This sweet blind Lab arrived at the ranch yesterday. I drove over to our vet clinic in Helena to pick him up. The police department in Conrad, Montana — a small town on the other side of the Rockies, northeast of us — had found him wandering on Interstate 15 back in February. Yes, someone had abandoned a blind dog near an interstate highway in February in Montana. Did they just turn him loose at a rest area and drive off? No one knows.
The Conrad police department took him to their local animal shelter and kept him there while they tried to find his owner and then, eventually, someone to adopt him. They ran advertisements and radio spots but they never received an inquiry or a report that anyone was looking for him. While they had him in the kennel, the police officers would take him with them during the night to walk the schools and occasionally check businesses on slow nights to get him exercise. After a month with no luck finding his owner or an adopter, the Conrad Police Chief emailed me and asked if we could take him. We agreed, and the police chief found someone to drive the dog to Helena for us a week ago.
Dr. Jennifer Rockwell at our clinic, Montana Veterinary Specialists & General Care, called after his initial health exam to say they had named him Moose because of his massive frame, affable personality and lumbering nature. Jennifer said he tipped the scales at 99 pounds and yet isn't fat — he just has really big bones and a huge head. His legs are fairly short, too, but he makes up for it in sheer bulk!
When I saw him for the first time yesterday at the clinic, I realized Moose was a perfect name for this guy.
It turns out he is blind from progressive retinal atrophy, or PRA. At the moment his eyes remain comfortable and he doesn't have any secondary eye issues. We also had him neutered, dewormed and vaccinated. His blood work was perfectly normal.
Moose is a gentle, easy-going fellow who gets along with everyone. He's very sweet with the small dogs in particular. Because we could tell right away how well he would do being introduced to everyone, we brought him into the house with us an hour or so after he arrived. He walked through the rooms for a few minutes, checked things out, nosed a few of the dogs, and then found a bed in the living room and laid down on it. That was that. He was home.
Moose has been in the house with us all through today as well, and it's as if he's lived here his entire life.
I took the photo of Moose with Alayne this afternoon. He looks a bit sad but that's just his face — he sort of has a natural melancholy expression. He's actually a happy boy, just very mellow. Yesterday evening we found that every time we'd walk by his bed, he'd gently thump his tail on the floor to greet us. Whenever he realizes we're talking to him, he starts wagging his tail. And when he realizes Alayne is talking to him, he really, really wags his tail! It's clear that a woman had been his main companion because he just lights up whenever Alayne dotes on him. He definitely responds to me, too, but we can tell it's a different level of emotion with Alayne.
After being abandoned to fend for himself in a brutal winter, this blind boy is now safe and sound with us. Thanks to the Conrad Police Department, who did everything they could to help him. And thanks to all of you who support the ranch with your gifts, we could say "yes" to a disabled dog like Moose.
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