I would like to introduce my new foster girl to DT. “Darby” is a petite one-year-old blind Dobergirl rescued from Northern California. I guess the story is that about a year ago a lady had a Female Dobe that gave birth to a litter of 6 males and 1 female (Darby). Well the lady was the victim of domestic violence and had to go into a protective shelter. She was only able to take mama Dobe with her and, thankfully, turned the litter into a Doberman Rescue. The male pups were adopted in 36 hours, but Darby stayed back at the shelter due to issues with her blindness. Darby lived at the shelter her entire life until I took her in last week. She was obviously well cared for but had never seen the inside of a house and lived mostly in her kennel. The awesome lady that looked after her since she was a pup knew that her chances of finding a home were slim if she stayed at the kennel.
I drove up to Central California and picked Darby up on December 20th. What a sweet surprise she was. Darby is such a precious little girl and she is adjusting so well in her new home. She loves being inside of the house and has claimed my overstuffed chair as her favorite place. She sleeps soundly in her crate through the night, which is a blessing. This dog is amazing and has no clue that she is blind (actually she can see shadows but will eventually probably be completely blind). She has mastered the doggy door and the yard and she is doing well with staying away from the horse (outside time is supervised). She plays with the other dogs just as a sighted dog would. The other dogs seem to know that she has a disability and they are much gentler with her than with each other. It’s actually very cool to watch the dynamics when they all play. There were a few tense days when she first got here because Tucker, my male Doberman, was pretty hard on her and he was being overly protective of "his" stuff. Now they are all total buddies. They play hard and then crash together. We go on daily walks and she just parks herself right beside him and they lead the way. I am still very careful and she is always crated if we leave the house. We are scheduled to start obedience class on January 18th and I'm sure she'll get best in her class because she is so smart.
We had a great Christmas morning and all the animals received toys, treats and bones. Darby's favorite was definitely the bully stick! I’m not sure if she’s ever had one. Then I took her with me to my family's house so everyone could meet her. Needless to say, everyone loved her and they were all quite impressed at how well she does in spite of her disability. They also commented on how attached she was to me already, which of course I hate...lol...not.
I just love this little girl and I fear I'm destined to be a foster failure! Any thoughts, comments or tips are welcome as this is my first foster as well as my first experience with a special needs pup.
Here are a few pics of Darby and the crew. Sorry for the crappy cell phone quality.
I drove up to Central California and picked Darby up on December 20th. What a sweet surprise she was. Darby is such a precious little girl and she is adjusting so well in her new home. She loves being inside of the house and has claimed my overstuffed chair as her favorite place. She sleeps soundly in her crate through the night, which is a blessing. This dog is amazing and has no clue that she is blind (actually she can see shadows but will eventually probably be completely blind). She has mastered the doggy door and the yard and she is doing well with staying away from the horse (outside time is supervised). She plays with the other dogs just as a sighted dog would. The other dogs seem to know that she has a disability and they are much gentler with her than with each other. It’s actually very cool to watch the dynamics when they all play. There were a few tense days when she first got here because Tucker, my male Doberman, was pretty hard on her and he was being overly protective of "his" stuff. Now they are all total buddies. They play hard and then crash together. We go on daily walks and she just parks herself right beside him and they lead the way. I am still very careful and she is always crated if we leave the house. We are scheduled to start obedience class on January 18th and I'm sure she'll get best in her class because she is so smart.
We had a great Christmas morning and all the animals received toys, treats and bones. Darby's favorite was definitely the bully stick! I’m not sure if she’s ever had one. Then I took her with me to my family's house so everyone could meet her. Needless to say, everyone loved her and they were all quite impressed at how well she does in spite of her disability. They also commented on how attached she was to me already, which of course I hate...lol...not.
I just love this little girl and I fear I'm destined to be a foster failure! Any thoughts, comments or tips are welcome as this is my first foster as well as my first experience with a special needs pup.
Here are a few pics of Darby and the crew. Sorry for the crappy cell phone quality.