Posted: Oct 2, 08 7:21am

Hi All,

My wife and I are privileged to share our home with two lovely Brittanies -- Cramer, who is nine-and-a-half... and Walker, a rescue Britt who's probably 4 or 5. Very different dogs, but the best of friends.

Yesterday, I was shocked to learn that Cramer had gone totally blind; it was stunning to sit on the floor and have the Vet prove this to me, by lobbing cotton ball after cotton ball past his snout, with no reaction at all.

I just wanted to cry, but have not been able to yet. Maybe it's because I'm listening to advice from a number of people who think they KNOW how I ought to feel. The Vet, while very kind and professional, was so "clinical" to point out, immediately, that I was having a much harder time with this than Cramer was. This is hard to fathom when you look into those big moon-pie eyes of his, and see absolutely nothing.

My wife grew up on a farm, where animals took on a completely different meaning than they always have for me. She was upset for about 30 minutes last night, but now seems to think that I should just make sure to "take him to day care every-other-week" (for his recommended allowance of play, I guess).

I know that Cramer is getting around OK with his nose, and his senses of touch and memory. He can do amazing things without the benefit of vision, and probably has been for 2-3 days (his eyesight seems to have faded more gradually, up to that point), Still, am I wrong to think that he'll need a bit more canine stimulation, or that I might find some other dog owners whose gentle pups might want to have "play dates" more often than every-other-week? If I'm not the one paying attention to Cramer... I don't know who else is!

Yeah, I've got lots of emotion tied up in this. I've been around dogs all of my life and have a special love for Brittanies. Cramer was the "runt-of-the-litter" who simply took our house over when he came into our lives. He's the 13-pound pup who took a 75-yard head start one day, now long after joining us... hitting a hapless guy reading under a tree, and knocking him over like a bowling pin (I tried to warn him). Cramer is also a fortuitous name for a dog who breezed into our lives, started skidding through doorways from day one, and ran around the house talking to himself for another year or two.

He was also ever-the-optimist when it came to other critters. No, we don't hunt, so we never trained him on pheasant or quail. But he did love SPARROWS... and I can still picture him chasing the same one around an uncut field, for hundreds of yards, and repeating this feat dozens and dozens of times over the years.

And now, I'm supposed to be content with letting take "recreational naps?" I'm a home-based entrepreneur, and wish I could afford to have Cramer spend time with a "special needs" group at the kennel at least a few times a week. Well, that would have been an unpopular idea around this house three years ago... and it's only more unpopular now, given the economic mess the country is in.

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Thanks for reading both the "vents" and reminiscences; I'll try to post a picture of Cramer at some point, to give you a feel for his true spirit. In the meantime, I would love to hear from people who've been through similar experiences, and who've found innovative ways to help a blind pet remain happy and stimulated.