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My precious Adopted Shorty - Dog Adoption - Why You Should Hang In There

Dukie, Our Adopted, Blind, And Lovable Dog

(My Dukie is gone now, Gosh, that was so hard.  Here is an Ode to Duke, written for my husband and me, to help us through it all)

Firstly, allow me tell you how my dog actually became my dog. Dukie belonged to my husband’s son, he was a birthday gift to my stepson from his girlfriend. Unfortunately my stepson was not able to raise a dog, so he was given to my husband.

Dukie is a black labrador, a big but lean black labrador. He is exceptionally lovable, gentle and very funny. He absolutely thrived in our household as we already had two other dogs. one golden retriever and one other black labrador. We were very fortunate in the fact that they all became the best of friends, no fights, just playtime all the time!

I began to notice that Dukie had started to bump into things and was becoming ‘lost’ when out running around. He already had one bad eye which he had hurt on a stick whilst he was a puppy.

My Nikkie comforting Dukie on his last night with us.  She would not leave his side

So I visited our veterinarian with Dukie, as instructed, I let him off the lead in the examining room and he proceeded to walk straight into a wall. Now at this point I was becoming extremely worried for Dukie, what was wrong with him? He was examined throughly and low and behold, it turned out that my darling Dukie was indeed blind. Well, talk about stunned, I just could not comprehend what the veterinarian was informing me, blind, how and why? All these questions were filling my head.

Dukie and I were sent to an eye specialist, he was examined again and the outcome was that Dukie was suffering from a degenerative eye disease. At this point I freaked, scared, as I thought this was it, the end, I would have to have Dukie put to sleep. We returned to our own veterinarian, who now had the information from the specialist. He reassured me that there was no way Dukie would have to be put to sleep. He said, ‘Look how well Dukie has handled his blindness so far,’ he was right, I mean I did not even know he was totally blind.

So we embarked, rather nervously, on with our lives as before, but now we had a blind dog living within the household. The trick is not to disarrange the furniture, Dukie had adapted to his blindness remarkably well and he had grown accustomed to the location of items. Actually, it is difficult to tell that Dukie is blind as he struts around the house as though he is king. He goes in and out of his dog door and wanders around the backyard with no noticable problems.
Dukie accompanies me on car rides, which he loves, long walks and bike rides. Although lately I have ceased the bike rides, as I have noticed more and more that he does not like speed. I think it might make him feel unbalanced. He loves company and becomes very hyper and excited when people visit; as he cannot see the visitors he feels the need to just lean against them. After a few minutes though, once he has greeted them he returns to entertaining himself again. When he becomes excited he has a tendency to ‘lose’ himself, he is not sure where he is, but he seems to cope with this and soon establishes his bearings once more.

Our other dogs and the neighbour’s dog, still love Dukie and they are all the best of friends. However, he no longer likes it when strange dogs come to say ‘hello’ to him. Being blind he has no idea who the other dog is, whether they pose a threat to him or no. This is Dukie’s only negative reaction to being blind.
Whenever I do have to move the furniture, or we buy some new items, I ensure that Dukie is aware by introducing him to the changes that have occurred; he adapts very quickly.

Whilst out walking I do tend to forget that he is blind and I have a habit of walking him into fences, hedges and poles. Dukie is the perfect gentleman to walk, there is no pulling, he walks to heel and he cannot spy those cats and squirrels on our walks!

He is a favourite with the children; he loves them and is excellent with them. More importantly, Dukie is my husband’s dog. My husband has advanced MS and Dukie will spend hours keeping him company. Dukie is very cheeky and will often ‘steal’ my husband’s couch. My husband will climb into his wheelchair to go to the bathroom and sure enough Dukie will hop right onto the couch. He does have his very own mini couch beside my husband, but as far as Dukie’s concerned that is not the same thing at all. It can be a very awkward task removing him, cookies seem to help with this, and he and my husband are inseparable buddies.
Dukie planning his next move !
I would personally recommend a blind dog as from my own experience with Dukie they are wonderful, he has been no trouble whatsoever. So if your dog is going blind, or you have the opportunity to adopt a blind dog, there is no need for hesitation as they make terrific pets as Dukie continues to do.

There have been numerous reports of seeing dogs leading blind dogs, actually picking up the lead of the blind dog and taking them for a walk. Ensuring they clear all obstacles in their path. Yet another example of just how clever our canine friends can be.

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