He’s black, he’s blind, he has curly hair (poodle) and was named by the litter owner. It fits in so many ways that there was never a thought of changing his name. Stevie arrived to us when he was 6 weeks old and is now 4 years old. It was like having a newborn baby at home, only we were both working.
At first Stevie was very vocal and yelped at every little tumble and knock (you’d think he suffered dire injury). He also didn’t take to paper training too well (it rustled so nicely so he would tear it up – no hearing problems – lol), so it was a daily mop and pick up for the kitchen where he was confined during the day.
The months went on and Stevie “toughened up”. He was always so ready to play and absolutely full on. We installed a doggy door, showed him how to use it and no more housetraining was needed. Only showed him once by pushing him through it and calling him back (can we say SMART?? )
Now he loves to play fetch in the front yard, Can do several commands (sit, stay right down). When he wants to run full on, he knows our yard and runs in a circle in the middle of it (only counterclockwise). He still attacks a tree that we took out 2 years ago – rofl)
Please excuse erratic typing, some one is trying to get my attention to play. 🙂
What a great story – so nice to know Stevie’s adapted enough to run and play!
Poodles are known to be super smart and sounds like Stevie’s no exception.
You didn’t mention his cause of blindness. Was he already blind when you got him
as a puppy at 6 weeks of age?
Just curious … Does Stevie ever wag his tail? Winston’s been blind since puppyhood and raises or tucks his tail, but never a wag.
I thought the wag was an emotion-based response but my trainer says tail wagging can mean many things, and dogs may learn it by watching other dogs. Any thoughts?
So nice to hear how happy Stevie is with you!
best,
Alexis Kostich
Hi Alexis
Stevie was the runt of the litter and born with undeveloped eyes. One never even opened, but the other has and you can see a small eyeball that sort of rolls around – lol .He also had undescended testicles
As to tail wagging, oh yeah – he wags his tail a lot! It goes into hyperdrive when he smells that he is close to the toy he is chasing until he grabs it. He has a docked tail, but not that short and if he is having an off period it will be down.
Stevie looks and sounds like a darling! The tree he “attacks” that’s no longer there is so funny.
At least he’s having fun.
If Stevie was blind from birth, at least he escaped the depression that may be part of the process when an older dog goes blind. The bell on his Frisbee sounds like a good idea. I’ve ordered a “talking” ball and another toy with a bell for my blind dog in an effort to get her interested in playing again. She’s lying around sleeping too much, and it makes me sad to see her so disinterested in everything but food and visitors.
Thanks for sharing Stevie’s story and photos.
Regards,
Jaye