Imagine this…
A beautiful, energetic border collie. You can just picture him, right? So vibrant and full of life. So intelligent. So inquisitive and ready to work.
Now imagine this beautiful dog chained up on a farm… 24 hours a day, seven days a week… for two long years.
Absolutely heartbreaking. Worse yet, this beautiful dog is blind. And to make matters even worse, this dog was living in Ireland and in danger of being “put down,” partly due to his blindness.
Enter Caisa Högberg, a Swedish woman who works with a rescue agency that brings rescued dogs from Ireland to Sweden. They knew Ted had zero chance of survival if he stayed in Ireland, so they asked Caisa if she could foster Ted. Naturally she said “yes” without hesitation. Take a look at this cute face:
Caisa had no experience with blind dogs, but this didn’t deter her. She learned what she could online and elsewhere, and she and Ted learned the rest together. In just two short days Ted had stepped into her family and her heart, and Caisa adopted him.
Ted was a fast learner, as he became house-trained and learned his other house manners in just a couple days. What a turnaround from a dog that had been chained up for most of his life!
Fast forward two years, and Caisa got a second call about another border collie who was in much the same predicament as Ted had been: in Ireland, blind, and with very little chance of surviving if they didn’t bring him to Sweden.
Caisa didn’t even have to think about it — she said “Yes” to bringing Zigge the border collie into her home and heart right alongside Ted.
Zigge was young (less than a year old) and had plenty to learn. He found the stairs to be a challenge. And who wouldn’t? As Caisa says, “The ground just disappears.” But with patience and practice, Zigge soon mastered the stairs and now goes up and down with confidence.
Today Zigge and Ted have completely different lives than they did back in Ireland. Where as once they were chained and miserable, today they get to run as free as the wind in open fields and everywhere else…
And recently Zigge and Ted have started playing with each other — jumping, nipping, bowing, barking and frolicking like puppies. You wouldn’t even know the “B Boys” were blind if you saw them out playing like this:
Here’s what Caisa advises those whose dogs are going blind:
“Life does NOT end for your dog if he can’t see. With time and a little patience and lots of love, they are just fine. Dogs live in the moment… let that moment be full of happiness!”
To see more photos and videos of Ted and Zigge and to follow their awesome adventures, check out “The B Boys” Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/thebboysswe.
