It's only been less than 2 months, and Maddie has been adapting quite well. Still bumping into things, especially when she gets excited and starts running around aimlessly, but less than before. We try and leave things the way they are, and we try not to leave things on the floor.
Early on after she had been diagnosed with retinal detachment in her left eye (the retina in her right eye had detached over a year ago), we noticed that she would like to go around the house "the hard way". What I mean by that is, she would take very indirect "routes" and like to go up and over obstacles such as the bottoms of chairs and coffee tables. We thought it was very strange, but as long as she's not hurting herself, we decided it would be ok.
Lately we've been noticing that whenever we bring her back into the house after doing her business outdoors, she has been rubbing her body against the wall, cupboards, chairs, sofas etc. Again we through it was strange, but nothing we can really do about it. She wasn't hurting herself, and she wasn't damaging anything. One night, the lightbulb went off in our heads! She was doing this to guide her in and around the house after the change in environment (being outside and now back inside). It was her way of re-familiarizing and re-orienting herself in the house. It's exactly like how a human who can't see would most likely use their hands to feel their way around!
Seems like dogs are smarter than I thought.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Maddie's Favorite Toy
Maddie's favorite toy is a ball. If she was able to find a sucker to play catch with her all day long, she would. She doesn't need extravagant toys, all she wanted and lived for was a tennis ball. You give her the choice of a tennis ball or treats, she would easily choose the tennis ball. She used to even sleep with a tennis ball in her mouth (imagine roast pig with an apple in the mouth).
The day that I found out she was blind, all I could think about was, how will she be able to play with the thing she loved the most. Each and every time I thought about it, I would dive back into a wave of sadness. To this day, I still think about Maddie catching frisbees in her mouth in the air when playing in my parents backyard. This was all prior to her cataract surgery.
The Friday after her diagnosis (November 23, 2012), I was at home by myself with Maddie. I suddenly remembered that we had bought her a ball with a rattle inside from Walmart in Buffalo. I ran down the stairs to the basement to find it. I rolled the ball around, and she was able to find it! Maddie can still play fetch!
A few days later, I went to Petsmart to try and find other toys that I could buy for her. There are NO dog toys made with the blind dog in mind. This is very frustrating! The salespeople at Petsmart have suggested to make waterbottle toys for her. Or take a tennis ball and insert a bell or rattle inside. I'm hoping to find additional options on my next trip down to the US.
It's been a few weeks since Maddie has become blind. She's doing much better now, but she's still not 100% her old self. She sleeps a lot more and is less active. But for some reason she has a VERY healthy appetite now. We're just hoping she's going to gain some weight on her skinny little frame.
The day that I found out she was blind, all I could think about was, how will she be able to play with the thing she loved the most. Each and every time I thought about it, I would dive back into a wave of sadness. To this day, I still think about Maddie catching frisbees in her mouth in the air when playing in my parents backyard. This was all prior to her cataract surgery.
The Friday after her diagnosis (November 23, 2012), I was at home by myself with Maddie. I suddenly remembered that we had bought her a ball with a rattle inside from Walmart in Buffalo. I ran down the stairs to the basement to find it. I rolled the ball around, and she was able to find it! Maddie can still play fetch!
A few days later, I went to Petsmart to try and find other toys that I could buy for her. There are NO dog toys made with the blind dog in mind. This is very frustrating! The salespeople at Petsmart have suggested to make waterbottle toys for her. Or take a tennis ball and insert a bell or rattle inside. I'm hoping to find additional options on my next trip down to the US.
It's been a few weeks since Maddie has become blind. She's doing much better now, but she's still not 100% her old self. She sleeps a lot more and is less active. But for some reason she has a VERY healthy appetite now. We're just hoping she's going to gain some weight on her skinny little frame.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
The News & The Day Maddie Joined Us
Maddie is our dog. We believe she's a Shih-Poo (originally told she was a purebred Shih-Tzu) thats almost 6.5 years old. Monday night will be the night that I will remember of the last time we played fetch together. Tuesday afternoon, my husband told me she was bumping into things. Everything happened so suddenly. I quickly made a phone call to Maddie's eye specialist and booked an appointment for the next day. Wednesday November 21, 2012 Maddie is now officially blind. I'm having a harder time dealing with this than I thought. I think Maddie is handling it better than I am. She's much braver than me.
I'm starting this blog to document how it is to live life with a blind dog. The more I learn, the more I will blog. The first thing that Maddie has taught me is to be strong and don't let anything stop you. She's trying to be as normal as she was before, she just can't see. She's roaming around the house bumping into things being as curious as she was before, almost as if nothing has changed. Me on the other hand, I think I've gone through a whole tissue box in one afternoon. A friend told me that I need to be strong for Maddie. But I think It's Maddie is teaching me to be strong instead.
Maddie was dumped on us, literally. Almost 5 years ago, my sister-in-law (then my boyfriend's sister) told us during dinner that her friend's parents could no longer take care of their dog and needed to look for a new home for her. My husband (then boyfriend) and I thought, maybe? We had previously discussed getting a dog. But it would be a Miniature Schnauzer, I love those old goofy looking faces. But we thought, well this is a dog that needs a home, and is free, so maybe we can do a trial thing? We said we wanted to see the dog on a weekend and bring it home to see how she would get along with my sister's dog Chloe.
One Saturday morning, my sister-in-law's friend dropped Maddie (previously named Teddy), along with her crate, food, shampoo, and toys. They didn't want her back that night. We said, we're not prepared for keeping her, we don't even have a bed for her. He drove back and came back with his cat's wicker bed. From that day on, she's been part of my family. I remember how she hid in a corner too scared of us. She looked horrible. The previous owners didn't groom her. She needed a haircut, she had mats all over her body.
We took her back to my place to see how she would interact with Chloe. The two of them got along so well. They even started playing tug of war with toys. I was happy.
I'm starting this blog to document how it is to live life with a blind dog. The more I learn, the more I will blog. The first thing that Maddie has taught me is to be strong and don't let anything stop you. She's trying to be as normal as she was before, she just can't see. She's roaming around the house bumping into things being as curious as she was before, almost as if nothing has changed. Me on the other hand, I think I've gone through a whole tissue box in one afternoon. A friend told me that I need to be strong for Maddie. But I think It's Maddie is teaching me to be strong instead.
Maddie was dumped on us, literally. Almost 5 years ago, my sister-in-law (then my boyfriend's sister) told us during dinner that her friend's parents could no longer take care of their dog and needed to look for a new home for her. My husband (then boyfriend) and I thought, maybe? We had previously discussed getting a dog. But it would be a Miniature Schnauzer, I love those old goofy looking faces. But we thought, well this is a dog that needs a home, and is free, so maybe we can do a trial thing? We said we wanted to see the dog on a weekend and bring it home to see how she would get along with my sister's dog Chloe.
One Saturday morning, my sister-in-law's friend dropped Maddie (previously named Teddy), along with her crate, food, shampoo, and toys. They didn't want her back that night. We said, we're not prepared for keeping her, we don't even have a bed for her. He drove back and came back with his cat's wicker bed. From that day on, she's been part of my family. I remember how she hid in a corner too scared of us. She looked horrible. The previous owners didn't groom her. She needed a haircut, she had mats all over her body.
We took her back to my place to see how she would interact with Chloe. The two of them got along so well. They even started playing tug of war with toys. I was happy.
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