He arrived one day un announced. A ball of black fur like a baby bear that had been abandoned and neglected. Covered in ticks and fleas his hair knotted and his eyes glazed over, he was just a few weeks old and blind.

I had never before cared for a blind dog and I seriously wondered how this was going to work. Our house is up an impressive flight of stairs with a long high balcony and railings easy enough for the little one to slip through. All off this sank to the bottom of my concerns when my heart took over for this special little soul. His ears were large like a donkey and so was his personality. He had so much to teach me in the shortest amount of time before he was taken to his forever home in the sky.

What he lacked in sight he made up for in hearing. We bought him a little yellow squeaky dog that we used to call him in one direction or another. I learnt quickly that moving the furniture around the house wasn’t a good idea, he’d get lost and bump into things and get stuck in a corner. Being blind made this little character a bit feisty, he’d snap in the air at other dogs twice his size if he thought his food was in danger of being stolen.

Our little Pukkie

He made us laugh at the way he walked, taking big giant steps with his little legs not knowing or seeing how other dogs walked. Touching his face he could smell you and then snuggle up against your face and bury himself inside your neck.

We learnt to tap our feet on the ground to show him where the food was, we discovered that he loved the swooshing of the boom on the tiled floors. He would sit patiently his large ears sticking up and his head facing the sky listening and smelling.

We loved him more than the big blue sky, more than all the fur in the world, more than more than. We sat with him while he was sick, sick from malnutrition and lack of care that stretched out into his future. Watched him eat special food that was meant to make him better. Watched him getting better and rejoicing at his progress. Sitting up all night nursing him when he went down again.

LOVE

The doctors and nurses at the vet fell in love with him.

Everyone fell in love with him but not all the love in the world was enough to keep him here. One sunny afternoon when life was meant to be perfect, he died in my arms.

I know that one day Pukkie and I will be reunited that sweet little innocent soul.