G'day G'day Folks,
Many people have asked, "Why do you use a blind dog in your sig file?"
Tricia and I had a black labrador bitch called Holly. When she was about eight we discovered that her vision was deteriorating. The local vet informed us that there was no operation, no medication or diet that would prevent her becoming totally blind. We considered her quality of life and were amazed at how she had retained her zest for living. Vision is a less important sense compared to smell and hearing for dogs. For them to lose vision is similar to a human losing their sense of smell or taste. Even though we knew this intellectually it never ceased to surprise us how well Holly enjoyed life to the full. She ran in the park, swam in the surf, clambered over rocks, explored new trails through the marshes and along bush tracks. It throughly amazed us that she continued to insist on leading . She wasn't waiting for us to show the way.
Holly taught us again and again that many so called limitations are figments of unfounded assumptions.