Today we hosted Dr. Heather Kaese, a veterinarian and ophthalmology researcher who is working to understand the genetic links between uveitis and Appaloosas.  As we documented in our new Web site, BlindAppaloosas.org, Appaloosas are much more likely to get uveitis, the leading cause of blindness in horses, than other breeds.  Consequently, blindness in Appaloosas is,…

A new Web site devoted to all things dog, called appropriately enough DogTime, just published a story on the sanctuary this week.  The writer, Leslie Smith, and her husband Mike had come out to the ranch for a visit this past summer, so Leslie is writing from first-hand experience.  As you’ll see, Leslie features blind…

One of the things we do is spend a lot of time emailing or on the phone answering questions and helping folks who have disabled animals.  This is particularly true when it comes to blind horses.  A few months ago we were contacted by a couple in Maine who had just decided to take a…

I was feeding the dogs at Widget’s House yesterday evening when I looked across the room and deaf Tyler doing his pathetic routine.  He is one of the original ‘drama queens’ at the ranch … a dog who can look tragic in an instant, simply to get you to envelop him in your arms out…

I took this photo of blind Emmy Lou late this afternoon when I was at Widget’s House, our main dog building.  I didn’t have a particular subject in mind when I headed over with the camera, but Emmy Lou clearly had herself in mind.  She would not leave me alone.  She followed me all over…

I took this photo late this afternoon, as Alayne and I were finishing up barn chores on a beautiful if brisk Thanksgiving Day.  The view is to the northeast, and the peaks you see are in the Scapegoat Wilderness, part of the enormous Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.  As the sun was dropping, so too was…

Cassie B. of Hamilton, Montana, who adopted our little blind dog Nevada a couple of months ago, emailed us the above photo of her yesterday, enjoying the same snow we got.  Cassie and her husband Brent renamed Nevada as Bindi, which I sometimes roll together now as "Nevindi."  Here’s how Cassie described the scene yesterday…

Yesterday evening, just as we were winding up barn chores, the rain of the past two days turned to snow.  And it snowed.  And snowed.  We woke up today to about 8 inches, and it continued throughout the day.  By tonight we probably had about 12 inches of snow.  I took the photo above of…

Our fabulous longtime volunteer, Laura B. of Helena, came out on Friday to adopt three-legged Kasha.  Now, Laura is not exactly new to adopting from the ranch — she’s adopted four animals already from us over the years.  That includes the little scamp she’s holding in her arms in this photo, Rudy.  He was only…

I took this photo late yesterday afternoon just outside my office.  That’s our old boy, Dillon, resting his chin on blind-and-deaf Blanca.  This still-growing Great Dane puppy is content to lay her big frame right next to another dog, even if it means half the bed space for each of them.  Dillon had been lying…