail quickly formed the Shiba “O” and she was sniffing the dogs through the fence, while Shirley and I were talking over the fence with a couple that had a beautiful, pure-bred Shiba. We think that the leash may have been a factor in her fear because none of the other dogs was leashed. We then walked through the lawns of the Rancho Bernardo Community Park and Brandy enjoyed the freedom of the long, retractable leash sniffing everything in sight.