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My life as Bandit's seeing eye person
has it's rewards....As you know, Bandit had a tragic accident this
fall that caused the loss of one eye and since then, his right eye
has been compromised due to complications of "dry eye" and delayed
healing of the ulcer. Despite all of our best efforts both
holistically and veterinary wise, the ulcer has not completely
healed. He has has a fully developed cataract in that eye. All that
adds up to 3 times a day of meds into the eye and a herbal plan to
support his eye. His vision is limited, but as with most dogs, they
adapt very well to their surroundings so long as you don't
re-arrange your furniture. It is amazing to me how he senses when I
am nearby and how dependent he has become on me to take care of
certain things for him.
We keep two rooms of our house closed off most of the time to limit
the pet hair and so that cat has no access to clawing the furniture.
On weekends, when we use those rooms, I often forget to close the
doors, which means that Bandit will invariably find his way in there
to nose around. What usually happens though is that he can't
negotiate his way back into the part of the house we spend the most
of our time in, and he just stands in place staring at whatever is
in front of him after he has gotten what I assume is quite
frustrated at himself. As soon as I am close enough that he can
sense/see me, he wags his tail, as if to say, "oh thank goodness,
Mommy is here to help me out of the situation!" He is such an easy
going dog, that he doesn't get himself worked up or fearful, and I
think that's because of the close bond he and I have had for the
last 15 years, he knows that he took care of me during his good
years and now I will take care of him in the twilight of his
life....when he gets "lost" in the house, I go and find him and say
to him "work it out little buddy" and he always does, once he can
sense where I am...it really is amazing. My husband has noticed that
when I leave to run errands or shop, he immediately goes to his bed,
back turned to my husband who is parked in his computer chair at his
desk and goes to sleep or waits patiently for me to return.
Today, it was chilly and breezy, his favorite kind of weather, so I
thought I would take him for a walk. In his younger day, we would
walk the neighborhood and he would sniff and potty and poop until
his heart was content....we pretty much stopped doing that after he
lost his eye, because I just didn't want any kind of exposure to
something or other dogs/cats that would risk injury to his other
eye. So, our usual walks now just are in the yard...are on a lead
that is retractable, which gives him his freedom to wander and
explore, but safely enough that I can retrieve him or slow him down,
should he head in the wrong direction. Well, today I thought I would
try him on a short walk down the block since it was early and no
traffic and no wandering dogs that I saw. He pranced to the end of
our long driveway and when he hit the pavement of the street, I
could sense his insecurity...he knows what is his and what is not,
that's for sure. We went about 1/3 of the block and after observing
him constantly looking back at me and mostly just standing, I
realized that our days of walking through the neighborhood have
really come to an end. In his golden years, my heart dog has grown
to fully trust me to guide him through life's trials and
tribulations and now he trusts me to keep him in safe places. Once
we got back up on our driveway, he was back to his "prancing self"
and we walked all over the acre and a third that we live on...he
sniffed and sniffed and ran and had the best time, all the while,
keeping his eye on me as best he can now. Clearly, he has developed
the sense that blind dogs and humans have of knowing his
surroundings. I also found it interesting that when he is on the
flexi lead, he seems to prefer to keep a slight tension on it, and I
think that's because it tells him which way to head, cuz that's
where mommy is. His hearing is poor now, so he can't really hear you
unless you are close and fairly loud, but he really can sense when I
am coming toward him. He will go outside with my husband, but it's
real clear who he trusts to be his seeing eye person, and that's not
his dad.
Bandit is my "heart dog" that we all talk about having once in a
lifetime. He is our child and in his golden years, I have found the
bond is even stronger. It takes a good bit more work to care for him
with his eye issue and I cannot imagine having it any other way. I
feel like I am the luckiest pet owner in the world to have a dog
that trusts me in the way he does.....it's real clear the way he
"looks" at me, that he knows we are kindred spirits. My life as
Bandit's Seeing Eye Person is nothing but a pure blessing everyday
to see his happy tail and smiling face when I am there for his
needs. He is one amazing dog.....our new name for him is "Bandit,
the One Eyed Wonder Dog".......he's truly my hero.
He has taught me so many life's lessons..........I hope that someday
I can trust someone as much as he trusts me.
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