Hi! I’m Luther, the most recent Newfoundland rescue dog in our family.
When I got here, in February of 2017, I didn’t know any words. I knew yelling and hitting. I knew having towels over my head so I couldn’t resist when people did things that scared me. I knew hunger and fear.
And I knew darkness, for I was raised in the dark so that the people who ran the puppy mill could save money on the light bill.
Now I know more.
I know love and good food and hugs. I know words like sit, and wait, and Okay, Peeps, which means it’s time to go out, and, my very favorite word, dinner. Mom usually says canine fine dining experience instead of dinner but I’ve figured it out!
I know I am a good dog. So are my sisters, mostly.
Lately, I’ve learned a new word. Blind.
It’s not actually such a new word for me. It is a new word for my mom and dad. They thought I couldn’t see very well but, at least recently, it turns out I can’t see at all.
I think they’re more upset than I am.
Honestly, I don’t really know the difference. I’m just me.
When she’s not crying love tears, Mom says that we just know more now about how to help me. That sounds good!
I run into things sometimes but I’m strong and it’s not that bad. And I don’t get nearly so scared as I used to because I’ve learned that people love me and are gentle.
My sisters are really helpful. I can follow them by hearing them and smelling them. Sarah runs into trees sometimes, when she’s chasing squirrels, but mostly they use safe paths to get where we’re going.
There are stairs from the deck to the yard but they’re not really hard. Mom says it’s something called muscle memory, which helps me know where to put my feet and what it feels like when I get where I’m going. And, almost always, there are yummy treats!
Nobody knows for sure if I remember what it was like to be able to see. Mom says that lots of people, and dogs, are what she calls differently able, like I am. In fact, Mom is differently able, too. It has something to do with her knees.
She also says that telling my story like this is my way of being a therapy dog. She likes therapy dogs. And it’s pretty fun to be a writer!
Maybe we all have our own ways of helping the world to be a better place.
I know I’m glad to have a chance!
What are your gifts??? If you click on the big picture of me at the top of the page and then scroll down a ways past the end of this post, you’ll find a place where you can tell me all about them. Mom will read me your answers!
Hugs and love, Luther
I’m fairly new to your blog and was attracted to it because I’m a grandmother too. I just wanted to tell you that your heartfelt story and all accepting love of this beautiful blind dog made me cry. It made me think of all the kindness that we all should be giving to each other and touched my soul! Thank you, Sue, for making my night a lot brighter.
Thank you, Ricki, for making my night a lot brighter, too! The Luthers of our world have much to teach. I’m so glad you’re here!
I would love the chance to see your life through your heart. I have a boy, Remy, like you, Remy is visually challenged.
Thank you, Angela. Mom says I can blog more. My sisters blog, too. Hug Remy for us!
You might consider getting in touch with Judy Robinson, a wonderful woman who lives in Ontario and has been fostering and adopting “differently abled” pets for years. She lost her beloved “Blind Jake” last year. He lived a great life despite being born without eyes and suffering from a seizure disorder. After mourning his passing from intractable seizures, she just recently adopted another puppy lab who is also blind. In addition she has a Newfie (non-disabled dog), a Newfie Great Dane who came to her from Newf-Friends Ontario Rescue as a foster who stayed. The pup needed to have a foreleg amputated because the pup’s mom chewed off the baby’s foot. And she has another non-affected Lab who has taken on mentoring her newest blind addition. She also has cats with limb deformities. All of her rescued pets live full lives, hike daily in the beautiful woods around her home. She makes sure that they have all of the activities of non-disabled pets. She is a very sweet woman with lots of practical experience with a variety of challenges that might come up with pets with different abilities. I can’t say enough about her abilities to raise and train pets with challenges. She is on Facebook. She’s laid back. …just a lovely soul.
Thank you, Tricia!!! We’ll check it out.
Luther, you had me at hello.
I am visually dyslexic. I am also a visual learner. Therefore, I do better if I look at the object upside down while assembling or trying to replicate. If I need to paint a certain color on the top or put a person on a certain side. my natural reaction is to do it on the opposite side. I realized this phenomenon when painting with Shiloh and Emily doing a Virgin Guadalupe painting. I had printed off the cover of a book that had the whole image and used it as my guide. After several attempts to get her oriented correctly I turned the drawing upside down on the table and my hand drew her immediately.
Go figure! I have altered my life 67 years with this condition. I sew clothes, do cross stitch, knit and crochet, and now paint (which I think was my first language)! I have not been confirmed with this condition but it showed up again when I was doing works with Jenafer Owen.
Therefore I am claiming this as my differently enabled! Otherwise my life is pretty calm and busy and normal for me! Thank you Luther for leading me to this wisdom!
Dear Fran, Mom read me your story and it’s amazing! Thank you for sharing it with me and with us. I think we sometimes don’t know that we’re adapting to things because we don’t know that we do them differently. That seems like a good thing! Mom says your art is fabulous. I hope you’ll keep making it! Hugs and love, Luther
Luther’s story is absolutely lovely – I hope he will write again. I don’t take the time to read your blog as often as I’d like – so many things demanding my attention. Can’t wait for the election to be over. Big hug for Luther, & you!
Thank you, Susan! Totally with you on the election thing. Luther and all the gang will, indeed, write again. Hugs for you, too!