Sweet Story....

[luv2puppies]

http://www.thedailytimes.com/sited/story/html/183109

Blind dog has guide dog of his own
2005-01-12
by Linda Braden Albert
of The Daily Times Staff

Australian cattle dogs Peanut and Oreo have an unusual relationship: Oreo is blind, and Peanut is his eyes.

``(Peanut) is so smart to take care of Oreo. She kept this dog alive,'' said the canines' foster mother, Beverly Neal, watching as her daughter Jessica gave Peanut a hug. ``When they first came here, the nights were getting down to 10 and 18 degrees, and I don't think he would have made it.''

The homeless canines first appeared at the Neal home Dec. 11, the day of Jessica's 10th birthday party.

``I threw some pizza boxes out the garage door before I made the next trip to the trash,'' Neal recalled. ``This dog had got this pizza box in her mouth and was running through the yard. Jessica had seen her before and said, `Mommy, look, this is the dog I was telling you about.'''

Neal explained that Jessica does ``puppy patrol'' throughout their Sevierville Road neighborhood, making sure all the dogs are well. She knows each one by name and discovered the dogs she has since named Oreo and Peanut in the course of her rounds.

``(Peanut) kind of hunkered down a little bit and was a little scared, but I gave her some food and she kept checking me out,'' Neal said. ``Jessica said, `Just wait a minute and she'll go get her sister.'''

The dog ate, keeping watch on Neal the whole time. Then she left and returned shortly with Oreo.

``She wouldn't let me go down there to him until she checked me out some more,'' Neal said. ``When I got down there to him, I saw that he was blind.''

Neal got some more food for Oreo, and Peanut led him to it. When he had eaten, Peanut led him to shelter from the drizzling rain under Neal's screened back porch.

``Well, it started getting dark and how could you put a blind dog out in the cold?'' Neal said. ``I made them that little pallet in the garage where they sleep at night.''

Sign language

Somehow, Oreo understands what Peanut wants him to do.

``She would lead him about 100 feet and then she'd tell him to stay, and he'd just stay there like he was hitched to something,'' Neal said. ``Then she'd come back and get him.''

How does Peanut tell him to stay?

``I don't know,'' Neal said. ``But they do this stuff with their ears. Peanut will come up and she will nudge his right ear, and that means to get up. She will nibble on his left ear when she wants to play. Sometimes she jumps completely over him. We haven't figured out what that means.''

The family's veterinarian said cataracts are typical of the breed and that Oreo's blindness was probably sudden onset since he did not display the surefootedness of a dog born blind.

``They feel that he can be fixed, and when they put those false lenses in there, he could see for life, that the cataracts would never come back again,'' Neal said.

Home needed

Neighbors are helping with foster care for the dogs while the Neals try to find them a good home. Marva Solt serves as a ``baby-sitting foster mom,'' Neal said, letting both dogs stay in her fenced backyard during the day. When Neal gets home from work, they return to the Neal home to play with Jessica and settle down in the garage for the night.

Jessica provides most of the care for the dogs. When she found Peanut playing with a sweet potato, she even took some of her birthday money and bought both her new canine friends some toys of their own.

``She gets up early every morning to help feed these dogs, to run them over to Marva's house, to take them outside,'' Neal said.

Neal has contacted shelters in Blount and Knox counties, run ads in the newspaper, notified all area vets, even listed the dogs on Web sites. In spite of her efforts, no one has come forward to claim the pair.

``Everybody knows about these dogs,'' she said. ``The only thing I can figure is that an elderly person has had these dogs and something has happened to the elderly person. These dogs are used to treats and to staying in the house.''

Neal said she couldn't keep the dogs because she doesn't have a fenced yard and doesn't have the funds available to have a fence installed. She does plan to keep the canine friends until someone can adopt them as a pair.

``They are both precious dogs,'' Neal said. ``These dogs are housebroken, they have been loved by somebody. You can see they are sweet, loving dogs, and they are well-behaved. I just can't imagine somebody's heart not breaking.''

[oc_spirit]

I've heard of something like this only it was two Dobermans. The Doberman that can see wears a bell on her collar so the blind Doberman can find her when they're playing in a big field. At home the blind dobie just listens for the jingle of the tags.

Cheers!

[Carrie]

Yes, I saw that about the Dobermans on T.V. It was a wonderful story. So it this one. Thanks for showing us. How cool is that?

[linnie]

And they say humans are the smart ones. These dogs could teach many humans a vital lesson dont you think?

I wish I could have them

[sunny98]

Wow! What a heartwarming story! I hope they find forever homes very soon.

Erin, Sunny and the gang