A guest blog by Claire Childs
Peps’s story began in Egypt. He had been found with his brother at approximately 6 months old on the street by volunteer rescuers from the ESMA Shelter (Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals). Sadly the rest of his family had been poisoned and did not survive. Initially upon arriving at the shelter, it wasn’t identified that Peps was blind as he coped so well, using his brother as his eyes, After a few months his brother got adopted and Peps’s disability became more apparent. He struggled at times and was bullied by some of the bigger, stronger dogs. He spent time in the cat shelter and looks extremely happy there!
Peps was identified by the English charity Miracles Mission as a dog they would like to try and help. Miracles Mission have identified many disabled and sick animals who do not cope well in shelters around the world. They started searching for a home for Peps and after contacting them, I arranged for him to come over as a foster dog and he arrived in June 2021. It wasn’t long before I decided he fitted in so well that I adopted him.
Peps had a really long journey by plane to France, then by road, across the channel to England. He travelled with his friend Selim, who was on his way to his new home with my friend Martine! At some point they ended up getting switched in their crates but fortunately we got them round the right way! Selim has only three legs, so it was fairly easy to see they were in the wrong crates!
It was very late in the evening when Peps finally arrived. He was very quiet and shut down. He didn’t want to come out of his crate or eat, so I left him to decompress, sitting nearby and talking quietly to him. It must have been such a shock for him.
The next morning, I coaxed him out of the crate and he ventured into the garden to go to the toilet. He moved very carefully and slowly, almost mapping out where he was with every step. Very quickly he learned where the door was, where the step was, where the water bowl was….. It didn’t take long for him to know exactly where everything was. He does this whenever we go somewhere new and will take some time to just walk around slowly and map his surroundings.
Peps adapted quickly to his new surroundings, but in reality it took months really for him to feel comfortable and know that he was HOME. He had probably never heard a washing machine before, never experienced walking in the rain before, never felt or heard leaves falling from the trees – all of the things that we take for granted. As he couldn’t see any of these things some were very scary for him. He rarely showed that he was frightened or anxious so I had to observe and try to pick up on some of his behaviours and mannerisms to understand what made him anxious.
Initially he was quite frightened outside as well and if we managed to walk about 50 metres along a path near the house, it was a success! Slowly over time we got a bit further and a bit further.
Just before Peps arrived it was discovered that he was suffering from Erlichia, a tick borne disease. He received treatment for this which was successful but was just another challenge for him to arrive with. Fortunately hiding tablets from him is quite easy 🙂
After his initial vet checkups it was also identified that he had luxating patella on both of his back knees. He was assessed by a specialist and determined that he did not need an operation as he coped well with this, but physio, strengthening exercises and walking would help to strengthen. He also has some arthritis in his front leg joints.
All of these things were a challenge but with a rescue dog you never really know their full back story, so just have to deal with things as they come up.
The only real difference I have found having a blind dog really is teaching him different things to assist him. Peps has learned “up” and “down”, so he can walk up and down steps / kerbs etc without banging his legs; “left” and “right” so he can navigate around and I also taught him “tree” as his obstacle word so he knows something is in front of him. He navigates around the house really well, and can always find the food cupboard and the fridge! I can move things around but do tend to try and keep things the same if I can. He walks off lead in fields and in the woods quite happily and sometimes leads the way back home if he is tired!
As he has become more settled at home, he also likes to shout at delivery drivers a lot! This is because he feels so comfortable and settled at home, he feels anxious if something threatens that safe feeling at home.
Peps has now been with me for 3.5 years, and I have honestly never met a dog so balanced before. He is so calm and gentle, lives happily with the cats and truly takes everything in his stride and adapts amazingly. He has been a registered Pets as Therapy Dog for two years and every week we visit a local residential home to spend time with the residents. As he cannot do a lot of physical exercise, this gives him mental stimulation and he loves the fuss and attention he receives.
It’s been lovely to keep in touch with the wonderful volunteers who cared for him in Egypt and share photos with them about his life now. They really did an amazing job, after he had suffered such trauma, to be able to re home such a balanced and happy dog so I’m very grateful to them.
WOOFABILITY 