TRIBUTES: Brandi Munafo

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Born: May 19, 1990
Passed Away: October 16, 2002


Brandie was given to me as a birthday present after we moved into our new home, and what a present she was. In fact, she was the best birthday present I have ever received or will probably ever receive.

I remember the first night we had Brandie in the house. Being our first puppy, we were given advice to put her in a small room, the bathroom, give her a ticking clock, a stuffed animal and some blankets. She will cry, but eventually fall asleep and then learn to go to sleep on her own. Well, that lasted the first night until my stepdaughter came home. The first thing she did was scoop her out of the bathroom and bring her into bed. And from that day forward Brandie ruled the house.

We were blessed to have her for 12 ½ years and there are so many stories I can tell, but I will just try and limit it to the ones that stand out the most.

The first week in the house we were afraid that she was going to fall into the swimming pool, so I went out and spent a couple of hundred dollars to buy fencing material and built a little cage for her to stay in while we were at work. Unfortunately we did not know that Boxers could climb. Somehow that day she climbed over the cage and figured out how to get through the doggy door, which by the way she had never been through and landed up on our couch when we got home from work. This was a good sign telling us how intelligent she was.

I also made the mistake of refinishing our wood floors. You can imagine what a Boxer chasing a stuffed animal can do to wood floors. No need to say anything more on that.

Brandie used to run and play and especially loved stuffed animals. One of the things I will miss the most about her is that every night when I came home she was waiting at the door for me with a stuffed animal. No matter where I had been or what I was doing, I knew that when I came home my precious dog would be waiting for me with her toy so we could play.

She loved to walk and go for a ride in the car. In fact I wouldn't necessarily call it walking, I would call it more like holding on while she led the way. Walks became so fun for her that if we wanted to go for a walk without her we had to change the word walk and could only say, "Lets go for a "w". If we ever said the word walk she ran around the house waiting until we put her harness on her so she could pull us around the block.

Somehow she also figured out ways to climb over the fence and I can't tell you how many times we came home finding her outside with the kids in the neighborhood playing. Eventually she stopped.

Brandie had been to three different houses with us and at the age of 7 on Christmas morning, I found a small lump below her armpit. We checked on all the treatment options and decided to take her to the Cancer Institute for Dogs in Hermosa Beach where they would do the most aggressive treatment for her cancer. Amazing as it sounds, when I dropped her off and gave the person at the front desk her last name the woman said "That's interesting, we have someone with that last name that works here", and I was reunited with my cousin who I had not seen in a long time. I am positive that Brandie set this up. Her surgery went great and she beat the cancer to live another 5 ½ years.

As she grew older, she was content with just lying in my office and following me around, going for short walks and spending time in the yard.

About three months ago we brought home a 5 month old Shih Tzu named Angie. What a pair they made a 65 pound boxer and a 5 pound puppy. They only spent a few months together but I think Brandie knew she was sick so she taught Angie how to meet me at the door with her favorite toy. We were incredibly blessed to have Brandie for 12 ½ years. We will never replace her and we will never forget her, and someday I will cross the rainbow bridge and Brandie will be waiting with a toy ready to play.