Willie's Story
Well, we don't know much of it.  We saw him on Petfinder, through Playing Again Sams, Wisconsin Samoyed Rescue.  He was thought to be 10-12 years old. When we read that he was also blind, our hearts went out to him and we wanted to give him a home.  

Willie had been picked up as a stray and was not claimed by his owners from the county shelter.  He was extremely thin, riddled with parasites (Giardia and two different worms), tested positive for Lyme disease (though was asymptomatic) and had a urinary tract infection.  He was unneutered.  It's hard to imagine how he survived as a blind stray;  he is quite fearful of loud traffic noises, and perhaps this saved his life.  He is also a great food scavenger, a skill he may have learned as a stray. Nonetheless, it must have been terrifying for him to be alone, having to fend for himself.  

Muddy and I drove to meet Willie on April 1, 2009 (photo above left), and, after a successful introduction of the two boys, we brought him home. Our vet, Dr Jane Lohmar at Family Pet Animal Hospital in Chicago, thought his age was closer to eight years old.  Other than the parasites, Lyme, UTI and blindness, Willie appeared quite healthy and his bloodwork was good. We took him to see our holistic vet, Dr Julie Mayer at Integrative Pet Care, for advice on probiotics and other supplements to help him recover from all his maladies, and gain weight and strength.  Dr Lohmar also referred us to a veterinary ophthalmologist;  we were hopeful that Willie's cataracts were operable and we could give him his sight back; however, his cataracts were relatively mild (though are now mature) and his blindness is due to retinal degeneration which cannot be corrected. The ophthalmologist also believes he is completely sightless and does not even see light or shadows.  She assessed his age as "at least eight or nine".  Willie settled in quickly to our household, and we got him on a high quality raw food diet immediately (more on this on our Diet page).  Willie never suffered from lack of appetite, and after several rounds of deworming medicine and antibiotics, he was retested and deemed free of parasites. In early August, Willie was healthy enough for neutering, and came through the procedure very well. He has also "filled out" quite a lot! He was painfully thin at 55 lbs when we adopted him, but after neutering he not only grew a massive coat, he also started gaining weight, and is now a giant 90 lbs;  we would like him to be closer to 80 lbs as he has some left knee arthritis, so he is currently working on weight loss, to his chagrin. He gets lot of exercise (keeping up with Tarka) so has become very strong and has built good stamina from his romps in the park every morning and evening.

Willie is a sweet, loving dog, completely trusting of people.  Unlike Muddy, who was very independent and wanted to spend his days out in the yard, Willie loves to be cuddled and petted, and sticks close by his humans.  He learned his way around our house and yard amazingly quickly;  he figured out three sets of steps (front, back and side) in and out of the house within 2 days. Initially he was reluctant to go up or down the stairs inside the house, despite our efforts to guide him, lead him, and tempt him with a trail of hot dogs.  He has a stubborn streak worthy of the best Samoyeds, and would just sit down and refuse to move.  We understood that he wanted to solve the problem in his own time, and a couple of weeks later, found him upstairs in the guest bedroom at four in the morning.  He was delighted with his new skill and the freedom of movement it gave him, and spent several days practicing all the stairs in the house.  Willie has also learned his way around the neighborhood and our local park, avoiding picnic tables, benches, a raised playground, trees, and other obstacles (though for the first few days we did nickname him "Bonk").  Now he amazes everyone who meets him, as he is apparently oblivious to the fact that he can't see.  It certainly doesn't dampen his enthusiasm for playing with other dogs in the park:  he races around after them, barking excitedly, and even manages to steal toys from them.  

Willie is becoming an old hand at road trips.  He, Muddy and I took several road trips in 2009. The photo below shows them relaxing on a hot day at a rest stop in North Carolina.  They were both great travelers: Muddy loved sticking his head out of the window and barking, while Willie curls up in the back and is quiet as a mouse. We've continued the road trip tradition with Tarka, and have taken several long trips.  Tarka, like Muddy, enjoys watching the view.  Willie still relaxes quietly, and if he gets restless I know it's time for a pit stop. At each motel room, or private home or yard, Willie carefully explores the perimeter, stretching his giant paws out in front of him, and gets to know his surroundings.  It's extraordinary to watch him mapping out new places and, apparently, retaining that information in his head.  Willie appears quite untroubled by his handicap, and if you asked him, he would probably not consider himself handicapped at all! 

Willie is a very lovable dog and quickly endeared himself to us, though he is not without his faults.  He is a loud and frequent talker, with a wide range of vocalizations and some quite ear-splitting "hurry up" barking when we're getting ready to go for a walk or preparing his meals. 

He does blunder around a bit when excited, and was inclined to trample on poor Muddy when he was relaxing in the yard;  Muddy began engaging in pre-emptive barking and growling, to let Willie know where he was.  It wasn't always successful but Willie did learn to "look" out for him.

Willie didn't know how to play when he first came to us, but take a look at this video of him playing ball, only five months later! Muddy provided the soundtrack but couldn't quite figure out how to join in the game without getting jumped on.

Willie started out as a skinny dog with relatively short, thin fur;  as the photo on the right shows, he has turned into a big, handsome boy with a gorgeous thick coat.  In fact, with that mane, we think he may have turned into a lion!

Tarka joined us as a foster, just two weeks after Muddy died. He and Willie bonded instantly and are now the best of friends.  We adopted Tarka shortly after he joined us, and you can read his story on Tarka's page.

Visit our Blind Dog Help page to learn about things we've done to make Willie's life easier and help him navigate his home.