Brandi

 
 

February 2005:  Brandi had a veterinary check up done all is well.  Her little chin looks great and no reoccurrence of the tumor.  Her owner just raved about her and she looked fabulous.  We are sooooo happy for this special little girl!!!!!

July 2, 2004:  Brandi is officially adopted and doing great!!!  The family has her off leash and coming very well in controlled areas.  They really worked at this because they want to go camping and swimming.  She is now swimming without the line and minds very well.  Having a good structured, patient and consistent training and exercise routine has payed off this family and we are very proud of them.  She looked very happy and settled at their lovely home and truly seems to have found her forever home.  

June 25th, 2004:  Brandi went on a new trial with a very wonderful family with another dog her age and two cats.  They are very active and love the outdoors.  They were looking for a playmate for their dog and she and Brandi hit it off right away and have been inseparable since.  They do not have a fenced yard but have had experience training their dog to come and they do not allow them out unsupervised.  They love to take Brandi swimming and they still use the long line.

June 18, 2004 update:  Brandi went on trial and is back. Typical of young dogs left mostly to themselves in the backyard, she likes to play "catch me if you can" if you drop your guard with her. Brandi's foster family have been working with a long line with her and she is responding great. GRRF took Brandi down to the Golden Fun Day celebration in Anchorage on June 4th. She (along with other dogs and kids, too!) stayed at the Comfort Inn Ship Creek and then a cabin in Denali Park. We took her swimming with a long line and she did great! She is a great dog!!!

Update too is that her biopsy came back as the type of tumor first reported but Colorado State University and Dr. Barb Powers (the best pathologist around) says that this type of tumor is in fact benign but very invasive into bone if left untreated.  Our margins looked great and with the tumor and bone gone, risk of re-occurrence would be very rare. She is a wonderful dog and we had so much fun with her. She was the hit of the Fun Day!

June 12, 2004 update: Brandi went to the Golden Fun Day in Anchorage with her foster mom and had a blast. She went swimming (her favorite thing in life) and played ball. She has totally recovered from surgery and is chewing on bones again and can catch and retrieve all the tennis balls she can manage. She stayed in hotels and cabins and had a very good time playing with all the other golden's at the party. 

6/9/04: Brandi had her last surgery for her chin. Dr. Stuve at Aurora Animal Clinic did a cosmetic surgery on her chin to take away the big point of skin left by the first surgery. It was a quick surgery and it looks great. See attached pictures. Brandi was playing that night and running around. Nothing keeps this dog from having the most fun of each day. A true Golden!

 

Brandi one day post-op (close-up)

6/9/04 Brandi went to a home here in Fairbanks for a trial run. They have come to see her twice before and have been keeping up to date with all her progress.  Now that the last surgery was done an she is healing so well, we let her go on trial with this patient family.

Brandi one day post-op: check out that smile!

 

May 29, 2004: Brandi's surgery was very successful and she is doing very well. It was an intense  3 1/2 hours long surgery. The next day Brandi was up and running around like nothing happened. She had probably been living with the pain of that tumor/affected bone. She felt so good to have it gone despite the surgery pain. Brandi has healed amazing well and is doing better than her vets could have hoped for. One week post op she is carrying around a stuffed toy and eating dry food. She will have one more surgery this week to trim back the point on her chin left from the scar. This is very minor and more of a cosmetic one. It is hard to tell her front lower jaw is missing. She can still play ball and is her same adoring self! Best of all she is still as beautiful of a dog on the inside as she is on the outside.

May 7, 2004: Brandi is a 2 1/2 yr old Golden Retriever. She is as kind and gentle as they come.  Her owners relinquished her due to a medical condition that they could not afford to treat. They also were very busy and didn't think they had the time for her that she deserved. GRRF took Brandi and did a full Veterinary workup on her. She has a malignant tumor removed on her front gingiva a year ago. The biopsy reported that is was a very localized type of tumor and if the odds are very good that with a removal of the front part of her jaw the tumor would un likely reoccur.  Her owners did not do the surgery and a year later it is back. As you can see it is a tumor that cannot be removed between her teeth. A x-ray showed bone loss around the tumor so in the next few weeks, Brandi will have a hemimandibulectomy or removal of a portion of her front lower jaw. This will look odd until her hair grows back but our Vets feel she should recover nicely and live a normal live.  Brandi is so sweet and loving we feel it is worth going the extra mile for her to have a chance at a comfortable and long life.



If you are interested on seeing this wonderful friend call us at 479-5577 or E-mail info@grrf.org