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By: JMertlich,
10/17/2008
Brandi the dog is experiencing something she can’t quite seem to wrap her brain around, an environmental phenomenon known as … tall trees. They look like something out of a fairy tale to Brandi, but heck, she sure thinks they smell fantastic!
When Brandi was only one year old, she got into a scuffle with a smaller dog that cost Brandi her home. She came to the sanctuary and has lived at Best Friends ever since. But here’s the thing: That was almost 10 years ago! Brandi is a friendly girl who deserved a second chance, but it never seemed to come.
That all changed when a couple from Peoria, Arizona, came to the sanctuary to pay a visit. Karen and Sam Harris live quite an adventurous life. Each year, they take their RV to the north rim of the Grand Canyon and live there half the year.
For those who have never been to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, simply picture a dense pine forest in every direction and you’ll have a pretty good idea. Oh, that and a really big hole in the background.
Sam and Karen came to the sanctuary looking for an older, relaxed dog to join them in their adventures. They met several dogs, but it was Brandi they fell in love with. She just had this way about her. She’s a sweet, arthritic girl now, slow-going and super affectionate. Brandi was exactly what they were looking for. All of a sudden, after 10 years of waiting, she had a family all her own!
A family, as it turns out, with a really cool lifestyle if you’re a dog. They took her up to the north rim right away, where she is having the time of her life taking in all the new sights and smells. If you take your dogs camping, multiply the sense of ecstasy your dogs experience on campouts by about a thousand, and you’ll get a good sense of how Brandi is feeling these days.
So, yeah, it was a long wait, but Brandi is now all the more determined to make up for lost time in her own happy-ever-after at last. Congrats!
Story by David Dickson
Photo by Best Friends staff photographers