I met a blind dog today.

[undeterred]

I went to the dog park and a black lab came trotting up to me... I noticed that he had no eyes. The dog came right up to me because I had a pocketful of treats, so I gave him one.

The owner was close by and she explained that her dog had glaucoma in both eyes and was blind even before his eyes were removed two months ago. She thought he could see darkness and light before the operation, but the vet said the eyes were so bad that he could see nothing at all. They removed the eyes because they thought it was causing him pressure/pain.

To my surprise he acted just like any other dog at the park. Physically he seemed younger than 10. He chased after the tennis ball and retrieved it. When my young dog came up and wanted to play with him he got excited and they did a little wrestling.

If you were watching from a distance it would be impossible to guess that the dog had no eyes. Their reliance on smell and sound is truly amazing.

[MadMaddie]

1. Animals prove again that adapting to ones circumstance is

possible.

I bet that was pretty neat to experience. Good for the owner.

[livetohike]

2. It's amazing isn't it?

Decades ago, I was watching a black lab retrieve a tennis ball and I was talking to the owner who pointed out to me that his dog was blind! He chased that tennis ball down at least 50 yards away and brought it back every time.

[glinda]

3. A friend of mine's rescued Peke died last year from bad-breeding breathing problems

so she found a Peke Rescue and adopted a sweetheart that no one wanted due to having lost one eye. Turned out it couldn't see out of the other eye either. She is totally in love with her and the little Peke does really well in her home finding it's way around.

[Tab]

4. Two of my dogs have lost vision in one eye

(both from a dog fight - one is a Shih Tzu, as a result of a dog fight over a rawhide bone - he's a little scrapper. The other is a Tibetan Spaniel - kind of like a Pekingnese - she was blinded from a fight but that was before I acquired her).

A third is getting glaucoma just from being old.

No injury or impairment has compromised their search for food.

I also have two others (don't ask).

[Butch350]

5. For God's sake...

Do you people ever post any happy animal stories? What a morbid bunch. There is a secretary here at the office who always
telling some sad ass animal story. God people this must be the pet WAKE section or about to die section.

Have a nice day - if it's possible for you guys.

[Why Syzygy]

6. Wow. You didn't look far, did you.

See the kitty pics, the bird video, new puppy thread ..

[Tab]

7. For goodness sake's

if you're going to be pissy, there's lots of better forums than the pet forum.

Hey, try the cooking and baking forum, see what kind of reception you get there. Or maybe the cancer forum?

Actually, the best forum for you might be the North Dakota forum. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Enjoy!

[elleng]

12. Ha Tab!

:rofl:

[sazemisery]

13. Tab, you absolutely make my day every post you make.

North Dakota forum!:rofl:

And, yeah, just let em try to post some s*&t in the Cooking & Baking forum, we'll tear em a new one.

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. Happy story?

I have a dog that was diagnosed with renal failure at five months of age. He is now a senior dog. He takes no medication and lives a pretty normal doggie life with few restricitons - though he does continue to have renal disease.

I also have a vision impaired Japanese Chin whose abilities I consider every bit as miraculous.

I pity anyone who cannot recognize and celebrate the abilities, attitudes and quality of life of these special creatures. I prefer the company of my dogs to that of many people. Small wonder.

[undeterred]

10. That's terrific.

My last dog was an 8 year cancer survivor and he survived bloat twice... I always thought of his life as miraculous.

[undeterred]

9. This actually is a happy animal story.

Why are you even posting in this forum? You should be spending your time in a therapist's office figuring out why you need to piss all over other people on the internet.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

11. I had a German Shepherd that went blind from pannus

She hardly ever bumped into stuff. And, she actually became way less aggressive after going blind.

[no1dolo]

14. Thaniks, Everyone!

I have a dog going blind (already in one eye). I've been trying to figure how I will deal with it. It's good to hear how your dogs have gotten along.:thumbsup:

[undeterred]

15. The nose is everything to a dog.

But we rely so much on our eyesight and so little on our noses that its hard to comprehend it. My first dog had an eye removed at 11 years and she only bumped into something once. I kept her routine as normal as possible and she did just fine.