Wallace (Wally)
Wonderful transformation
Wallace has been part of our family for a year now, and what a year it’s been for the poor little guy! He came to us with an untreated eye condition that caused him almost constant pain; so, with the advice of an eye specialist and financial support from Old Dog Haven, we opted for Wallace to have a double enucleation.
Being totally blind initially left poor Wally depressed and scared—he didn’t want to eat or drink, or go for a walk, or do anything at all. At one point we were literally squirting broth into his mouth with a syringe so he wouldn’t get too dehydrated.
Almost 10 months later he’s enjoying a full life again: he loves going to the beach and the park, playfighting with his humans, sleeping, sunbathing, and most of all snuggling. He may not be able to see, but he can feel the warmth of the sun, hear the love in our voices, and smell a whole world of exciting scents.
He’s the sweetest, bravest dog imaginable, and we’re grateful for him every single day.
Update: There’s nothing much new going on in Wally’s world, but he’s still going strong, thank goodness, and is continuing to become more confident in his blindness. For the first 9 months or so after his enucleation, when I took him out for a walk he would just go round and round in circles. Apparently this is common in blind dogs, as it allows them to follow their own scent. But he’s now confident enough to walk all the way from the end of our street to our house more or less in a straight line. That’s about 500 feet. It might not seem like a big deal to people reading his profile, but for Wally it’s a massive accomplishment. I can tell as he struts confidently along the sidewalk that he knows just where he is and feels a sense of mastery over his environment.
Here he is at the park, basking in the sun: