Home > Out of the Cage! > February/March 2005 > Success Story: Brandy: Not Someone Else's Dog

Success Story

Brandy: Not Someone Else's Dog

by Andrea Kelly, American Bullmastiff Association Rescue Service Volunteer

Andrea Kelly is a volunteer with American Bullmastiff Association Rescue Service and a lover of the breed. She adopted Brandy in 2001. Following is their story as told by Andrea.

On July 17, 2001, I received a call concerning an elderly Bullmastiff in a kill shelter in Brooklyn. She had been dropped off by her owners, who claimed they no longer had room for her. Time was running out, and the shelter staff was desperate to find her a home. The next day, I picked up Brandy.

Although the staff told me she had some minor medical problems, I wasn't prepared for the dog they brought out from the cages. This poor old girl was virtually blind and mostly deaf, coughing, barely able to walk the few feet from the cage to the visitors' room. But she bravely greeted everyone, including the resident cats, with a wagging tail and happy expression. Her nose worked just fine, and she sniffed out a friendly hand, coming to rest her weary body against my legs.

After completing some paperwork, we went out to load her into the van. The shelter staff accompanied us, teary-eyed, but happy that Brandy was going to a safe haven. It took a couple of tries, but with some help, she managed to crawl up into the crate in the back, and she snuggled in for the ride to New Jersey, contentedly gnawing on a selection of chew bones after she carefully arranged the stuffed toys around her. Before we left New York, this old girl had won my heart. The next obstacle would be convincing my husband, Patrick, that we should keep her, and not just foster her.

Once home, Brandy stepped out into the cool grass under the shade of a pine tree and had a drink, and I had an opportunity to examine her more closely. What I saw was very discouraging. Her eyes were nearly crusted shut; when I managed to get a brief look at them in the sunlight, it was obvious that her corneas were badly damaged, and I assumed she had cataracts in addition to an awful case of entropion. Her ears dripped with foul-smelling, black ooze, a sure sign of a very serious ear infection. She appeared to be mostly toothless, had several large and unsightly cysts on her head, legs and body, and I suspected she had a urinary infection. Her feet were badly inflamed, two were infected, and she limped on her left front. She hacked and choked and coughed almost constantly.

Still, she wagged bravely and licked my hand. As I led her down to the barn for a bath, the most troubling sign appeared. She could walk only a few feet before lying down, and I sadly assumed she had a serious heart problem on top of everything else. But she persevered, and settled in for an afternoon nap, clean and sweet-smelling, in a huge crate with a deep mattress and lots of toys.

When Patrick arrived home, he went in to meet our new "foster child." Much to my relief, he reappeared a while later, talking about how he would have to build her a ramp so she could get in and out of the van more easily, and an elevated food dish so she wouldn't strain her neck. Later, he took her for an evening stroll. There was no question: Brandy was his dog, and she was staying.

The next day we took Brandy to the vet. Her trip was made much easier by the custom-made, carpeted ramp Patrick had constructed to allow her easy access to the van!

The vet's findings were as I expected: severe entropion that resulted in the horribly scarred eyes (but no cataracts), a terrible eye infection, an even worse ear infection, a urinary infection, severe kennel cough, and gingival hyperplasia — a condition characterized by swollen, overgrown gums. Most amazing, though, was that her cardiac exam was excellent. There were no signs of a heart problem.

Two weeks later, Brandy underwent surgery to correct the entropion and remove a couple of wrinkles from her muzzle to make her breathing easier. She also had a couple of cysts removed, and dental work performed. She came through the surgery with flying colors, and returned home to her new Bullmastiff friends, Ted and Goyle, for a few weeks of recuperation and TLC.

As Brandy began to heal, we noticed an amazing thing — she was regaining her sight! While we had opted for surgery to prevent further damage to her eyes, we never dreamed that her vision would return. However, she had such excessive wrinkling on her muzzle that it pressed her eyelids up over part of her eyes, which in turn protected part of her eyes from the constant irritation of the inward-turning eyelashes. She could see out of the bottoms of her eyes!

Brandy made daily progress, becoming increasingly more fit from her walks to and from the barn. She began to accompany us to agility and obedience lessons. At first, she just watched, but when she was a little stronger, she began to participate. Despite the clearing up of her ear infection, her hearing didn't improve, so her participation was somewhat limited. But her vision got better and better, and she rejoiced at being able to actually see her new environment. Trees, grass, birds, horses — virtually everything was a new experience for this city girl. Her very favorite sight, though, was her dad's truck pulling into the driveway.

Ted had qualified for a national agility competition in Minnesota in September, so Brandy packed her suitcase and headed off with the rest of us, taking life on the road very much in stride, making new friends wherever she went. At the competition, there was a photographer who was captivated by her sweet face, and Brandy posed happily for a number of professional photographs. We re-told her story again and again, and, at one point, while discussing her apparently permanent hearing loss, a listener opined that Brandy could certainly hear and squeaked a toy to prove it. Brandy's hearing had returned!

One more round of surgery awaited her when we got back to New Jersey — the removal of the five remaining cysts. Brandy valiantly endured all of this with just a local, and now the only remaining health issue was the state of her feet. Several courses of antibiotics had brought the condition under control, but the irritation and sensitivity remained, so Brandy wore little red boots when she had to walk on uneven terrain.

Once she was finally healthy and hearing, her serious obedience training was scheduled to begin, with the hope that some day she could work as a therapy dog. Well, in true Brandy fashion, she surprised us by already knowing all of the necessary skills to pass the TDI test, and on October 14, 2001, not quite three months after narrowly escaping death, Brandy became a certified therapy dog. Every Wednesday morning, she visited a local nursing home, spreading cheer and offering a sympathetic ear to the residents.

The poor old girl who struggled to walk out of the shelter had disappeared. In her place was a vibrant, healthy girl. While we didn't know exactly how old she was, we estimated she was not yet nine. Several months of life outside of a crate, breathing country air and eating a healthy diet had made a new woman of her. The horrible calluses that covered every joint became smaller and smaller with each passing week, and her chiropractor and personal masseuse slowly worked out the kinks created by a lifetime spent in a very small crate.

With daily exercise, Brandy grew stronger. The joy of watching her learn to run and play more than compensated for the efforts we made to bring her to that point. Every day was a new day and a new adventure for our girl, and we loved to watch her new life unfold as she galloped through the fields, free at last, finally realizing the joys of being a healthy, vibrant, safe, comfortable, and happy Bullmastiff.

Ten months to the day after her "rescue," Brandy went Best of Opposite to Best Adult from the Veteran Bitch class at the Delaware Valley Bullmastiff Club's annual sanctioned match!

But August brought some discouraging news — Brandy had developed a mammary tumor. However, the surgical excision was successful, and there appeared to be no spread. Within two months she was competing in her first official agility trial, running in NADAC tunnelers classes, and she flawlessly completed both courses. Several weeks later, she competed in Novice B Obedience at the American Bullmastiff Association National Specialty in Delavan, WI, where she charmed the crowd with her enthusiasm and courage. She also led the Rescue Parade and won the Costume Event, which she attended dressed as Cleopatra accompanied by her dad disguised as Marc Anthony.

In April 2003, Brandy earned the first of three legs needed for an APDT Rally Obedience title. That summer, she made an appearance at the Mayor's Alliance Pet Adoption Festival in Central Park, where she showed spectators all the wonderful advantages of adopting an older dog.

Late September brought another challenge for this brave girl. Brandy toppled over getting out of the van and severely injured her arthritic back and hind end, resulting in a temporary paralysis. Then, just days after regaining some mobility, she required emergency surgery for a second mammary tumor. Once again, the post-surgery prognosis was positive.

The following month Brandy competed in her second Rally Obedience trial. She attained scores sufficient to give her the two final qualifying legs that she needed to achieve the APDT Rally Obedience title of R-1!

The new year found Brandy working harder than ever promoting rescue. She developed a line of greeting cards that were sold to raise money to help other Bullmastiffs in need. When summer arrived, she again represented ABA rescue at the Mayor's Alliance event in Central Park, this time arriving in her custom-made chariot, a bright red wheeled conveyance to carry her through the park to the staging area, where she spent the afternoon charming the public, eating doggie ice cream, and comforting a frightened, one-eyed Maltese.

Sadly, on October 24, 2004, Brandy suffered a seizure, probably caused by a brain tumor. Two days later, she had another. We lost her on Friday, October 29, 2004. She's buried in the garden, one of her favorite spots, with her two dear buddies, the Scoobys.

Because of Brandy, we are far more deeply committed to rescue than before. We expected three days with her; we had more than three years. It wasn't long enough. It never is. But during those three short years, we learned the real meaning of perseverance and commitment. We learned compassion and conviction. We learned that there are hundreds more just like her, every year, who desperately need our help. And we learned that she wasn't "someone else's dog." She was ours, and we loved her.

If you'd like to learn about American Bullmastiff Association Rescue Service, please visit http://www.bullmastiffrescue.com.