Yesterday, August 23rd, the Awareness Observation of International Blind Dog Day took place, a day to recognize the resilience, adaptability, and courage of blind dogs and to promote empathy and understanding for dogs with vision challenges. Established by Sarah Horne in 2017, this day also endeavors to, “Highlight the struggles that blind dogs face and to inspire people to celebrate their lives, care for them, and adopt them.”
Recently, I’ve been posting videos of our nine-month old locally adopted hound-mix Jackson taking hold of Quint’s leash and attempting to guide my blind Malti-poo. Jackson was adopted from Animal Rescue Konsortium in Crescent City, FL. Quint was acquired in San Diego, via R & R Rescue, in December 21 just after the loss of my husband, Rich. They are so different temperamentally and physically, yet they’ve both beautifully and comically adapted to their new home and life together.
When I caption that Quint is blind (although he appears to have limited shadow vision), many contact me saying they didn’t even know Quint was visually impaired. People often ask, “How do you handle a blind dog?” Truthfully, I treat him like I’d treat any dog. We are always aware of his additional need for guidance, but as he was born without sight, he just seems to be comfortable in his own skin and asks to be included in any activity he can handle.
Dogs are highly adaptible. To compensate with any “deficiency” they can develop other senses to navigate their surroundings; acute hearing and sense of smell and spatial awarenss to name a few. Also, like in Quint’s case, some develop relationships with other pets to improve the quality of their lives. Quint now seems to be forming a highly unlikely bond with a nine-month old ever-growing puppy. It’s hard to know if Jackson is finally understanding that Quint really can’t fetch that ball that he tosses Quint’s way. When Jackson came to us at three months of age, he had been hanging with a pack of 15 (two litters) where he had to compete for food and attention and rough play was constant. As he was then similar in size to Jackson, the latter was often frustrated with a two-year old visually impaired “puppy” that did not want to engage in any kind of activities Jackson suggested.
In time, Jackson now maturing, and Quint accepting Jackson’s presence, seem to be forming a new kind of relationship. It is very interesting to watch how this is developing. Jackson is extremely intelligent and observant. If I pretend to cry, he literally leaps to my side to inspect my face. He will be a big bold protective dog with a loving loyal heart.
I still don’t know what possessed me to adopt Jackie. It was spontaneous and unplanned. When he was in my arms leaving the shelter I still couldn’t believe it. He has been a sweet addition to life at the cabin and he gives me a reason to smile and go on each day.
The following is an excerpt from my post of April 1, 2023, “Seeing Our Way Through” about Quint’s vision, and a link to that Post.
https://widowsvoice.com/post/seeing-our-way-through/
‘I always tell people that when the time is right, so is the dog. By that I mean that we seem to be sent the very dog we need at a particular time in our lives. Why is it that there are millions of dogs in the world at any given moment, and that one is assigned to you? How is it that my future dog was born in such a dramatic fashion across the nation and managed to make himself known to me through a foster group located in the mid-west? Little “Q” as he’s called is outgoing and cheerful, the kind of dog I need in my life now. He pulls me out of my down times and despite limited vision, heads us both down better paths.’
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Thank you for reading. Have a forward facing weekend.
