New Puppy Home-Great Dane-Merle Blindness

INTRODUCING: HENRY NOBLE

Wow! Motherhood at age 49! Incredible how a puppy can take up so much time. The image to the right is how he looked the first day home. He is less scrawny only 4 days later. Good food at our house.

We bought a puppy on Father's Day because my husband had been wanting a Great Dane. He is a merle and 3 days later at his vet appointment, we find out he is blind. We love him even more! Henry is a 10 week old (today) GD full of life and yet we don't know if he can't do things because of his blindness or that it is just puppyhood. I know he can see things in shadows and he uses sounds to help him interpret his world.

I have gone to several websites in these last few days to help me understand the needs of a blind dog and also in raising an incredibly LARGE dog. Wow. So much to learn and I am loosing sleep just like when I had my two human babies.

He sleeps, I work. He gets his feedings, I clean up after him. All in all, Henry is the best thing in a long time. I hope that our whole family gets on board with his needs. Being home all the time because of summer break allows me the time but if husband and son want this to be their dog too, Henry needs to learn more than just my voice.

Today we started learning to walk with our harness on (instead of a choke collar) and he ventured into new grassy areas of the lawn. I have made a call to a U of I eye doc and we will be taking a trip up north to find out the prospects of the sight and/or a plan of action.

On June 24, Henry weighed 18 pounds. I think he is taller and heavier only 2 days later.