Blind Ambition
Being the seeing eye for a human for a visually impaired dog
Recent visitors to my home likely wondered if I was expecting a flood. Throughout my master bedroom suite, I had rolled-up bath towels and foam pool noodles strategically placed around the perimeter of my bed, dresser, and nightstands. As someone with a keen interest in interior design, this isn’t a look I would have chosen – until my love for my tiny blind dog trumped my love for a clean design aesthetic.
In a previous post I mentioned Quigley, my three-pound, blind wonder-dog. I did my fair share of research before bringing him home, but I was fearful about the hidden and everyday dangers of my house and doubted my ability to protect this fragile pup from bumping his head or getting lost in my house. Experts suspected that Quigley had been blind for many years (due to neglect and lack of proper nutrition) before I brought him home in 2020, so he was accustomed to navigating life using only his keen sense of smell. He didn’t miss a beat, and I could practically see him mapping his new environment as he sniffed about in his first days with me.
Much of my preparation for bringing home a blind dog was obvious: the basement door was latched, and a gate installed. Sharp corners (like baseboard and furniture edges) were covered with rubber bumpers similar to those used to “baby-proof” a home. And items like shoes were always place away, providing him a clear pathway to his homebase – his bed and heated pad.
Other habits, we learned together over time. He moved throughout his space with ease, but I’d yell “Watch!” if he was headed toward an obstacle and he’d immediately change course. I built a small pillow fortress on my bed each night so he could sleep next to me without risk of falling. I hand-fed him, and he learned that when I said “drink,” that meant I had his tiny water bowl in front of him to quench his thirst. On nice days, I took him outside and allowed him to enjoy the sunshine and the yard, but I was ever-mindful that a stray stick or leaf could scratch his eye. I leered over him and made sure there were no limbs or yard debris at his eye-level. Perhaps most importantly, I gave him a secure space – he was confined to my master suite when I was away and had heated floors and a large dog bed to keep him warm and comfortable.
I took him to a pet ophthalmologist annually to check his pressures and confirm he wasn’t developing glaucoma. Fortunately, this was never a concern, and I used to joke that I took my blind dog to the eye doctor each year and paid a lot of money for them to confirm he was still blind. (Joking aside, the ophthalmologists were amazing with him and gave me a lot of peace of mind.)
In more than three years with Quigley, I often almost forgot that this inspiring little dog wasn’t sighted. He was independent and content, with a high quality of life. Only once did his vision
impairment scare me. Shortly after I brought him home, I was in the other room and heard a bump. To this day, I’m not sure what he hit, but I was in horror to find his eye swollen and bloody behind its lens. I rushed him to the ophthalmologic ER, and he was diagnosed with Uveitis from hyper-mature cataract, which caused lens protein to leak into the eye and also decreased his intraocular pressures. It was a scary incident, and his eye looked bad for months, but the vet assured me he wasn’t in pain. (The most difficult part of the experience was attempting to drop eye drops into his eye twice a day. You’d think the element of surprise would have been on my side, since he couldn’t see him, but somehow, he managed to turn his head at the last second every time. I dropped about eight drops on my hand for every one that made it to his eye.)
If you’re considering adopting a blind dog, I’d urge you to assess your household and consider your time and ability to watch him or her – blind dogs do require some extra care and attention. But my older, blind dog was a light of my life, and he was worth every moment of time and every dollar I spent on him. I will absolutely consider adopting a blind dog (or other special needs dog) in the future because they deserve as wonderful a life as any sighted dog. And that’s a truth that anyone can see.