More than meets the Eye

He's blind. And for some, that's all they will ever see. They'll never look beyond his missing eyes and see his spunky, fiery, fiesty, loving, cuddly playful personality. They'll miss out on how excited he gets when there is food around and he knows he's getting some. They'll miss out on how he dances on his hind legs begging for snacks. They'll never get to see him run and jump into any open car, van or truck door because he knows the minute a door opens and that means he is going for a ride -- even if he's not! They'll never get to see him figure out his way up on the tall bed to snuggle up in the middle of the night and never move. They'll turn away because he's "disabled" and having a disabled dog doesn't fit in their lifestyle. Well, we haven't told Winston yet that he's disabled and we're hoping no one else does either.

From the first day he fit in so well into our home. He came in, roamed around, smelled everything and everyone and found an open bed and went to sleep. He greeted my 9 year old daughter at the door when she came in. She was less than impressed. "Seriously, do we need another blind dog? And a Shih Tzu at that?" Well, let's just say she's had a little bit of a change of heart. Now, she comes running in the house yelling, "WINNNIEEEEE!" And he can't wait to jump in her arms. She loves to give him a bath and he's a willing participant. She loves to tell how even though he doesn't have eyes, he still can see. "You can tell he can see Mom. He just doesn't have eyes. He sees through other things instead." And in so many ways, she's right. She jumps him over the agility course in the yard, she pulls him in the wagon and she takes him to the dog park and dog beach just like her dogs. Rarely does anyone even realize he's blind. He runs, plays and barks like the rest of the "seeing" dogs here. He let's you know when he wants to go outside (which is more than we get sometimes from the seeing Shih Tzus!) and he best of all, he's the most incredibly loving dog. He is the best that the breed has to offer and when we say, "Stuffed animal with a heart-beat" that's Winston.

We know that at some point we'll have to say goodbye as we see him off to his new home. But for now, we're glad that Winston isn't the only "blind" one...