Life is strange and weird and kinda funny. Things that seem so written in stone in our lives change and that becomes the new normal. Almost all my life, I’ve had dogs and until Rita, all of our dogs could see. We’ve changed and adapted to life with a blind dog. With Rita, I’ve always said “right” or “left” and tugged at her leash in that direction when we were trying to avoid something. She would be running along and I would say “stop” and pull on her leash and she learned to stop. That kept her from running into a closed door before I could open it or running into the concrete porch before I picked her up to carry her up the steps.
The first few days we had Oscar, I found myself saying “right” or “left” or “stop”. Then I realized I didn’t have to say that with him but I think it’s just a good practice. Teach him now and though I pray he never loses his sight, IF something happened, I wouldn’t have to teach him all my little voice commands.
It still astounds me when we get to the back patio and the concrete is about 1-1/2″ taller than the ground, Oscar takes a giant step up. I guess 1-1/2″ to a mini dachshund puppy is a big step.
Last night I was walking him outside and a plane was flying low overhead. He stopped and looked up. He knew where the sound was coming from. I have no idea if he could see that far but it was cute to see him look up towards the plane.
Oscar can spot a magnolia leaf blowing across the yard from way far away and he loves to chase those. He also loves to carry a stick around. Sometimes on our last trip out for the night, Vince will take Rita at the same time I take Oscar. Rita is much faster at taking care of business. Oscar watches them even though they go to the right and we go to the left. He’s so busy watching them, he won’t do anything. Last night, I thought . . I’ll get him behind the raised beds and he can’t see them. That didn’t work, he kept standing on his hind legs to watch them. The minute they go inside, he tries to make a dash for the house. Nope . . we’re staying out here as long as it takes!
Even though Rita can’t see, she knows exactly where Oscar is. We let them together for a while last night. She would walk right up to him and stop without ever touching him. He wanted her to plan and he kept nudging her. I think that made her a little uncomfortable. They’re going to have to find their own “normal” for getting along but it may better after Oscar calms down a bit . . I’m afraid to even ask at what age puppies calm down!
JUDITH TRUMBULL says
My back porch has one step leading up to it from outside. My 14 year old dog always takes a running leap to come inside (he’s leashed on a rope tied to the porch post when he’s outside.) Every single time he wants to come inside, he does the leap and 9 out of 10 times he face plants onto the porch. It’s funny and scary at the same time. Friends seeing him do it for the first time are shocked and scared but no amount of trying to train him to walk up has worked. I’m used to it now but I still shudder sometimes when he lands really hard. It never seems to bother him though.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That’s terrible but the fact that he does it every time, that’s weird. Maybe he has the same depth perception issues I have. 🙂
Paula Nordt says
The age puppies settle down depends on the breed in my experience. When we have had labradors, it seemed to take a couple of years!
Nelle Coursey says
I don’t know about Dachshunds, but it takes Corgis 3 years!!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Three years til he sleeps past 5 a.m.?? Please say you’re just joking! I don’t think it takes that long with dachshunds but Vince reminded me that when Speck was young and his crate was in the laundry room, our bedroom was at the far end of the house and we would whisper when we woke up, hoping to be able to get dressed and have a few minutes of peace before he realized we were awake.
Karen Sutton says
One of the most useful commands for our dogs is ‘go potty’. When we travel I can take them out and tell them to ‘go potty’ and it actually works!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Yes. Oscar already has that down. I take him out and he will go poop but what he doesn’t have down yet is letting me know when he has to go out.
Nelle Coursey says
LOL No 3 years to quit acting like a puppy! Chewing and acting like little devils! The crate training and potty training only takes a little while.
Sherry Bobak says
On wondering how much dogs can see, I have a rat terrier that is about 12 years old. She like to watch squirrels and little animals and can see them even when I can’t. One of her favorite things to do is sit on my lap at the computer and watch Youtube videos of squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. She makes little noises when they run across the screen. So I guess they can see pretty well.