Belle and Her Furever Home

[Thomas, Chari, & Lady Belle]

I'm Tom Farin and the proud new papa of a wonderful Labradoodle named Belle who is already a bit of a celebrity at this site.  Yes, were talking about the doodle formerly called IL-Belle at the DRC web site.

She's a celebrity because a lot of people were rooting for this blind doodle cutie to be adopted.  She is everything she was described in the listing and more.  She loves people.  In fact when we meet an owner/dog pair at the dog park or on our walks, she greets the owner before she greets the dog.  Almost everyone that meets her walks away without a clue that they just encountered a dog who cannot see.  She has adapted that well.  

I don't considerate her to be a handicapped dog and I don't feel sorry for her.  That is just fine with her.  She has one or two shortcomings relative to other dogs.  But she makes it up with heart.  Other than sight and because she can't see, her walk is a bit tentative.  As a result, the muscles in her front legs are a bit underdeveloped.  So for the last six days she has gone on a 1 1/2 hour aerobic walk.  She was tuckered out after the first two or three walks, but now she still has energy when we get done.

She's smart.  She's already mastered two new commands, "step up" and "step down."  To be perfectly honest, I was expecting adopting a blind dog to be challenging, even though our recently departed 13 year old chocolate lab, Coco was nearly blind at the end.  But Belle is making it easy.  She's already mind mapped the downstairs of the house.  As I indicated she is going up and down steps and climbing in and out of the car easily.  I figured it would take her longer than normal to adapt to her new home due to the fact she would have all the typical issues faced by a re-homed dog, plus the fact she couldn't see her new environment.  Maybe because this is the fifth new environment this doodle has had to adapt to in about 8 months, she has gotten to be pretty flexible.  But she's doing beautifully in less than a week.

We feel very lucky to have found her and grateful we were selected to adopt her.

Tom

[Thomas, Chari, & Lady Belle]

Hello fellow Doodle lovers,

You have made Belle, Chari, and I feel very welcome.  And a lot of you asked to keep you posted.  Ask and you shall receive.  In my other life, I do a lot of blogging.  So its pretty natural to take advantage of the opportunity to blog here.  So I will.  Let me know when you've reached the point you are getting too much information.  ;-)  The first blog entry will be posted by Monday.

Tom

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

HA, HA,  as far as I am concerned....we never tire (if I may be so bold as to speak for this forum) of hearing about wonderful people like you rescuing wonderful doods like you have!  Please, share.  Again , I am comfortable in saying (even if a bit of a newbie here) that all of us on DK love hearing about the wonderful people like you who are able to make a wonderful life for doodles like Belle!  

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I second that Lori, and you can speak for me anytime!

[Jen, Buddy, & Kevin]

Thanks Tom! I'm excited to read your blog posts about Belle!

[Lynette Main]

Thank you Tom....

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

That is wonderful news and you sound the perfect Doodle parents.

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

I'm so glad that Belle has her forever family - thank you to you and your family for caring for her.  Thanks also for sharing the update, and I look forward to reading more about Belle's new happy life.  Best wishes!

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

Such a wonderful update! Welcome to DK and the doodle family!

[DJ & Chance]

Belle found the perfect humans for her.  Welcome to DK Tom, Chari and Belle!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Congratulations to you and Belle.  Welcome to DK

Having lived with and loved a very large blind dog  I worry about her at a dog park. I think she can be normal and not subjected to being unleashed in a crazy dog park  environment.  I am not there and cant visualize your situation so I am writing this blind so to speak and only from my experiences.

For many DK members we have  stopped going to the dog parks. Even our  sighted dogs have difficulty in this environment.

If there is just one dog to deal with, it is okay, but for a group of dogs the experience is overwhelming. 

Best Wishes to you all.  Again Congratulations. 

[Thomas, Chari, & Lady Belle]

Joanne,

I appreciate your feedback.  One of the concerns DRC expressed when I applied was they thought she would be best in a home with other dogs as that was what she came from.  Yet it is not good to introduce two new dogs to the same home at the same time.  So I thought the dog park would be a chance to socialize.

But in three trips there have been two incidents where she was startled by another large dog, on leash the first time, and off leash the second.  What's interesting is that she seems much more interested in meeting the humans than the dogs.  So a better socialization environment may be in a park setting where she can interact with other dogs and humans where both dogs are leashed.  Thanks, you have me thinking ...  

My first Lady Belle blog post will appear once it is approved.  Any thoughts you have relative to what I'm talking about will be appreciated.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Here are my thoughts:

Slow!  Real slow. These dogs adjust so much easier than a human but are special. Yes, they are special and are not like normal dogs.  I realize you want her to feel normal but honestly, they are not.  I am scrambling for words as I dont want to say she is not normal, but she has special needs.  A leash, no furniture movements, routines, etc.  They live their lives entirely by smell.   They follow other dogs by smell.  I did not have another dog, however I had a cat that led my dog.  What a gentle and insightful cat to take on this huge massive dog. She did a wonderful job. I agree with DRC that a home with another dog might be best as some dogs do pick up the job as leader for the blind dog and do a great job. This is not always the case but it ideal. 

Dog park environments can be energetic and at times hostile even for the healthy dogs.  Honestly, we stopped going.  

So my question to you is, " You have another dog and were introducing your dogs, or you don't have another dog and thought it might be best she make friends?" 

Some dog parks are huge and have a hundred dogs. Your park might just be a small park with one or two dogs? I dont know,  so take my comments with exception however, I hope you go slow in an unleashed dog park or best, find a gentle soul who can come and have playdates in your yard with you dog.  That might be great.