The 2xHonda Classic winner was at Jupiter Hospital ahead of his umbilical hernia surgery in March, and his wife, Brenda, was there with him, holding his hand. Now, weeks later, she ended up in the hospital because of a terrible mishap, with the stitches on her face keeping the couple up at night.

On Monday, the 13xPGA Tour winner Mark Calcavecchia shared the news on X: “Well shit. Our cray cray Jack Russell Lucie decided to take a bite outta @brendacalc face at zzzz time. Unexpected trip to Brevard hospital for stitches. Not good.”

Meanwhile, Brenda posted on her IG from Transylvania Regional Hospital, showing the bite wound on her face, and wrote that getting bitten by her own dog was “not on my bingo card.” Well, a follow-up post confirmed she had a good doctor who took instructions from a plastic surgeon friend over the phone. Her explanation for Lucie? The dog had always been cranky when disturbed and did not want to be touched while sleeping.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, Jack Russell Terriers rank among the most common breeds involved in biting incidents.

Dogs have been a part of the couple’s life together, and Brenda’s Instagram has always been a window into that. She once took a pic of a fluffy white dog relaxing on a deck chair alongside a brown bulldog and posted it for National Dog Day in August 2023. Both love pets, which is why the bite felt unexpected.

The 3xPhoenix Open winner and Brenda met at Firestone in 2001 and got married in Lake Como in 2005. Brenda marked their 20th anniversary last year with a photo from the Royal Palm Resort in Paradise Valley, Arizona, where they had celebrated their original wedding. But even with Mark by her side, her life is incomplete without animals.

Mark Calcavecchia‘s wife’s love for animals

While Lucie’s bite landed her in the hospital, anyone who follows Brenda on Instagram knows animals have always been a big part of her life.

She has a horse, Lord Nelson, which she moved to a new stable in December 2023 with the help of a friend. She later wrote that she had no clue what she would have done had her friend not been there.

Brenda also rides horses at the couple’s North Carolina property, which she refers to as Calc’s Bearadise, where she posts about horseback riding through forest trails, fly-fishing, and zip-lining. And the property name isn’t just for show, either.

In May 2025, she shared a clip from her camera, installed outside her doorstep, that caught bears walking across her patio and climbing her truck.

Every encounter with animals is a joy for her. Whether seeing a Green Heron in Florida and asking if it is a good luck sign, or a tortoise showing up on her doorstep for five minutes and then disappearing, or Lucie sitting in a chair on a sunny morning. So the recent bite is ironic.

Wishing her a speedy recovery!