My Dude

We got Dude when he was 6 weeks old! Oh My Gosh! Sweetest boy ever. As he got a little older we use to tease saying that he was blind because when we threw a toy for him to fetch it would take him forever to find it.

Well, fast forward to 11 months old. My husband started noticing that Dude was weary of darker spots in the house and needed the lights on. Then one Friday, I put him in his Kennel and he bonked his head on it. I told him he was silly and thought nothing of it.

We were going out of town so my brother came over to watch him for the weekend. He called me that night and asked if I knew Dude was running into walls and furniture. I was shocked and asked if he had been outside messing with the trees again. Yes, he was. I thought maybe he scratched his eye and said I would get him to the vet on Monday.

Saturday, he seemed fine, still bumping into stuff but he was getting in the pool and playing with our other two dogs (ShiTzus). My daughter stopped by to check on him and said he seemed fine. When I got home Sunday, his right eye was really red so I took him to the vet then. He was really bumping into everything at that point. The vet check his eyes for scratches, tear production etc. said it was fine, but diagnosed him with Acute Blindness. WTF??!!! She made us an appointment with an eye doctor for Monday.

That was yesterday. Both of his retinas are detached and he has major cataract. HE IS MONTHS OLD. How has this happened? Apparently he HAS been blind in his left eye for some time. The Eye Dr. said it is probably genetic. We know the breeder well and he said none of his pups have ever had anything like that happen. Dude is the runt so maybe that has something to do with it.

With that said, I haven’t cried this much in forever. Every time I look at him and say his name and he looks into space, my heart breaks.

We are very active, camping, hiking etc. Dude has done these things with us and I just wonder, will it be the same for him? Can I take him to the beach, can he still go to doggie day care?

I know he will survive, he will learn to adapt. But it doesn’t make it any easier for my husband and I. We don’t mind the challenge, we are just so sad for him.