I sadly need to re home our josie girl, we can no longer have her here as we have 11 month old twin boys and one has bad eczema and she can no longer stay indoors. Josie also has been jumping up and knocking over our boys ( she does not mean to hurt them but I am scared she might) Josie needs alot of attention and needs to be indoors as she is blind.

Because of her blindness she is very skitish and scared outdoors, she feels more comfortable indoor and this is no longer a option for us.

We have tried everything over the last couple of months and even tried making her a outdoor dog with many sleepless night for her, us and our neighors and in the end I just could not do it to her, so we let her inside again.....She loves attention and affection. I feel horrible as we have not been able to give her as much love as she deserves since the boys have come along.

So what I have come on here for is to hopefully find some help in finding her a new home, I do not want to take her to the pound and WILL NOT take her to the pound, she will remain with us until I find her a loveing home.

I would love somewhere for her where she would be allowed indoors and the new owners be home alot...she is not good with other dogs, but I think this is because of her blindness.



It you think you could help of know of someone who might like to take Josie please email me on helenmthomas@optusnet.com.au...please I do not need any negative emails, This is a very hard desision we have come to but my twins have to come first.


Josie is 5 years old and is desexed...we live in Camira/Ipswich Qld.

Thank you for reading

Helen





UPDATE:::


( We have decided we can not rehome Josie, we will work something out) she is part of our family and will remain part of our family...thank you for taking the time to read my post)

Helen

it is such a hard decision to make and i wish you the best of luck in finding her a new home.

Helen, I can only begin to think what a very hard decision you have had to make and my heart goes out to you. I am unable to help but truly hope that there is someone out there with the right home for her. Good on you for waiting to find it and not taking her to the pound. You are a true friend to her and it is such a hard situation for you.

Thanks we are trying really hard to keep her, going to try making her stay outside again, she has a lovely kennel.

Hi Helen

I have copied your post and forwarded it onto koolie Rescue. Hopefully she'll be in touch soon with some help.

Cheers
Cindy

Hi Helen
can you upload a photo or two ?? Is she totally blind??

Thanks Cindy,

She is mostly blind, can see a little but she gets around great, only has trouble if we move stuff...

We got her from the animal welfare league and noticed when she was a puppy she could not see probly...The vet said there is not much we can do about it. But as I said she gets around the house and our back yard fine.

I can take some more pictures of her tomorrow. As I lost alot on my computer when we got a new one.

she looks like a lovely girl... would love to see more photos.

Hopefully TJ can help out with koolie rescue and help find her a home.

In today's society it is rare to learn of someone like yourself who has dedicated 5 years to a severely disabled dog.( I assume you have had her since birth?) I can't say I would be able or willing to take on an disabled adult much less raise a severely disabled pup as you have, I take my hat off to your dedication. I know of a couple of deaf Koolies which have adapted to their disabilities very well, in fact I find it hard to recognise a deaf dog from a hearing dog.

You can correct me if I'm wrong in thinking that a blind dog would need a fairly ridged routine to give it confidence, the furniture would very rarely be moved, new things would be rarely introduced, such things as this. I can't begin to imagine what you have offered her over five years, but I'd say with some confidence that as you have had her since she was a pup and she knows only you and her surroundings, rehoming her would be extremely difficult if possible at all. You say that even placing her outside in her own yard stressed her out so much that you had to bring her back in doors. Imagine the level of stress to her if she had to learn not only a new owner but new smells, new routines, new home, I can only feel it would terrify her.

Would it be possible to make some additional changes to her existing home with you, such as designating a area for her, or part of the house, sectioned off with child proof gates? This would allow her to be comfortable in known surroundings as well as offer your children some time away from accidental bumping. I know your children are small but you have an excellent opportunity to help them grow into understanding adults, with tolerance and compassion when it comes to understanding disabilities. She would be safe behind the barriers, still able to hear you all and she could still have her time with you after babies were in bed, you could even allow her to stay in your room to be closer to your scent when unable to be with you.

Another possibility to consider could be a second dog to act as her seeing eye dog, to give her additional confidence being outside, I know you write that she doesn't tolerate other dogs, but maybe you could take her to a park to meet a couple of friendly, steady dogs, she might come around and then you could move onto play visits and finally a new addition.
A lot to ask and with small children I understand what added challenges this might present. But after caring for a blind dog for five years I can't think that anything would be beyond your capabilities.

It is very clear that you love her and want only the best for her and your family so I hope that these options help provide you with alternatives to rehomeing or worse, eventually having to put her to sleep. I wish you all the very best and hope you arrive at a happy solution for all of you. What ever you elect to do, always remember you have provided five years of safety, love and care, for her, many animals and people of this world don't even get that. Good luck.

Scouserdog...Thanks for your reply.

After reading your post, I must admit I had a big cry! You are soooo right, she is safe here and we do not move anything around as she is very comfortable with it all and does not like change very much...It was very hard for her when the boys came....

After talking with my husband this afternoon about it all, we have decided we can NOT rehome her....

We are going to keep her, she is part of our family and will remain part of our family, we do have child gates, so she will be kept out of the living room and allowed to go into all other rooms in the house...( she maily goes in the office and our room)

When the boys are in bed we will let her into the lounge, basically this is what we have been doing anyway, but she was allowed in the lounge up until she started jumping on the boys.

Josie has always learnt things very easy, so I am sure we can sort something out...

She was our baby until the boys came and still is our baby, she sleeps every night next to me on the floor of our bed.

We have had her since she was a pup and you are so right she would not cope with another family.

Thank you for taking the time to post back to me, you made me see what a mistake I would be making.

Thanks

Helen x

Good - I think that is great news for all of you - sometimes you just need a bit of support.

Oh Scouserdog - ant you just a gem. Glad that you were able to find a solution and sometimes you just need someone removed from the situation to see the problem with some fresh eyes.

Well done everyone! Just shows the power of coming together on this forum. Congratulations Helen on being dedicated to your dog enough to brave putting up what you felt you needed to do, some places people would have attacked you mercilessly without first putting themselves in your position. We all feel for your position, good on you for taking the advise offered so well by Scourserdog.

Thanks Silhouette...

Thanks everyone, I think coming onto the Koolie site reminded me of how much I love Josie and how special she is.....

We have all had a weird wonderful full on year in this house with our Twins arriving.

Helen x

So glad you've decided not to rehome her. Just remember if you have any problems we'll do our best to try and help you. There is a lovely yahoo group for blind dogs, who are very supportive of each other. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/blinddogs/

Helen check out these sites on caring for blind dogs:
www.pepedog.com

http://www.animaleyecare.com.au/aec/copingwithblindpet.html
You will find more sites and information on the animal eye care site

Maybe there will be other people there who can give you some more ideas.