The only disabilty in life is a bad attitude. ~ Scott Hamilton
Some of you know most of my monsters. Some know a few. Rhett is one of my mini-monsters. A Jack Russel from a breeder that no longer wanted him. A stray that is a fear biter. A dog with an eye issue. Rhett had anterior luxated lenses. Essentially his lenses detached. It's not without pain. Sometimes it is repairable, but more often than not, it is better to remove the eye. So right before Christmas, we removed one of his eyes in an emergency surgery. His other lens remained attached, so we bided our time. He learned to cope with one eye. Then, way sooner than we hoped, his other lens detached. Another surgery. Now if you're any good at math and basic anatomy, you get that he has no eyes now. And that brings us to today's thoughts.
NEVER ONCE did I entertain the thought of putting him down. NEVER. I understood that it would be a BIG learning experience for both of us. I would have to help him learn that even without eyes he could still be a dog. He had to learn to trust me not to allow him to be hurt. We still have our road blocks. He gets tripped up if we move furniture. And I forget that I moved it. He runs into things. I have to make sure I talk to him the entire trip to the door. But we're managing. He knows where his bed is. He knows that when mommy lays down it's time to cuddle and go to sleep. He can hear his sister's eat so he knows that it's food time. And tonight. For the first time since Feb when he lost his second eye. HE PLAYED.
He bites at my hand if I keep touching his nose. He'll attempt to bite at a chew toy. But it's hard to keep throwing the chew toy when you can't see it ;)
But then Mykah (our parvo survivor) has kept annoying him enough for the past 3 months, that he decided to wrestle with her. WRESTLING. I was curious to how it would work since he can't SEE her, so I just sat her and smiled. First off, she made sure that she made enough noise so he knew where she was at all times. He would stand reallllllllyyyy still and wait for her to run back up and then pounce her. And it was the most heartwarming thing I've seen in a while.
I'm not without my second thoughts. I went through the whole scenario of whether he would be able to be "normal." But I decided that ANY life was better than NO life. He has an amazing quailty of life. He is happy and mobile. He eats, he drinks, he snuggles.
I've had so many people ask me why I didn't just save us both the trouble and have him put to sleep. To me, he's not my dog. He's one of my kids. Tim and I don't have children, so these are it. When I try to explain it, people look at me like I'm crazy. That there is no way a blind dog can be so loved. That I didn't just replace him with a new model. And that is why I keep fighting. Until I don't have to explain to people that it's not like a car. I can't just replace it when it gets broke.
So now that you've made it through my ramblings, go hug your fur-kids. And the next time you adopt (cause I know that's what ya'll do!), look into getting a handi-capable pet. Because someone has to give them a chance <3
NEVER ONCE did I entertain the thought of putting him down. NEVER. I understood that it would be a BIG learning experience for both of us. I would have to help him learn that even without eyes he could still be a dog. He had to learn to trust me not to allow him to be hurt. We still have our road blocks. He gets tripped up if we move furniture. And I forget that I moved it. He runs into things. I have to make sure I talk to him the entire trip to the door. But we're managing. He knows where his bed is. He knows that when mommy lays down it's time to cuddle and go to sleep. He can hear his sister's eat so he knows that it's food time. And tonight. For the first time since Feb when he lost his second eye. HE PLAYED.
He bites at my hand if I keep touching his nose. He'll attempt to bite at a chew toy. But it's hard to keep throwing the chew toy when you can't see it ;)
But then Mykah (our parvo survivor) has kept annoying him enough for the past 3 months, that he decided to wrestle with her. WRESTLING. I was curious to how it would work since he can't SEE her, so I just sat her and smiled. First off, she made sure that she made enough noise so he knew where she was at all times. He would stand reallllllllyyyy still and wait for her to run back up and then pounce her. And it was the most heartwarming thing I've seen in a while.
I'm not without my second thoughts. I went through the whole scenario of whether he would be able to be "normal." But I decided that ANY life was better than NO life. He has an amazing quailty of life. He is happy and mobile. He eats, he drinks, he snuggles.
I've had so many people ask me why I didn't just save us both the trouble and have him put to sleep. To me, he's not my dog. He's one of my kids. Tim and I don't have children, so these are it. When I try to explain it, people look at me like I'm crazy. That there is no way a blind dog can be so loved. That I didn't just replace him with a new model. And that is why I keep fighting. Until I don't have to explain to people that it's not like a car. I can't just replace it when it gets broke.
So now that you've made it through my ramblings, go hug your fur-kids. And the next time you adopt (cause I know that's what ya'll do!), look into getting a handi-capable pet. Because someone has to give them a chance <3
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