Bud the blind dog
Bud
came to us from the Bitterroot Humane Association in Hamilton,
Montana. He was a stray who climbed into someone's car in
a parking lot and then wouldn't get out. He probably just
wanted a ride home, but he went to the shelter instead.
Once at the shelter, the staff noticed Bud had trouble seeing.
Although his eyes looked clear, he would bump into things
and didn't seem to know where to look sometimes. Yet he seemed
to see shapes and shadows. The shelter called us and asked
if we could take him.
We noticed something else about Bud, too: He didn't seem to
have a problem finding a meal! He was a chunky fellow …
stocky on rather short legs. So he immediately went on a diet.
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His eyesight continued to deteriorate after he arrived at the sanctuary, although he can still see the difference between light and dark.
Bud came with his own peculiar idea of a good time: He would sneak up behind other dogs and push them in the rear-end with his nose. He thought this was the neatest thing. The other dogs didn't. He soon picked up on the canine social cues and quit.
That left him to focus on his No. 1 favorite activity: Selecting a big rock and spending hours pushing it around with his nose. Mind you, not any rock will do … he's very picky. They need to weigh at least 5 pounds, have flat bottoms and rounded edges. There are currently three special rocks in his stable.
Bud will carry his pet rock in his mouth to a new spot, drop it and start pushing it around again. Eventually he will lie down on the ground, wrap his paws around the rock, and start licking it. Then he will get up, press nose to rock, and off Bud and his rock go. He is at his absolute happiest pushing his rock around.
When he can't find his rock, we'll take it over to him, set it down on the ground, and say "Bud, this rock's for you."
