Dogs have taught me a lot over some 20 years of raising, training and living with them. Ever been around a dog with some kind of disability? If so, did you notice that the dog didn’t know it was supposed to act like it was disabled? Dogs are able to just go along in their lives, there’s no “can’t do it.”

We have a Boston Terrier who is blind. Provided we don’t leave objects where they shouldn’t be, “Zoe” runs around the house without a care in the world. Up or down stairs, she’ll listen for our footsteps so she knows where each step is located. She chases tennis balls around the floor and if one gets away from her, she’ll start sniffing the floor until she finds the ball. Outside on a leash, just a few words will guide her around the yard without her running into things. Like most dogs, she has extraordinary hearing and will growl if something alerts or upsets her.
 

Another of our dogs, a little furry mop of brown and white hair, is deaf. Completely deaf – I have fired guns near “Gracie” and she doesn’t move. A deaf dog is initially a challenge, not for the dog but for the owners. I would find myself giving her commands and then wondering why I would do that since I know she would not possibly understand me. My wife started working with her and taught her hand signals. Through various gestures, we can now let her know what we’re doing and what she is supposed to be doing. While she will bark if she sees something out of place (like a cat or a squirrel), Gracie is not in the running for any kind of bark alarm duty. When she’s asleep, she’s not about to notice anything.

We have the luxury of being able to take care of both Zoe and Gracie. They don’t have to do anything other than look cute, since we have other dogs to watch over us. And while playing with the two little dogs, blind and deaf, we can also learn how we should act if we’re stricken with some kind of adversity. We should ignore it and do the best we can with what we have. Accept and go on.