[Cagdu] FW: Blind Sled Dog

Sun Nov 25 16:46:52 PST 2007

Subject: Fw: Blind Sled Dog

They don't call me "Wild Bill" for nothing, you know
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Patricia LaFrance-Wolf 
To: Gda-Grads at Yahoogroups. Com ; 'GuideDogsofAmerica' 
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 11:52 AM
Subject: FW: Blind Sled Dog

-----Original Message-----
From: bari powers [mailto:boogiechild408@
<mailto:boogiechild408%40verizon.net> verizon.net] 
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 11:00 AM
To: plawolf at earthlink. <mailto:plawolf%40earthlink.net> net
Subject: Blind Sled Dog

dogsled team has the blind leading the not-blind.
CTHE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Isobel, a six-year-old husky cross, has all the
great qualities of a sled dog. She
loves to run, has strength and endurance, and
works well alongside the other dogs
tethered to the sleds that take tourists out on the subarctic terrain of
Churchill, Man.
It takes a while for visitors to notice that she is completely blind.
"The dog lost its vision, but it didn't lose its
spirit," Dr. Evan Fisk, Isobel's
Winnipeg-based veterinarian said in a recent interview.
"It can smell, hear and feel other dogs nearby."
Isobel not only follows other dogs on the sled
team owned by Jenafor Ollander and
her common-law husband, she sometimes runs lead in tandem with another 
husky.
"She runs tours every single day right now ...
and we have tourists from all over
the world that are absolutely amazed," Ollander said.
"I'm sure some of them think I'm crazy when I tell them she's blind."
Isobel wasn't born blind. Everything seemed fine
until one day three years ago, when
she suddenly came to a halt in the middle of a
sled run and started staggering around.
"We hooked her back up in her house and noticed
that both of her pupils were completely
dilated," Ollander said.
"I remember a couple of people mumbling, 'What
good is a blind sled dog? You should
just take her out and shoot her.' And I'm a bit
stubborn in nature ... and I said,
so what if she can't be a sled dog? she's a good dog."
Isobel was taken to Winnipeg
, where Fisk noticed her retinas had detached, possibly the result of a 
virus.
Back in Churchill, Isobel was kept indoors.
Ollander figured she would be happy and
safer inside.
Ollander was wrong.
"She stopped eating and drinking and we were
quite concerned about what was going
on," Ollander said.
"We happened to bring one of our other sled dogs
home, and she perked right up. So
it dawned on us that the problem was she was
depressed and she missed her pack more
than anything else."
Isobel was soon reintroduced to her canine
comrades and her behaviour improved right
away. She started eating and drinking again.
With some hesitation, Ollander's husband decided
to take a chance and hook Isobel
up to the sled team and see what would happen.
"That dog ran like you wouldn't believe. She ran
better than when she had her eyesight,"
Ollander said.
Isobel has been running ever since. She relies on
the other dogs, human vocal commands,
and her other senses to avoid obstacles.
It's not a complete surprise for Fisk.
"I believe that their senses adapt and they
adjust, just like a person," he said.
"We know that people hone in well on their
hearing skills and their sense of vibration
and time and distance and smell and everything
like that. And dogs become really
acute at that. When they lose their vision, the
rest of their senses kind of take
over."
Isobel is sometimes put up front with another dog
for races, and has beat other dog
teams in head-to-head competitions.
She still has a couple of good running years left
in her. But she's already nearing
the age when many sled dogs hang up their harness.
Finding a good home for her might be a challenge.
"We've had several people who've offered to adopt
her ... but we're really concerned
because she just loves to run," Ollander said.
"We want to make sure that she doesn't end up in
a situation where she gets depressed
again."
"She's OK in the dog yard where she has her dog yard buddies." 

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