Here's little Brandie, a girl that came from Ohio in a sort of "HELP US GET OUT OF HERE!!" abuse situation --

-- more on her litter can be found here.

The interesting thing about this group was that no two pups were really the same, so I think they were from various litters --

-- and Brandie, after her arrival, developed a cherry eye situation, as seen in her right eye.

An ophthalmic vet at Penn advised us to have the surgery done at 5-6 mos. -- thus, Brandie needed to find forever-home that would work with SPBR for this condition.

-- and went --

-- to a great home in Upstate New York, that adopted Earl from SPBR earlier in the year --

Her new family was great, and was ready for her --

-- mind you, the nylon crate in the corner didn't last too long -- !!

Little Brandie was happy at this home, but not elated --

-- instead, she was quite clingy on me, and somewhat fearful of the home.

Renee and company did all they could, loving and caring for Brandie --

-- and I thought this the best situation for her -- she was 4 months old by now, and I placed her contingent on her adapting to the home --

-- if it worked out, great! If it didn't, we could try another home. I felt this socialization, with people, more worthy than being fostered with other puppies. Dogs she was good with, people she was cautious of.

This could have been from her prior life, in Ohio -- who knows -- all I knew is that we were gonna work hard getting this girl to the right home!

So here Brandie stayed --

-- poor girl, worried as can be in this picture!

In the meantime, other pups got placed --

-- here's little Chloe -- probably the closest of a "littermate" as I could find with Brandie.

In the meantime, I got a call from Tim and Renee that Brandie was not going to work out -- she was too cautious with the family, and they thought it best she be in a different home.

I was happy, if she was going to come back, that she did immediately -- while still very young and trainable, than at 10 months, when training would have been much more difficult.

Well, luck struck Brandie twice, and before we knew it, we were off again, for another home-visit.

This time, there was plenty of learning and training going on.

Upon my return-visit at Brandie's home, Wendy had an in-home trainer there, to review Brandie's cautious nature and to assess her --

-- Melissa, the trainer, said "I don't sugar-coat my advice, for the sake of the dogs, but you've got a TRAINABLE, GOOD GIRL HERE -- "

Great news, Brandie!

Melissa is a great trainer. She is a Certified Master Dog Trainer in New York, having gone through extensive training and behavioral certifications.

Most importantly, she really loves the pups, and wants to see them flourish --

-- and she believes in Brandie!

Here's our little lady, undergoing a battery of behaviorals --

-- Melissa was very observant with Brandie, watching her interaction with other dogs and people.

Here, Brandie gets some lovin' from Emily, while Wendy goes down an obedience "to do" list with Melissa.

Little Brandie has since been re-named to "Mave", which in Yiddish means

"A person who has special knowledge or experience; an expert."

We'll agree to that -- !!

So, little Brandie is a work in progress -- she may not be a pit bull, and she may not be perfect physically or behaviorally, but kind people like Wendy and her family are willing and able to work on that. These are the kinds of adopters I cherish.

Since her placement, Wendy writes --

"Hi Eric, It was a pleasant surprise to see you on Sunday. Thanks for bringing all of Mave's information. You came at a perfect time. Melissa was really impressed at how happy the puppy was to see you. Rich is doing his homework with Mave. I think it is a little hard on him that Mave is fearful of him, especially because Hannah was so attached to Rich.

I made an appointment for Mave to have her eye fixed. It is on Feb. 10th.  I think once she doesn't have to wear a "lampshade" she will feel much better without her cherry eye.

Sincerely, Wendy"

Well, thank you, everyone, from rescuer Sharon to Renee and Tim, to Melissa and to Rich, Emily and Wendy, for your kindness with this girl.

You all captured the spirit of why I work so hard to rescue and place these wonderful pups, and I couldn't be happier with the result!