Brandy's Adventures

Brandy was putting her muzzle deep into the dog park water bowl yesterday so we decided today to see how she liked more water. We filled a kiddie pool about half-full of water and she immediately jumped into the pool. Brandy was biting and pawing at the water, swirling it around with her muzzle and occasionally biting at the debris floating on the water. Then, she tried chewing at the edge of the pool. Unsuccessful at getting a good grip on the edge, she jumped out, turned abound and grabbed the curved lip of the pool, bending it up until we stopped her.

We have a lap pool and we can hardly wait until the water gets a bit warmer so that we can see if she likes deep water. It should be exciting!

We are exploring the trails a little at a time with the goal of going from Lake Poway to Mt. Woodson peak. We’ve several times been around Lake Poway and now wanted to explore Warren Canyon. We started at Lake Poway Trail (counter-clockwise) with Brandy being at times after a good start, a little hesitant to continue around the lake. Brandy would stop briefly and just look at me, then, she would continue because I didn’t stop. I thought this slightly strange behavior as she almost always hikes in front of me, except for her “sniff” stops.

We took a short break where Lake Poway Trail joined Warren Canyon Trail and then continued uphill on Warren Canyon Trail along the canyon. Brandy kept stopping and starring at me. I had to keep encouraging her to continue with “Let’s go!” and she reluctantly and briefly complied. We kept hiking uphill until we met Mt. Woodson Trail and there we stopped for a short rest and to look at the scenery.

That was a far as we intended to go today, with the thought of next time we would hike from Lake Poway to the top of Mt. Woodson. We then went downhill toward Lake Poway and Brandy led the way tugging slightly on the leash.

When we got to the Lake Poway staging area, I offered Brandy water and she lapped a few times and seemed disinterested so lack of water wasn’t the issue. When we go to the top of Mt. Woodson, we’ll have water and snacks.

I kept trying to understand Brandy’s reluctance to hike as she is usually very eager to do so. I’m very interested to see how she reacts the next time we hike.

We have been unsure about Brandy having the run of the house when we were away, as we were concerned with her chewing and potty habits, so a few times we have been putting her in the bathroom for an hour or so with her toys, open crate and a food-filled Kong. We twice found her on the counter-top when we returned and she would cower a bit. Most recently, she resisted somewhat going into the bathroom so we lured her, a real chow-hound, with food.

We wanted a better solution and, especially, a happy Brandy, as she has built our trust. Yesterday, as a test, we thought we’d leave her alone in the house for twenty minutes as we took a drive through the Old Coach area of Poway, admiring the homes, as well as a bit of country. When we returned, we were met by a happy Brandy and no destruction or soiling. We were ecstatic!

We later in the day went to our grandson’s, Hunter’s, 6th birthday party leaving Brandy with the run of the house for about three hours. Again, Brandy was simply happy we were home and had been a good girl while we were gone.

We would like to have the option of leaving Brandy outside while we are away and will soon work on that. Our concern is that she will bark, which is intolerable. We live in a very quiet neighborhood and will do our best to keep it that way.

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.

I don’t like tight collars on my anthropomorphic family members; I remember all the years that I wore neckties. I thought Brandy’s collar was too tight so Shirley adjusted it. Sometime later, Shirley exclaimed, “Look at Brandy! She has her collar in her mouth!” Sure enough, Brandy had been able to bite the very loose collar and then couldn’t get it out of her mouth. The collar was all the way to the back of her mouth and, try as she did, she couldn’t expel the collar. I struggled to release the strap from the buckle tang and she struggled to expel the collar. Just as I thought I would have to quickly cut the collar, I was able to unfasten it. Brandy and I were both relieved. Now, we’re looking for a collar with a snap fastener.

Brandy is learning the Poway trail system beginning with those trails that are conveniently accessed from her home. She’s going out at least twice daily and experiencing either a new (to her) trail or a new segment of a trail she previously hiked.

Because of the Santa Ana, Brandy was out early today to avoid the heat. This was her first experience in riding in a car since she came to her new home and she cowered when asked to jump in the car. That was strange as there was no problem in her getting in the car at the Helen Woodward Animal Center. Brandy allowed herself to be picked up and placed in the car but she immediately wanted to crawl out. She quickly settled down for the short ride to the trail head at Lake Poway Road.

Brandy explored the Espola Trail, meeting a few other dogs, joggers, rabbits and cyclists. She responded well to all, and even said “Hello” to a couple of dogs. Brandy’s learning to wait at street crossings.

Brandy cowered again when asked to get into the car and let herself be picked up. Brandy has a vet appointment on Wednesday and needs to see the car as, at least, a most-times good experience. We’ll drive her to the Rancho Bernardo Dog Park and more distant Poway trails until she realizes that we are not taking her away.

Shirley and I went to Helen Woodward Animal Center today to see “Basil” and “Foxy”. We would have taken Basil but then we met Foxy! She’s a Shiba Inu mix, about fifteen months old and weighs nineteen pounds. She was skittish when we first approached her kennel but we quickly became friends.

Shirley kept throwing out names and eventually we narrowed her new name to a choice of Ginger and Brandy and, then, finally to Brandy. Now that we had a name, Brandy needed a website so she was quickly online.

Brandy had surgery last Monday so we are being careful with her. Brandy’s very inquisitive, a bit jumpy with new things and stays relatively close in the pack. This evening, she growled and barked at the TV when Shirley turned it on (Brandy must be my dog :).

She ate well after her fifteen-minute walk this evening and seems to be settling in.