Interview Magoo, Love is Blind Photo Contest First Runner Up

 Here is an interview with Magoo's owner, Julie. Magoo was the first runner up on the Love is Blind Photo Contest on the Life with Blind Louie Facebook Page.


How did you hear about Life with Blind Louie?
"I heard of Life with Blind Louie from the Blind Dog Support group. Other members had already liked Blind Louie's Facebook page, and shared. Being a new owner to a blind dog, I like to hear of others experiences and seeing that their dogs are still out there being dogs."

Dad, Magoo and Gus.

When did you have the pleasure of meeting Magoo?
My mom and dad adopted Magoo from a MI shelter. I did see Magoo but not on a daily basis. He was already losing his sight when they adopted him, but he was still a very feisty fellow. After my dad passed and my mom started traveling more, she brought up re-homing Magoo. I didn't want him going to just anyone so she agreed to let him come here for me to look for a new home. I knew in the back of my mind he wasn't going anywhere. My dad adored this dog and I just couldn't let him leave our family.

When did you guys start to notice Magoo was going blind?
Bringing Magoo home I could see that he was not seeing. We went to a specialist where we were told it was PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy). At this point, Magoo was not seeing anything. Again it being new I had lots of questions and did a lot of reading up on it. I can't say I felt pity for him. I was watching a dog that still was having fun everyday. He is feisty and loves to wrestle, play with his flirt pole and fetch. The biggest adjustment was doing these things a little differently. Loud jingle ball really made playing fetch easier. Little scented oil on the flirt pole helped. We learned to walk together and teaching him his words. "careful", easy" and then just brushing up on general commands. Magoo does extremely well getting around. Our first visit to my vet and the vet tech was surprised he couldn't see. He walked around that place like he owned it. It was more of me and him getting in sync.

Magoo and his sister, Sassy

Do you have any other pets in the house? Kids?
Magoo lives with Buddy(pit bull) Sassy(toy poodle) his side kick. They love to play and to cuddle together. I also had to teach Sassy to look out for him, so keep her from getting run over. He tends to follow Sassy around outside a lot, which is not always a good thing. She is always into mischief. Sassy and Magoo also like playing tug together. This I have to watch closely because of the size difference. Magoo also lives with 2 cats. The cats are not fond of him as he gets to close and excited and they get scared. That is still a work in progress.

Does Magoo get around pretty well without being able to see?
Magoo continues to amaze me daily. He gets around like any sighted dog and just continues to live his life like any normal dog.

I know from my experience with Louie, that it is very difficult sometimes dealing with medical problems and their cost. Both financial and emotional.
Taking Magoo I knew there could be high medical costs, it was worth it knowing that I was still taking care of my dads dog. Can't put a price on love.

Somebody LOVES tug!

When I would see dogs needing homes that were blind, I always felt bad but didn't think I could give a blind dog everything they needed. This was the biggest lesson Magoo taught me. You just give them everything every other dog wants, a home, unconditional love and Magoo says lots of toys. : )

I love that! I would have never thought I could care for a blind dog either, and then there was Louie. He surprised me in so many ways. I had no idea how well a blind dog can carry on with life. Sight is more of a luxury now when I look at a dog, not a necessity by any means.

This is why I wanted to write about my life with Blind Louie. I wanted people to know that there are good dogs out there, great dogs, that just can't see. I wanted people to know that these dogs were keepers, they are worth our time and energy. If your dog is diagnosed with a vision problem, it is not the end of the world. There are ways to help them and help yourself and there are a lot of other people dealing with the same thing to help with tips and tricks and support. That is why I'm glad to write about Louie and why I'm glad I found web resources like www.blinddogsupport.com.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. We all love Magoo too! Also, little known fact: Blind Louie's nickname has been 'Mr. Louie Magooie' since he was diagnosed with his glaucoma and I realized why he was bumping into everything. I was a big Mr. Magoo fan growing up.

Can you say spoiled!? Look at all his toys!

Interview with Contest Winner: Misfit the Blind Dog

Here is an interview I did with Misfit the Blind Dog's mama, Dana. Misfit's parents, Dana and Morgan have had Misfit since he was a little puppy. Misfit is similar to Louie in many ways. Louie has never had all of his sight and went blind at a very young age. Dana is pretty sure Misfit was born blind. They are both dogs that were never dependent on sight, therefore, never let their blindness hold them back. Even the look of Misfit's eyes reminds me of Blind Louie. Right down to the difference in size, shape and shade between the left and the right eyes. I wish we could meet Misfit outside of the internet, but here we are in the Pacific Northwest and Misfit is all the way in Maryland. Please be sure to find Misfit on Facebook for more photos: www.facebook.com/MisfitTheBlindDog and while you're at it, make sure you've liked the Life with Blind Louie page too! www.facebook.com/LifewithBlindLouie,

Hi Dana, Thanks for taking the time to tell us a little bit about your story.  How did you hear about Life with Blind Louie?
"We were contacted on Misfit’s Facebook page by Louie to enter his “Love Is Blind” photo contest."

When and how did you meet your dog?
"It was actually a very unexpected and unplanned introduction. Morgan was looking to adopt a dog, and her sister’s boyfriend’s dobies had just had a litter of puppies. Morgan’s sister knew she was looking for a dog, and offered her one of the puppies. The mother of the puppies killed two of her blind pups (6 others were sighted puppies and found homes as well) When Morgan picked out the blue Doberman she had no idea he was blind."

When and how did your dog’s eye problems come about? What were some early signs and observations?
"Well, Morgan first noticed he was blind as soon as she had him in her car to take him home. He started bobbling his head as though he could not focus on anything, so this started some suspicion. Then when she got him home, he would walk timidly and as though he had no idea where he was. When he started to walk a little more freely she noticed him running into anything in his path. Also, his eyes were oddly colored…a very pale bright blue and he had no pupils. At the time we thought it was just a “puppyism” because he was only 7 weeks old (she got him this early because Morgan’s sister feared the mom may turn on him as well) The first day Morgan picked him up was October 13th, 2012. Needless to say, Dana was not fully in the picture at this time. Within 1 month she became completely involved."

Have you had to do any surgery's or treatments?
We have not done any treatments as of now. The blindness does not interfere with his everyday life. He still plays with toys and other dogs, runs around the yard and cuddles as though he is a sighted dog. Unless you either look at his eyes or are told, you cannot tell he is blind. We have decided to take him to an ophthalmologist, which is an eye doctor for dogs. We are hoping they will be able to tell us what caused the blindness and what complications/treatments may come about."

Do you have any other pets in the house? Kids?
"We do have another pet! We have an American Short Hair kitty cat. His name is Willis and Misfit can track him down in an instant. He uses the bell on Willis’ collar to find him! It’s amazing how easily he can chase him even though he can’t see him. They never harm each other, they just get on each other’s nerves (or more like Misfit gets on Willis’ nerves)."

How did Misfit deal with vision loss?
"Since he was born with his blindness he adapted amazingly well, almost too well. He is such a picture of inspiration and perseverance. He does not fear things; he walks into all new experiences with such trust in himself and us as his guide humans."
 
How does Misfit get around without being able to see?
"Very well, perfect. He can hear us walk and can follow us by the sound of our footsteps. The only time he has problems is in crowded and fairly unknown places, such as the dog park. There are people there that move around and change places on him so he cannot have the placement of obstacles memorized since it does changes, so every now and then he will run into people full force."

Can you tell us one story of a time you were really impressed with your dog’s navigation ability?
"There are so many times he has navigated so well that we were amazed. It is almost impossible to pin point one. But to give you one instance, he used to live at a house with a pellet stove. Morgan did all she could to teach him that he could not go near it for fear of him burning himself. One day she did not have it barricaded off, but still as soon as he walked up onto the tile the pellet stove was on, he immediately turned around and walked away. Also, sometimes when he is running around the yard he will get so close to running into something, but as soon as he gets about 2 centimeters away from it, he stops, backs up and chooses another path."

Are the risks and struggles involved in having a blind dog, both emotional and financial, worth enduring? What are some things that make it worth it?
"There is nothing that could cause us to not want to take care of him. I believe we love him so much that we would sell the clothes of our back to make his life comfortable. What makes us so passionate about him and him so worthy of love is the small things he does during a day. Such as the first time he discovers that he can stick his head out of a car window, or the first time he encounters snow and wants to eat it or even getting in the pool for the first time. Being able to be there for every single one of his “firsts” is what makes him worth every struggle there is."

Tell us about your site and where we can contact you and follow your story?
Our site is on Facebook. The link is www.facebook.com/misfittheblinddog. You can follow his daily adventures and help us spread the word that disabled animals are just as loving and lovable as “normal” animals on his Facebook. In order to contact us you can personal message us on his Facebook or send us an e-mail at misfittheblinddog@gmail.com. We also currently have a fundraising project going on. We are raising money for the Blind Dog Rescue Alliance. Our current goal is $200. If you would like to donate you can send a donation of $3-$5 to misfittheblinddog@gmail.com on PayPal or go to http://www.gofundme.com/misfitsmasterpiece. For each donation we will be sending a “pawtographed” photograph of Misfit to the person who donated.

Love is Blind Photo Contest Winners!

We had a very successful photo contest on the Life with Blind Louie Facebook page and boy did we have fun! I was introduced to many amazing dogs, all thanks to the internet. Over the next week or so, I will be doing a series of interviews with the winners of the contest:

First is Mistfit the Blind Dog!

Winner of the Love Is Blind Photo Contest.

Check out Misfits Facebook page! Click HERE

 

First Runner Up: Wiebus! from the Netherlands.

He's famous. Check out his website. I can't read it, but the photos sure are great.

Second runner up: Magoo!

and the always adorable
Third runner up: Vinny!

Check back for the interviews!

Sick Snorp Update

A happy car dog

I'm happy to report that Snorp has made a seemingly full recovery from his unfortunate poisoning incident. It was slow going for a while but he's back to his good old wagging self.

My husband and I decided that Snorp could use a vacation. Well, actually it may have been a bit more selfish. We did have ourselves in mind as well. We decided to take 3 days off of work and head out to the Washington coast, Snorp included. We came to the conclusion to leave Louie with my parents and their dog Budde. I know Louie will be happier and have more fun in a familiar place than he will on a long car ride that includes a ferry. Louie didn't know he was missing out on anything. He was blissfully unaware that Snorp, Paul and I were having the time of our lives without him.

Snorp escapes the waves.

Snorp really enjoyed the alone time with his favorite humans. He was such a good boy in the car and at all our stops along the way while on the leash. When we arrived at our destination, a small cabin in La Push Washington, Snorp enjoyed smelling and marking every tree a pine needle, tail wagging. We walked the few feet to the beach and watched the waves beat against the sandy shore. Snorp was so excited, but cautious. There was no way he was going to let a single tiny wave catch him. Even if we threw his favorite stick out on to the wet sand. It was pretty cute.

After a long few weeks of Snorp recovering from his ER stay it was good to see him so happy and active. I was really worried that we would never see that Snorp again. He was so sick that he couldn't walk when we took him home from the hospital. It was another day before we saw his tail wag and another two days before he licked my hand in the morning to wake me up like he usually does. It was a full five days before he could easily take the 4 steps up on to my parents porch, but slowly and surely he has recovered. We are lucky.

A happy beach dog.

What's Wrong with Snorp!

Snorp and his favorite kid friend, Ethan March 2013

Alright. The topic of my blog usually revolves around my lovely Blind Louie. Today we are going to talk about Louie's stepbrother, his best dog friend and seeing eye dog. Snorp.

Snorp is an amazing dog. He was my husbands dog before we met. Now he is our dog. I love him as much as I love Louie. Read all about how we met Snorp by clicking this link to an older post in our blog: Read More About Snorp

Wednesday night, we had the scare of a lifetime. I want to share this story because I know I have a lot of readers who have dogs, and who love their dogs like they were family. I also bet that like me, a lot of you don't know about some dangers lurking right in your own back yard.

On Wednesday, I got home from work about 6pm. Snorp and Louie were inside and greeted me enthusiastically at the door like most days. I gave them both a good petting. I asked my husband Paul if he had already fed the dogs. He had. So I let them outside to go to the bathroom. A little while later they found their was next door to my parents house. My brother was there and he let the dogs in to see their puppy, Budde. Snorp found a spot on the floor to nap. About a half hour went by when Snorp stood. My brother, Hunter, looked at him to see if he needed to go out and noticed his back legs were flexed and rigid. He thought Snorp may be sick to his stomach so he walked him outside and observed. Snorp didn't try to find the grass. He just stood on wobbly legs and looked concerned.

Hunter brought Snorp back home where Paul and I were inside. When Snorp walked in, we knew something wasn't right. It was 8pm. By 8:30 there was no denying we had an emergency on our hands. Snorp could barely stand, every muscle in his body was contracted without his control. He began to drool and pant and he looked terrified. We thought maybe he had been buzzed by the electric fence we have way out back by the pig pen. This was different. Was he having a seizure? It looked a lot like that. Then I said, "Do you think he could have been poisoned." No. He's not throwing up and he doesn't have diarrhea.

I called the Animal Emergency Clinic and explained the symptoms as Paul loaded Snorp into the car. It was so hard for him to walk by now. We drove the 20 minutes the the ER and it was getting progressively worse. The nurses and doctors began to ask us questions. "Do you have Slug Bait in your garden?" No. "Does anyone in your family takes drugs for ADHD?" No. "Do you have rat poison with strychnine out?" No. "Do you have a compost pile in your yard". No, but I think our neighbors do and Snorp goes over there to visit their dogs often. What? Compost? Compost is poisonous to dogs?

Compost Poisoning in Dogs

Yes! Compost can be poisonous to dogs. I had no idea. It can be deadly. Snorp's temperature was already 105 when we arrived and he was convulsing violently. It was impossible to put and IV in for fluids so they had to sedate him first. After 4 shots of heavy tranquilizers and Paul and I holding him still, they go the IV inserted into his back leg. The vet said that he had to be sedated for a very long time. They had to monitor his temp and heart rate and keep him hydrated. If we would not have brought him in so quickly he would have certainly died. He would have continued to tremor until he cooked from the inside. Horrifying.

Snorp stayed at the ER overnight. We got back home at about 11:30pm and we were distraught. We were told we needed to pick him up at 7:30am to transfer him to our regular vet at 8 for daytime monitoring. He would not be ready to go home by morning. So we woke early and picked him up. He could not walk at all anymore. We lifted him by placing 2 towels under his belly and using them like slings to lift him. It was really hard seeing him like that.

After the long task of getting him settled at the new hospital and going over his chart with our regular vets he was hooked back up to fluids. They have him charcoal on food to help absorb any poison and sedated him. We got a call that afternoon that he would be ready to go home by time we got off of work that day. Almost 24 hours in the hospital.

This day, Thursday May 30th was something my husband and I had been looking forward to for months. It was my 20 week ultrasound appointment and we would hopefully find out if we were having a boy or a girl. So quickly it turned from a happy day to a day of worry. It was comforting to get the call that we could take Snorp home just a few minutes before walking into my doctors appointment. It made it much easier to focus on the amazing task at hand knowing we'd be seeing Snorp again just after.

When we picked Snorp up we were given some more charcoal fluid to mix with his next meal and told that he would still be stiff and sore for a few days. It is now Saturday and Snorp is still having a hard time getting around. It seems like every muscle is sore. I bet is it after having a Charley horse in your whole body for hours and hours. Poor boy. But we are lucky he is alive, and he is happy to be home.

The next morning, Friday, when he woke up from about 12 straight hours of sleep he wagged his tail gently for the first time since this all started and he licked my hand gently. Snorp was back, I think he's going to be okay.

So, I didn't know all the things that can make a dog sick. I knew the obvious, rat poison and antifreeze. But compost? Horse poop? Snail Bait? The more we know the better parents we can be and we have to share with each other when something like this happens. So we went and told all our neighbors with dogs and now I'm telling all of my readers.

Thanks for reading. Oh, it's a boy. :)

"Love is Blind" Photo Contest Details

We're having a photo contest on the Life with Blind Louie Facebook Page. Here are some detail on how you can enter: 

First, if you haven't already, Like the Life with Blind Louie Facebook Page. (You must be logged into Facebook to do this)

Now send us a private Facebook message with the photo you'd like to submit.
Please include any info you'd like me to post along with your photo ie. Dogs name, owners name, website (if any) you're promoting. Please include a short story about how you found your dog and how your photos works with our theme.

Theme: Love is Blind
The interpritation of the theme is left up to you so get creative!

I will be posting a few entry's a day for my fans to see. I will annouce the final deadline later, it depends on how many submittions I get and how quickly they come in. I will then narrow the photos down to a few and will open a poll for fans to vote on their favorite photo.

The winner will get some Life with Blind Louie swag and an interview that will be posted on the Life with Blind Louie blog.

The runners up will all be featured in the "Love is Blind" photo album on the Life with Blind Louie Facebook Page and also featured in a blog post about the photo contest.

Any questions? Email me: lifewithblindlouie@gmail.com
or go to our Facebook page, Click Here or go to www.facebook.com/lifewithblindlouie

Spring Has Sprung

Giving Louie a hug on a sun-shiny day

Spring has officially sprung in the northwest. Thank goodness. We get a few days here every year that remind us all why we live here in the first place. The other days are to trick visitors into thinking they shouldn't move here. Have guests from out of town for a visit and it will surely rain the entire time they're here, but there are always tiny reminders of the beautiful area we live in.

Somedays, like today, I can see Mt. Baker huge in the sky. If I'm on the right hill I can see the whole Fraser Valley to the North. Blue sky, mountains, rivers, lakes, streams, creeks and ocean. There is nowhere else in the world I'd rather be. Louie especially loves it when the sun comes out.

The forecast for this weekend looks great. Everyday in the 70's. We don't get that here everyday, not even in the summer. To see the 70's the first week of May is pretty special and you can tell people here are excited. Louie included. Before the sun is even out people are out in their shorts, tank tops and sandles. It might be raining now, but they have faith in the weatherman that something better is on its way.

Louie has been lying in the driveway on the hot black pavement in the direct sunlight again. I have to go and force him to wake up and move inside or into the shade on the porch after a few minutes. I know from past experience that he will not make this call for himself when he gets overheated. We discovered that when he was very young.

It was hot at our cabin on Reflection Lake in eastern Washington. Louie was less than a year old. We were playing down by the water, Louie was swimming in a shallow spot while I sat on the dock with my feet in. Louie got out and lay down on the dock while I threw my fishing pole in the water a few times. It was only about 11am but it was already about 80 degrees. I woke Louie up to follow me up to the fire pit to start breakfast after about a half an hour. Louie followed me up and then lay down right next to the fire in the dirt. When I turned around and saw that I told him to scoot over right away. He was almost in the fire! He was slow to respond. He stood up and looked at me dazed. Just then as he stood there, he started peeing. He was not squatting, he did not lift his leg. This was very weird. "Louie just peed his pants?" I thought.

I started to panic. I felt his nose and it was dry and hot. Louie started to sway and stumble before falling down. Oh, crap! This is really bad. I was a 30 minute drive from a paved rode and another 30 to a hospital or town that might have a vets office. That would be an hour ride in a hot dusty car for a dog that was already obviously overheating. I picked Louie up in my arms and carried him down to the lake. I set him in the shallow water on the shore in a shady spot. As he woke up I encouraged him to drink. He lapped at the water lazily as he lay in the shallow water.

Louie in Reflection Lake, 2009

I sat with him on the shore for a while. He fell asleep on and off. I kept talking to him, telling him he was a good boy. His panting slowed to more of a normal breath. I grabbed a beach towel nearby and soaked it in the lake water before bringing Louie back up the hill and into the cabin where it was shady and cool. I covered him with the wet towel until that started to warm up and I removed it. I set a bowl of water next to him. I watched him sleep. I didn't get much fun in the sun that day at all.

After a few hours, Louie seemed more normal. It wasn't until the sun started going down that he wanted to go back outside. I was glad, because I wouldn't have let him go out earlier anyway. It was cool outside and there was a little breeze. I watched Louie and felt like we have survived something very scary, but he was okay.

I'm glad survival mode kicked in and I kept a level head. I would have been easy to panic. I love this dog. I was happy I hadn't skipped over the emergency care chapters in my dog training books. They all included parts on heat stroke. If it wasn't for that, I might not have known what was happening or what I should do.

I have always watched Louie carefully on sunny days since then. His love for the heat and his skill at finding the sunny spot even though he can't see has me instructing him to move every few minutes and it also means that on some really hot days he just stays inside until the sun starts going down.