Lady Belle - Adventures of a Blind Doodle #1

[Thomas, Chari, & Lady Belle]

Hello.  Lady Belle here.

I thought I’d introduce myself.  My name is Lady Belle and I am a first generation Labradoodle.  That means one of my parents was a purebred Labrador retriever and the other was a purebred Poodle.  In my case the Poodle was a Standard Poodle, so I’m a big girl, around 65 pounds.  I like to think I got my brains from the Poodle side and my disposition from the Lab side.  I’m a pretty smart girl, but I’m also a lover.

I started out life like many other puppies.  I was healthy, happy and lively.  My first family was loving and enjoyed having me around.  They had kids and I loved to play with those kids.  Things went very well for my first year.  I learned proper potty break etiquette and learned not to knock the kids over with my enthusiasm and size.  Life was good.

In my second year I began to have problems with my eyes.  Somehow I picked up a fungal infection that went undiagnosed and untreated for almost a full year.  I lost my eyesight.  It is hard to lose your eyesight.  Like many dogs that lose their eyesight, I was depressed.  You no longer can see your family and kids.  You start running into obstacles and hitting your head.  You can’t find your food and your bed.  And you can’t play like you used to.  It’s confusing and disheartening.

I wasn’t the only one that was depressed.  My family felt terribly guilty about not catching the problem that cost me my sight.  So rather than encourage me to learn how to compensate, they babied me.  Then they decided they had too many other things going on with their life so they gave me up to a shelter because they felt they didn’t have the energy to deal with my disability.

Imagine that.  You are already depressed about losing your sight.  Then you lose your home and get placed in a shelter.  I still don’t understand what I did to deserve this.  I’ve always been a good dog.  I’m not a drama queen.  I just needed someone to help me adapt to my loss of sight.

Fortunately, this lady picked me up from the shelter.  She was nice to me but apparently took on more than she felt she could handle.  Part of the problem is I was cranky and continued to be depressed about what had happened to me.  I had good medical care but still had a way to go in adapting to being blind.  After 3 months she gave up on me and turned me in to another shelter.

So three months ago, I was living in a small cage not much bigger than a large dog crate.  The shelter didn’t have the time and the resources to deal with a blind dog.  There were rumors I might be put down.  What a sad, sad end to a life that started out so well.

Then one day a Vet named Melissa stopped in.  I think she was there to treat one of the other animals.  She spotted me in the cage, checked me out and agreed to give me a foster home.

I was pretty skinny at that point.  She took care of that by putting me on plenty of food.  Her place is out in the country.  She lives with three other dogs, some cats, and ‘The Chicken’.  I quickly fit in as a member of the pack.  The other dogs helped me adapt by being my seeing-eye dogs and showed me the ropes in my new environment.  I fit in pretty well.  I didn’t chase the cats.  I started to regain my self confidence.  I worked on my senses of smell and hearing as well as my mind mapping skills to compensate for my loss of sight.  Melissa didn’t pity me.  She treated me like all her other animals.

I am part Labrador Retriever with emphasis on the word retriever.  We are trained to track down birds and return them to our humans.  I thought it would be great fun to chase and catch “The Chicken.”  Fortunately I could just smell and hear The Chicken but I couldn’t see the bird.  But she could see me.  If she had been smart when I started to chase her she would have been quiet and evaded me. It would have been easy.  She could see me but I couldn’t see her.  But chickens aren’t smart.  She squawked like crazy and flapped her wings.  Now there’s a drama queen!  I couldn’t see her but I sure could hear her.  The chase continued.  Then I heard those words every dog dreads to hear, “NO BELLE NO, BAD DOG!” Busted.  I slunk back to Melissa with my tail between my legs, hoping like crazy she wouldn’t take me back to the shelter.

That was the last time I chased The Chicken.  It wasn’t because I didn’t want to chase the fowl bird!  No, from that point when I was walked I was tethered to Melissa on one of those retractable leashes.

My walks in Melissa’s yard on the retractable leash weren’t so bad.  In fact, those walks were the high point of my day.  After all, during those walks, Melissa’s attention was focused on me.  I love people, especially when they pay attention to me.  Unfortunately because Melissa is starting her new Mobile Vet business, she works lots of hours.  So my walks were short.  I craved more exercise but the time just wasn’t available.  In spite of that one shortcoming, and of course, my unfulfilled fantasies about The Chicken, I was very happy there.

Unknown to me, Melissa was my foster mother.  She was actively seeking out my forever home.  After being unsuccessful rehoming me on her own, Melissa contacted the Doodle Rescue Collective.  They posted a listing on Petfinder.com.  The photo at the top of this page is my Petfinder mug shot.  I don’t find it to be terribly flattering.  But at least they didn’t make me wear numbers across my chest when the photo was taken.  But my mug shot stirred up a fair amount of interest and comment at both the DRC web site and another called DoodleKisses.com.  So this brings you up to date as of 10 days ago when my life changed again.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh Belle, you certainly had your challenges but we secretly know the next phase of your story and are happy about it. We can't wait to hear more.

[Thomas, Chari, & Lady Belle]

The people at this site are so nice.  Thank you for rooting for me in my attempt to find a forever home.  I'll keep you posted on how it is going.

Belle

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

Welcome to DK Miss Belle.  So glad you are finally home!!!  Looking forward to reading about the adventures of Belle!!

[Camilla and Darwin]

Welcome to DK Belle, I can't wait to hear more of your story!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I wish for you the happiest life!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Your life changed again for the better, Belle, to say the least! Welcome to DK! You write a pretty good blog, I look forward to reading more! 

[Gail and Bailey]

I will be waiting to read the rest of your story!  Big hugs to you, Sweet Lady Belle!

[Robin and Libby Louise]

Ditto what Lori said!  So glad I know you have found your home!

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Belle! I am glad I already know it changed again for the better!  I look forward to reading about you in the days to come.