Straydog UPDATE posted SATURDAY 1/4/03 at ~9:30 p.m. CT

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

SATURDAY JANUARY 4 2002

Tiny Blind Puppy Chubs has a kennel companion now, his tiny sister, Cassie!

     This has been a wonderful day, all day!

     Little Chub's sister, Cassie, came to be reunited with Little Blind Chubs to become his seeing-eye buddy for life.

     Little Chubs is just four weeks old now, and because this special little puppy was born blind, he really needs a little puppy just his size and age to become his forever playmate and seeing-eye buddy, and who would be more perfect for this than one of his litter mates?

     I wanted Chubs to have a puppy friend just his size and age so he would have someone to play with now at this stage of his life. It's been sad to see Chubs in his house kennel all by himself and watch him as he sometimes "paws" in the air at a make-believe "something" trying to play by himself, and then to see him "pounce" at whatever is in his tiny mind making him want to play, but then to not have the "thing" pounce back or respond in any way. Then the little tyke would go lie on his blanket and go to sleep. We put a ticking windup clock beneath the blankets of Chub's bed to comfort to him when he slept, but he really needed a soft, warm puppy to snuggle up with.

     I've been carrying Chubs around with me often throughout the day, and cuddling him, but he needs a puppy companion.

     We tried putting bigger pup, Melinda, in with Chubs for short periods of time during the day, but Chubs thought she was his mommy, and Melinda (a baby herself) didn't understand this little fellow and wanted to go outside and play with the "big guys," her sister, Bonnie, and brother, Blake. So, with Chubs being as young as he is right now Melinda wasn't a very good match for him.

Chub's little sister, Cassie, comes to be with her blind brother

     We didn't want Chubs to grow up without a forever friend, and he needs someone to be with him starting now as a baby, so I called the couple who had taken Chubs to the clinic last week to surrender him to possible euthanasia if the clinic couldn't find him a home, which is where I met them and how I found out about Chubs. During my call to them today, I inquired about the possibility of having one of his siblings be Chubs' seeing-eye buddy, and the couple agreed to let us have one of Chubs' sisters. (When they are old enough for adoption, they will, of course, have to be adopted together because it is very difficult to find a companion for a blind adult dog.)

     Within two hours Chub's little Black Lab sister, Cassie, had joined her brother, and this is the most wonderful thing we could ever have done for Chubs. He is so happy now! His whole demeanor has changed, and Cassie is very happy to be with her blind brother. When I first put Cassie in the kennel with Chubs, she waddled right over to play with him, and when she first touched his face, his little tail began wagging happily. It was such a beautiful sight to see how happy Chubs was. He would follow his sister around by smell, sound and touch and would bite her tail and legs, and she would turn and bite his nose. Now when he pounces at "something," he is aiming, as best he can, at his sister, and he tumbles her over as they begin to play. And it's his sister's face that he touches as he paws at her, and she returns the playful antics of her brother by pawing at his face too.

     I spent most of the rest of the afternoon making more mushy puppy food, feeding the pups, changing puppy papers, and watching them as they clumsily played with each other. Now when Chubs goes to sleep, he is usually sleeping on top of or right beside his sister. This is perfect for him.

ADOPTION DAY REPORT : Black Lab mix Millie is Adopted!

     This was exciting news! Millie was one of six dogs who went to Dallas for our Saturday Adoption Day today, and Guy called early afternoon with an update to say a wonderful lady had come in to see the dogs during the afternoon, and she had fallen in love with Millie. Millie showered her soon-to-be new mom with affection too, and Guy and the other volunteers there knew this would be a wonderful home for Millie. We'll be keeping Millie here this week and will take her to her new home next Saturday. What a lucky day for Millie!