Last night we went over to a friend’s apartment to see his new place and to celebrate/mourn the death of his dog, Brandi.
I knew Brandi when my friend, Nick, first got her as a puppy, 11 years ago. I remember not being too sure if it was a good match for he used to be really squirrelly and angry over his divorce, but those two were inseparable. He would take her everywhere. He was homeless, and Brandi stayed with him in his tent that he had set up. I felt bad for her, but she didn’t care as long as she was with Nick. Nick mellowed out immensely over the years. He loved that dog so much. People in the neighborhood were used to seeing those two together. He had been telling me for over a month that the vet had given her too strong of an antibiotic for her feet that were infected from something stuck in them, and she wasn’t acting herself at all.
When he finally got housing I saw a change in Brandi. Oh my gosh. She became a puppy again. She was so happy. It was cool to see that. But that was 6 months ago.
He told me she passed right in front of him. She rolled over, made a sound, and looked at him, and then her eyes went fixed and she stopped breathing. He tried to give her CPR and said she started breathing a little bit but it didn’t last long. He knew she was getting old, but nobody expects it to be that day that is your pets last.
This is the booger of it. I asked him what did he do with Brandi? He told me he had to load her up in his trailer that was attached to his bike and took her to the vet’s office. How sad is that? He rode with Brandi in the back down and across town to the vet’s. Oh my gosh. Now he doesn’t know what to do. Does he get another puppy he asks. I’m not sure what the answer is to that. I know when my LB June passed I didn’t even want anything else until I got Charley 5 years later, and even then I kept calling her LB. What would you do? I don’t even want to think about it, but I think I’d get a young dog when she gets older just because I’d have something to focus on when that situation comes up. Ech.
He lives right by Green Lake. As soon as you go out of the gate there is a huge ball field that people let their dogs run around. The lake is right by the field so there is so much to do for a really hyper dog. She had so much fun. Her eyes were sparkling and she was grinning the whole time. Nick just shook his head and said that he doesn’t know if he could handle a dog like her. Too much energy he said. Tell me about it.
CHARLEY WAFFLE 