- J
This is Zoey, she is my sweet, funny, smart little girl,
but and in the past few months she has gone from a happy, goofy ball of joy to a sad, scared, depressed dog.
The reason for her change is she has lost her sight. Zoey has developed cataracts in both eyes and needs surgery to restore her sight. Zoey came into my life almost seven years ago, it was a time when I was at my lowest. I was fighting depression and just getting out of bed each day was a challenge. Zoey is one of the reasons that I am even here to write this today. A little back story; my wife Cathy and I had been talking about getting a puppy, since we already had cats, we didn't want an older dog who may have issues with cats. If we didn't have cats, we would have looked at older dogs, since they are harder to find homes for.
One day, we looked at a puppy at one shelter, and we'd looked at so many animals by then, I was tired and I just wanted this to be done, so I said, "lets just get this one." My wife convinced me that that particular dog wasn't the right temperament for our family, she was very timid and nervous, not the right fit for our sometimes chaotic home! Cathy gave me a piece of paper, a photo of a puppy up for adoption at the Humane Society, and I said, "I don't want to go see that that puppy, that puppy is ugly"!
But she convinced me to go and at least look at the puppy. I went inside the little glass rooms they have in the HS, sat down on the floor, and this tiny little puppy launched herself like a catapult, into my lap, belly-up, and directly into my heart. And that was it. It was a done deal. Cathy's dad, an extraordinary
dog "whisperer" in his own right, always says that "the dog chooses you", and he was right.
That was on Halloween. Cathy never lets me forget that she convinced me to go, but I love the story too and she was right, so I don't mind! It's just more proof that we both listen to the each other and trust each other's opinion, because that person is usually right, be it her or me. Well luckily, Zoey sure was a whole lot cuter in person than in that terrible picture!
These photos were taken the same day we brought her home, tired puppy, sleeping in my lap!
Having Zoey has helped bring me back and now I will do anything and everything I can to return that gift to her, including asking for the help of others. At this time she can not see out of her left eye and her right is almost gone too, so the sooner we can get her the surgery the better. Each day I have to lead her around, making sure she doesn't walk into anything. She's bumping her nose and head on the walls, doors, tables, the stairs, the picnic table and even the concrete steps outside. Ouch!
She used to love to chase our kitten, and he's still so full of energy and he loves to be chased, tries to get her to chase him, but Zoey won't even try anymore. The kitten is hard enough to see; he's all black, and when he's lying on black blankets, in the dark, WE can't even see him; a normal "sighted dog", who is colorblind, would have a hard time, so Zoey with her loss of vision, can't see him at all.
I used to take her everywhere with me; she LOVES
riding in the back of the jeep with the top off, (buckled in for safety) or in the car.
I have had to stop taking her anywhere because she gets very nervous when we leave the house and I hate to see her not wanting to meet other dogs or people she doesn't know, and being fearful or afraid. This is a dog that proactively WANTS to meet other dogs, LOVES to meet new people, she is just automatically wants to be friends with everyone she meets! She REALLY
loves kids!
She is smart, funny, outgoing and friendly, she loves everyone, and everyone loves her, she especially ADORES our grandson.
She outweighs him by probably 30 pounds, but she is so gentle and careful with him, it's a joy to watch. She's gentle and careful with everyone, but he is very special to her; she knows his voice, and just goes nuts when he's around; she can't wait to see him and play with him!
They have a very special relationship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkw35hjtkBE
Zoey has always been uninterested in using her nose or ears to explore, instead, she's very visually interested in everything around her, like this tablet game https://youtu.be/kT2v59JoCnE She does things every day that just make us laugh out loud, playing in the snow; https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=7Hk-LlV2dM8 with her ears flopping around like a little girls pig-tails! She was still a puppy, then. That one still makes me laugh! After we came in that day, I loaded the video so we could watch it on the tv, and I recorded us watching THAT video: https://youtu.be/yeexyzxRcB0 See what Zoey does at the very end, AFTER she watched the whole video on tv...too freaky, but very funny! She clearly knew it was her in the video, but I cannot imagine what she was thinking when she gave me that look! I really wish I knew!
On long walks in the freezing Wisconsin winter, we tried doggy booties https://youtu.be/4DKW-VrqB2A which worked good but she had a hard time walking like this the whole way. Made us laugh though; and it's still funny to watch!
Or, playing with the cat, who yells his fool head off, sounding like he's being murdered, but he goes looking for Zoey to wrestle and play-fight, like here https://youtu.be/VqIGgaaTH28 amidst the recycling. The cat will come and sit by me, then he'll bite me on the arm, and quickly look toward the hallway; he's waiting for me to yell at him, which then brings Zoey in so he can play with her. He's done this enough times that I realize, he does it for the sole purpose of getting Zoey to come and wrestle with him. We used to think he wasn't very bright, but he clearly is!
Zoey just nibbles gently on their fur with those very small front teeth, but she gets bit in the face by the cats, in the nose, and although they aren't drawing blood, those pointy little teeth are sharp!! She gets kicked vigorously in the face with those back claws, but neither the dog nor the cats ever gets hurt. They both absolutely LOVE to do this! They clearly both "pull their punches", and no one ever gets so much as a scratch on them from playing that way. After play, sleep!
Now, she's not interested in anything, doesn't want to play with the cats, or the ball which she can't see, even though we put pennies inside it to make noise, she used to sit all day at the window and just people watch; she can't do that anymore. It's very clear that she's lost her "zest" and just lies around all day. Not only is this not healthy for her, but it's very depressing. It's extremely hard for us to watch this formerly bouncy, lively, happy-go-lucky young dog go from enjoying life, and finding joy and fun in every little simple activity, large and small, to her now just sort of dragging her feet, sluggishly, with her head down, not wanting to do anything, just wanting to lie down and sleep all day.
We try to engage her with activities, but she's just lost her enthusiasm for everything, and it breaks my heart. It's clear that on one hand, she is technically "adjusting", but really, is that a good life for her when we have the ability to fix it and restore her happiness and zest for life? What's the point of living for a dog like that, when she had such a boundless enthusiasm and happiness for everything when she could see, and now that is all gone and she's just a sad little shell of herself?
Please help us get her the surgery she needs to get her sight back, and her life back: all funds raised will go toward the cost of her surgery and recovery, anything raised past that will be donated to the Washington County Humane Society. Just saying thank you doesn't seem like enough, I will be eternally grateful to anyone that helps. I'm going to try to come up with some rewards for donating certain amounts and will add that soon.
but and in the past few months she has gone from a happy, goofy ball of joy to a sad, scared, depressed dog.
The reason for her change is she has lost her sight. Zoey has developed cataracts in both eyes and needs surgery to restore her sight. Zoey came into my life almost seven years ago, it was a time when I was at my lowest. I was fighting depression and just getting out of bed each day was a challenge. Zoey is one of the reasons that I am even here to write this today. A little back story; my wife Cathy and I had been talking about getting a puppy, since we already had cats, we didn't want an older dog who may have issues with cats. If we didn't have cats, we would have looked at older dogs, since they are harder to find homes for.
One day, we looked at a puppy at one shelter, and we'd looked at so many animals by then, I was tired and I just wanted this to be done, so I said, "lets just get this one." My wife convinced me that that particular dog wasn't the right temperament for our family, she was very timid and nervous, not the right fit for our sometimes chaotic home! Cathy gave me a piece of paper, a photo of a puppy up for adoption at the Humane Society, and I said, "I don't want to go see that that puppy, that puppy is ugly"!
But she convinced me to go and at least look at the puppy. I went inside the little glass rooms they have in the HS, sat down on the floor, and this tiny little puppy launched herself like a catapult, into my lap, belly-up, and directly into my heart. And that was it. It was a done deal. Cathy's dad, an extraordinary
dog "whisperer" in his own right, always says that "the dog chooses you", and he was right.
That was on Halloween. Cathy never lets me forget that she convinced me to go, but I love the story too and she was right, so I don't mind! It's just more proof that we both listen to the each other and trust each other's opinion, because that person is usually right, be it her or me. Well luckily, Zoey sure was a whole lot cuter in person than in that terrible picture!
These photos were taken the same day we brought her home, tired puppy, sleeping in my lap!
Having Zoey has helped bring me back and now I will do anything and everything I can to return that gift to her, including asking for the help of others. At this time she can not see out of her left eye and her right is almost gone too, so the sooner we can get her the surgery the better. Each day I have to lead her around, making sure she doesn't walk into anything. She's bumping her nose and head on the walls, doors, tables, the stairs, the picnic table and even the concrete steps outside. Ouch!
She used to love to chase our kitten, and he's still so full of energy and he loves to be chased, tries to get her to chase him, but Zoey won't even try anymore. The kitten is hard enough to see; he's all black, and when he's lying on black blankets, in the dark, WE can't even see him; a normal "sighted dog", who is colorblind, would have a hard time, so Zoey with her loss of vision, can't see him at all.
I used to take her everywhere with me; she LOVES
riding in the back of the jeep with the top off, (buckled in for safety) or in the car.
I have had to stop taking her anywhere because she gets very nervous when we leave the house and I hate to see her not wanting to meet other dogs or people she doesn't know, and being fearful or afraid. This is a dog that proactively WANTS to meet other dogs, LOVES to meet new people, she is just automatically wants to be friends with everyone she meets! She REALLY
loves kids!
She is smart, funny, outgoing and friendly, she loves everyone, and everyone loves her, she especially ADORES our grandson.
She outweighs him by probably 30 pounds, but she is so gentle and careful with him, it's a joy to watch. She's gentle and careful with everyone, but he is very special to her; she knows his voice, and just goes nuts when he's around; she can't wait to see him and play with him!
They have a very special relationship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkw35hjtkBE
Zoey has always been uninterested in using her nose or ears to explore, instead, she's very visually interested in everything around her, like this tablet game https://youtu.be/kT2v59JoCnE She does things every day that just make us laugh out loud, playing in the snow; https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=7Hk-LlV2dM8 with her ears flopping around like a little girls pig-tails! She was still a puppy, then. That one still makes me laugh! After we came in that day, I loaded the video so we could watch it on the tv, and I recorded us watching THAT video: https://youtu.be/yeexyzxRcB0 See what Zoey does at the very end, AFTER she watched the whole video on tv...too freaky, but very funny! She clearly knew it was her in the video, but I cannot imagine what she was thinking when she gave me that look! I really wish I knew!
On long walks in the freezing Wisconsin winter, we tried doggy booties https://youtu.be/4DKW-VrqB2A which worked good but she had a hard time walking like this the whole way. Made us laugh though; and it's still funny to watch!
Or, playing with the cat, who yells his fool head off, sounding like he's being murdered, but he goes looking for Zoey to wrestle and play-fight, like here https://youtu.be/VqIGgaaTH28 amidst the recycling. The cat will come and sit by me, then he'll bite me on the arm, and quickly look toward the hallway; he's waiting for me to yell at him, which then brings Zoey in so he can play with her. He's done this enough times that I realize, he does it for the sole purpose of getting Zoey to come and wrestle with him. We used to think he wasn't very bright, but he clearly is!
Zoey just nibbles gently on their fur with those very small front teeth, but she gets bit in the face by the cats, in the nose, and although they aren't drawing blood, those pointy little teeth are sharp!! She gets kicked vigorously in the face with those back claws, but neither the dog nor the cats ever gets hurt. They both absolutely LOVE to do this! They clearly both "pull their punches", and no one ever gets so much as a scratch on them from playing that way. After play, sleep!
Now, she's not interested in anything, doesn't want to play with the cats, or the ball which she can't see, even though we put pennies inside it to make noise, she used to sit all day at the window and just people watch; she can't do that anymore. It's very clear that she's lost her "zest" and just lies around all day. Not only is this not healthy for her, but it's very depressing. It's extremely hard for us to watch this formerly bouncy, lively, happy-go-lucky young dog go from enjoying life, and finding joy and fun in every little simple activity, large and small, to her now just sort of dragging her feet, sluggishly, with her head down, not wanting to do anything, just wanting to lie down and sleep all day.
We try to engage her with activities, but she's just lost her enthusiasm for everything, and it breaks my heart. It's clear that on one hand, she is technically "adjusting", but really, is that a good life for her when we have the ability to fix it and restore her happiness and zest for life? What's the point of living for a dog like that, when she had such a boundless enthusiasm and happiness for everything when she could see, and now that is all gone and she's just a sad little shell of herself?
Please help us get her the surgery she needs to get her sight back, and her life back: all funds raised will go toward the cost of her surgery and recovery, anything raised past that will be donated to the Washington County Humane Society. Just saying thank you doesn't seem like enough, I will be eternally grateful to anyone that helps. I'm going to try to come up with some rewards for donating certain amounts and will add that soon.