** ADOPTED** Stevie - the blind dog who sees with his heart
We love all our dogs in the rescue, we really do, and not in the way that your mom tells you she loves all her kids but you just *know* you are her favorite ;)
Sometimes though we come across a dog who just seems to creep a little deeper into the crevices of our hearts for whatever reason - their story (but really they all have a sad story - being a homeless dog is really all the sad you need), the timing with other circumstances in your life, they remind you of a past pet. Whatever it is, Stevie is one such dog for me. With gentle eyes, and a soul to match if you give yourself a chance to get to know him, you'll be a better person for it.
Stevie is an approx 7 year old mix (probably plott hound/lab or something similarly awesome). He came to us from a shelter in WV where he was being overlooked for months. Whether it was his age, size, that he is obviously blind, with pronounced cataracts, or that he happened to remind us a bit of a special dog Hawkins, who knows. So we decided to pull him. Stevie was known to be very friendly with dogs, a main criteria for us given that we operate out of a doggy daycare setting, and good with kids and cats as well. That folks, is what we can the trifecta of adoptability in the rescue world. A dog with those traits in theory can easily find a home, even if they pee in someone's purse during a meet. It has happened. P.S. - Stevie was not the offending party.
After a few weeks with us Stevie was decidedly more confused and anxious by the boisterous dog play group that moved quickly around him....and ran into him on occasion (WHOOPS!) without much of an apology. Stevie would walk around sort of barking/baying in a manner true to his hound roots. I am sure that has turned people off from meeting him. He is great with many dogs, but not all. He seems to prefer the company of smaller/quieter dogs (I hear ya, buddy!) but sometimes surprises us with unexpected friendships. He can be picky with his dog friends, but if likes someone they are immediately in his inner circle. He also often walks around our store sporting a very studly belly band with a sanitary napkin in it. Never in my life did I expect a dog rescue to use maxi pads so much, but its a thing! Its really not fair to judge him by that, *every* male dog would love an opportunity to walk around marking our store and leaving lasting memories of them. To be fair, I am sure he will need some housebreaking work but if I take him on a car ride he never tries to pee all over my car like puppies sometimes do!
He has always tested well with cats and continues to do so, and most of all he LOVES people. He particularly has a gentleness and old soul way about him with kids of all sizes. As we have gotten to know him he has wormed his way into our hearts in a way as subtle and innocuous as he is. The less chaos there is the less anxious he is. He greets almost everyone with a gentlemanly shake of his paw, if they are willing to give him a minute of his time, and gently jumps up to hug his favorite people around the waist. Annoying from my family, but damn adorable from this blind dog!
Stevie and I took a car ride a few weeks ago to visit a veterinary ophthalmologist. The news was not good in that his cataracts have been there for a long time and created irreparable retinal damage so he is not a candidate for cataract surgery, but the good news is its just a congenital condition and not a byproduct of any other medical problems.
So someone please adopt my current crush, or perhaps even if you are not in a position to adopt Stevie (The) Wonder (Dog), you'll consider him special enough to give his story a share?
