Update on Willie: Blind Puppy Willie Finds His Perfect Forever Home

Willie is a 5-month-old purebred labrador puppy. This sweet and playful pup has had a rough start to life – he ended up at a shelter with a severe eye infection at a very young age. The infection could have been treated if Willie had received the proper medical attention right away

One eye was immediately removed, upon entering the shelter, because of the severity of the infection. That’s when the rescue group I Stand With My Pack (ISWMP) got involved. They wanted to do whatever they could to help sweet Willie keep his other eye and set him up on a path to success. 

Willie Had To Get Both Eyes Removed

After more doctor visits, ISWMP realized that Willie was in a lot of pain and was struggling to see out of his one remaining eye. Despite their best efforts, the best decision for Willie was to remove his second eye. At only 3 months old, Willie had already had multiple surgeries. 

 

Life With A Blind Dog

A newly blind dog, Willie suddenly had a much different world to adapt to.  Blind dogs often have behavioral issues with biting, food aggression, fear and anxiety. The sooner you can work with a blind dog, the more you can get ahead of training and guiding them, and the more likely they are to thrive in life.

I’ve found that being blind has very little impact on their quality of life because dogs have a much stronger sense of smell and hearing. They can live just as good of a life as any dog, as long as they have the proper training geared towards guiding them to rely on their other stronger senses.  

I have seen this firsthand in fostering blind dogs. In fact, I adopted my last blind foster dog, Kobe, and he is living a really great life! He is happy and gets up every day ready to explore.

                                                         Kobe 8 months old after recovering from multiple heart surgeries

Getting Ready For His Forever Home

That’s when I knew I had to step up and do everything I could to help Willie on his journey. With my experience in fostering and adopting other blind dogs, I knew that I was uniquely positioned to help this little guy get prepared for his forever home. My wife and I have spent weeks preparing him and that day has come – Willie is finally ready for adoption! 

 

Willie Was Adopted!

After Willie’s name and face had been spread just about as far and wide as possible, promotions by Rocky and I Stand With My Pack reached just the right person. Savanah had experience with blind mini horses from running a mini horse rescue, and she also had a fluffy herding dog, Carson, who hit it off immediately with Willie. “She was just perfect,” Rocky says. “It just couldn’t have been a better situation for Willie, and it’s something he really deserved.

 

The two dogs now share an Instagram account curated by their more tech-savvy human family members, where all their loyal fans can keep up with life on the farm. Willie’s got room to roam and enough new sounds and smells to keep him busy for a long, long time to come. His foster families helped him learn to navigate his world, and now there’s no stopping him.

                                           

“I think the neat thing about Willie, the life lesson he has to give, is his condition did not slow him down for a minute,” Rocky says. “He was happy and joyful and living in the moment and excited to explore. He was fearless … It was neat getting to be a chapter in his book, and now he’s doing so fantastic, I couldn’t be happier. What a great situation for Willie.”