Lady Belle - Adventures of a Blind Doodle - Opinions Needed

[Thomas, Chari, & Lady Belle]

You’ve heard Belle’s side of the story of her first two weeks.  Let me share mine. 

If you’ve re-homed multiple dogs, you begin to understand you don’t really know what you are going to get.  If you’ll give me a bit of latitude on the definition of re-homed, I’ve re-homed my last four dogs, the last two of which are rescues.

Dancer was bred to be a show dog.  As pure-bred collies go, he was drop dead gorgeous.   The problem was this dog was built to run.   He was way too much dog for the small apartment of his first owners so they posted an ad hoping to rehome him.  We were moving to a 25 acre farmette.  When he came to our home, I’ll bet he thought he had died and gone to heaven.  He adapted to rehoming very quickly.

Blue was a horse show lab/shar pei mix .  You know, a kid with a box full of puppies attempting to place the puppies.  He bonded to my wife.  When she and I split, Blue went with her.  About four years later she decided to remarry and move to South Korea.  She called and asked whether I would take Blue.  We had Coco by then so I thought we’d have a shot at rehoming Blue.  But he was a one-woman dog.  About six months into coming into our home he dropped over dead from either a heart attack or a stroke.  My ex-wife thinks he died of a broken heart.

Coco was a pure-bred chocolate lab rescue.  We were to be his foster home until he found his forever home.  He was a puppy mill dog with all the hereditary issues from inbreeding and came from a bad situation with poor medical care.  Once the medical issues were addressed, he turned into a great dog.  He adapted quickly, so quickly that I wasn’t willing to let him go.  Yes, I’m a foster home failure.

So when we saw the written material on Belle as well as a photo, we were hooked by her story like many of you.  Of course, she had all the potential issues of rescues.  How quickly would she adapt?  How was her health?  What kinds of emotional scars was she carrying?  What kind of dog was she?  In addition to those issues there was the additional ramifications of being blind.  Were her eyes a long-term health issue?  Was she still depressed?  How well had she adapted to being blind?

When you drive 450 one-way miles for a meet and greet you can’t exactly say, “We need to think about this.  We’ll get back to you.”  We had confidence in our ability to provide the right environment for a blind dog.  And we were ready to take her back home, no matter what we found in the meet and greet.

So when we arrived at her foster mom Michelle’s place and met Belle the first time, we were very surprised.  She was very friendly, greeting us with well-mannered enthusiasm.  I figured she could smell the treats in my pocket.  I now realize that she greets every human that way whether there is a treat for her or not.  She moved beautifully around Michelle’s downstairs.  In spite of the fact she was excited, she behaved well on a leash.  I got down on the floor and she wrestled with me.

I asked Michelle, who is a mobile vet, about health issues.  “She had a hot spot when I took her home”, now healed.  “You are going to have to watch her ears.  I treated her for a mild yeast infection.”  That’s it.  The diagnosis of no significant medical issues was confirmed by my vet.

Some of you have commented that I’m exposing her to too much stimuli too quickly.  I have not seen any indication of that from Belle.  She thrives on new people and new situations.  Others have said, take it slow, she’s still adapting to being rehomed.  As near as I can tell she is totally bought into her new home.  That’s no criticism of Michelle and her foster homing skills.  It’s a tribute to Belle’s adaptability.  Her personality is unfolding.  I’m beginning to see parts of what I think is the Belle before she became blind.  I guess being semi-retired has really paid off.  I’ve had the luxury of spending as much time with her as she can handle.

Yesterday we extended her morning walk to three miles.  At the end, she was prancing around ready for more.  I was perspiring and breathing hard.  Her only physical issue other than being blind when we brought her home is she was a bit out of shape due to lack of exercise.  That is definitely not true two weeks later.

She’s smart.  When she is motivated to learn something new that she feels is important, like “step up” and “step down”, she acquires the knowledge quickly.  Aside from those two terns, she also understands “puppy”, and “lay” in addition to the fact she already understood “sit”.  Next on the list is “stop” a survival skill for a blind dog.

So where do we go from here?  I’m too old to take her jogging.  I’ve done a fair amount of research into Madison dog trainers.  I’m considering these options for fall/winter. 

• Intermediate obedience – I think she’d be bored in a beginner class as most of what she would be taught is already mastered.  The only beginning skill she doesn’t have is “come” when she is unleashed and there are significant stimuli, like in the dog park.
• Pet Pals – The University of Wisconsin American Family Children’s Hospital has a program where certified adult/dog teams visit some very sick children at the hospital.  The dogs are trained, certified, and health screened by the UW Vet School.  I’ve read through the certification process of the national organizations.  The only ones where she doesn’t get a thumbs up are vacuum cleaners and sudden loud noises.  But I think she could be conditioned on those two issues. 
• Agility 1 – She’s already been cleared by one of the businesses in Madison that does agility dog training.  They feel they can adapt the course to meet her needs.
• Scent – Anything I can do to improve her use of her most powerful sense is going to help her enjoy a full life as an agility dog.

So dear and most helpful readers, please help me make this choice.  This wonderful girl is ready.

[Stella]

Joanne & Spud - I do scenting with my dogs. They are on leash the whole time, and there is only one dog working at a time. So, after obedience I think this would be a good option for Belle. It is a great way to work on the bond between dog and owner, and for building confidence. I do it with my anxious reactive dog because it is a safe environment for him where he can have a sense of accomplishment. Like everything, it is all about finding the right trainer and the right class.

[Karen and Bridget]

I vote for intermediate obedience first so Belle can continue to build confidence and trust in herself, you and new situations/sounds.  I have two therapy dogs that I take to the children's hospital, and I can attest that there are a plethora of sounds we experience.  It certainly seems as though Belle would make a very good therapy dog, however I think I would give her more time and obedience training before having her evaluated. 

[Cyndi, The Boys & Callie]

Pet Pals sounds nice and would give her the opportunity to be in new (yet familiar/safe) surroundings.  On scent,  two of my boys do Nose Work and love it.  Initially they search for treats in different surroundings inside, then move outside and then to (usually) birch  Not sure how Belle would do outside but (at least at ours), they are not jumping into cars, etc. Just searching around them.  And they are on leash and do not mix with other dogs so as to not become distracted.  I've heard a few people talk about actual tracking.  I haven't seen that here (Atlanta) but it sounded very interesting.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

( sorry for the typos-typing from phone)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Thomas, my current dog, Spud, would NEVER make it at Pet Pals. At least not now. It is not that he is not trained  he wants to play. He is a player.   Even though I would love to do some type of work with Spud, this is not the job for him.  It is tough when you are a couple. One always wants to do something and the other does not.

I see Spud asking if he could be a  grounds keeper. He would love to chase the Canada Geese off the lawns.  He could work at a golf course cleaning up the range balls.  UGH.  Neither of these are for me. He wants to work on a boat. 

You eventually find a common ground and one where both of you enjoy and excel.  I know you will

I know you are firm on the Agility--so much fun. It is for some and not for other dogs. Even dogs with sight.

Before you do anything, put a blindfold on and have your wife give you commands on the course  :)   That's tough.

When my dog went blind we had to change EVERYTHING.  Just about everything. He was an off leash dog, never tethered even in our yard.  He was still young and loved to run and play in the yard. He was always with my boys outside. He was, one of the boys.  The final straw was one day when he came bolting up the steps and SLAMMED into the house. I still have a huge dent in the siding. He had a knot on his head.  Another time, he fell into the ditch He just walked out the front door and walked to the street and fell hurting his knee.  I had to secure the doors so he could no longer let himself out.  He feel off the deck.  It didnt happen always but when he had bad days, his physical injuries where not worth his freedom.  A happy exuberant dog that cant see can really hurt themselves.  So, we began tethering. He welcomed it so much. Who knew. I thought I was doing this free dog and injustice.  He didnt want all that he had, he just wanted his people. He wanted security.  So know that whatever you do for her, she really just wants you.  She just wants to be with you. 

As for obedience it is such a good base. You have to learn to walk before you can run  :)  Obedience is just that-a good base for all the activities you two will experience.  

[Thomas, Chari, & Lady Belle]

Joanne,

Your recommednation on intermediate obedience is a good one.  Her biggest issue is off-leash recall when there is a lot of stimulus like other dogs and people.  Her second issue is loud noises.  It is not that she bolts, but she is startled by them.  I think I can sensitize her to dealing with the loud noises.  We went to a farmers market this morning where some very loud construction equipment was close by.  As long as I tell ther everything is OK, she's initially nervous but fine.  Then she settles.

As much as I like Pet Pals I think she would be rejected right now as she's too enthusiastic.  She's very good on-leash almost all of the time.  But when people are around, she wants to greet them.  She doesn't jump but she's pretty excited.  I think we could work on that with intermediate obediance too.

So my inclination is to follow your recommendatons -- first, intermediate obediance then Pet Pals.  As for the other two, we'll see how she progresses in the next month or so.  I think she would really enjoy the other two activities.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

In my training with dogs, intermediate obedience was a must before going on to do any hospital work.  Most importantly, it helps YOU, handle your dog.  Pick a class where the ratio is low. Say, 5:1 -five students to one trainer.  This way, you can have  training more tailored individually when needed and be able to feed off your group. Win Win

My choices are in this order:

• Intermediate Obedience -only for the simple reason it helps you handle your dog.  For you and Belle a trainer that observes you right now is a good thing for you both
• Pet Pals -after obedience, since it seems you both really love to get out and meet people this would be a win for You, Belle, and the people you meet.
• Scent-too much off leash at this time but it sounds like a lot of fun. 

I'm going to be real honest with you--Again, but right now OFF LEASH exercises with a new dog that is confident would not be my first place to start  :)

I also think agility, which is also OFF LEASH and fast paced it cruel at this time.  

I'm so glad you have such enthusiasm with your new puppy.  Enjoy. You will find your niche. Just let it happen and enjoy each day. 

[Lisa and Tucker]

I vote for Pet Pals too. She sounds like she has the temperment for it and she also has a disability(I use that term loosley for your Bella as it does not seem to phase her much) that would make it easy for sick kids to relate to her!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I vote for Pet Pals. I think you would both enjoy it, and it is so worthwhile.