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.