On Labor day, my wife and I were out shopping, and we stopped by Petsmart “just to see if there were any dogs to adopt” (generally just an excuse to play with the pups). There were the usual assortment of misfit Chihuahuas, and one young, blind, Chocolate Lab.
My wife took one look at the Lab, and decided that we had to rescue him. I pointed out that we have a pool, and he would never be able to go outside un-escorted, but that didn’t dissuade her (probably because I’m the guy who does all the outside-doggy-stuff). She immediately started to work on the adoption paperwork, and on Wednesday we went to the shelter, and met him, and then went back home with him and the rep from the shelter, to introduce him to our other dogs.
I was sure that Grace, our older Lab mix would be fine with him, but was a bit concerned about Andy, our miniature Poodle/Bichon/mutt, who tends to be very bossy. Andy barked at him for around a half an hour, but eventually settled down.
The new dog’s name is Buddy, and he’s very, very sweet. He wants to be near either me or my wife all the time. Surprisingly, he walks on a leash very well (better than any other dog I’ve had). He can fetch (after a fashion), and even though we joke about calling him “Bonky,” he doesn’t actually run into walls very often. Grace and Andy mostly seem to leave him alone, although Grace sometimes wants to play with him.
I think he’ll be a great dog.
Photos:
He’s got Gary MitchellEyes:
The Doggy Family:
Yeah, his eyes are creeeeeeepppppppyyyyy…
Especially when he looks at you as you are talking to him.
As for fetching- I think he can see variations in light and dark, so he knows when I’ve thrown a stick, and then he can hear it hit the ground, and he heads towards it. He then searches by smell until he finds it.
Between their incredible sense of smell and their super-human hearing, I don’t think you’ll have any problem with the pool. Plus, the memory sometimes kicks into high gear and he’ll think, “Wait a mo, the pool’s around here somewhere.” Two seconds later, he’ll forget what a door is or what it’s for.
What a cutie! Who’s a good zombie? You arrrrghhhhhh!
I have a blind from birth pup too. Good for you for taking him! Mine is fearless on a leash. It’s like she knows that means she has my eyes watching out for her. We’ve worked out some key words that we use to help her navigate. “Watch out!” for when she’s about to charge into something. I tell her “step” when we reach a curb or other object she has to maneuver around. “Wait” is another good one. She’ll stop where she is, which can be helpful.
In the house, we gradually expanded her “range” until she knew her way around the whole place. She knows where she wants to go and just toodles around.
My vet suggested putting bells (or jangling tags) on the other 2 dogs so that she could hear them coming.
Congratulations on your new buddy!
ETA: Our pup did fall into the pool. She did great, in terms of swimming, but never would have gotten out on her own. Do you have a child-fence-type barrier that you can put up? Alternatively, I would work really hard on training Buddy on pool safety. Swim with him. Teach him where to get out. I suggest putting something by the steps that makes noise (like a wind chime or something) so he knows which way to find the steps. You can also look into those alarms that sound when something breaks the surface of the water.
When I had my late mutt’s eyes examined shortly before he was euthanized (for other reasons) my vet said that he’d be fine so long as I didn’t move the furniture. He navigated very well. Perhaps you could consider a clicker?
We are going to fill the pool in at some point. We never use it, and it’s just a big maintenance pain.
Until then, he only goes outside with supervision.
I bought him a Kong ball that has a space to insert dry treats, and he can find that easily.
