The Hazards of Snow and Blind Puppies
Our Pets: Katie
Posted on December 23, 2008 at 6:49 pm
It is December 2008, and Katie is 8 months old. The ground is frozen solid with sheets of thick ice. It was 12 degrees today. Katie was outside running around in circles. She and her brother Sawyer do this (we think, for safety), and her toenails are tender and weak. The tender toenails and cold surface together make a bad combination - not only does the hard ground wear down the nails, it freezes them so that they cannot feel the wear and tear, and then breakage due to running on the rough cold surface. Perhaps it is like licking a flag pole in the middle of a wintery snow storm. Ouch! The tongue sticks to the pole! And the skins rips off unless a blow dryer or warm water is used to help de-stick the tongue. (ohhhhh!) Poor Katie-Kates has no toenails. Her toenails are bloody nubbies and that upsets us greatly. There are doggie boots, but try putting these on a blind puppy! There is so much that cannot be explained when one cannot see or understand human's verbal language at a highly articulated level. I do believe that we can communicate through tough to animals, but how can we explain to them not to run on the snow? OK, we can crate her, but she doesn't understand "why" and I want her to know. I want to be able to observe non-verbals and work with us to communicate like the other dogs can. I am glad that I saw Patty Duke play Helen Keller. It does help me to envision what life may be life for Katie.