I was only 4 weeks old when this lady took me to this bad place. She did not speak English and there was this person at this bad place that tried to communicate with her. This person said that my lady needs to put me to sleep. I looked like an alien! My eyes were dried opened and I don't think I ever blinked them from the first day they finally opened. Then they put me in this cold steel cage, hung a paper on the front and walked away. I heard the cage door open and I thought, oh boy, this is it! Then someone picked me and began to carry me around the shelter. I heard her tell the vet that she wanted me, the vet said, the papers are signed, and the dog needs to be put to sleep! This lady I guess just ignored the vet (and by the way, this lady was the vets boss, so I guess when the paperwork disappeared, no one really could say anything) so she kept carrying me around. This lady was warm and caring and I liked being held and loved on. I think I found my angel, my new mom, and my new life! I had beaten the biggest odds so far - I was going to live! Note: I did hear that my new mom quit her job after they demanded she brought me back so that they could kill me! (Nice place huh)

The next thing my new mom said to me was "Oh little one, I don't know how daddy is going to feel about this"! So onward home we went. Here I was, this tiny bundle of fur, how could anyone not love me? The drive home was fun, walking in the house was interesting, but meeting Keith (the big daddy) was a little scary. I hear that these men have to act macho and all, but this Keith guy turned out to be one big softy! Another odd beaten! Oh, he said, "We can't keep her, Dakota will kill her!" Hmm, what's a Dakota? You can find Dakota in the Pet Photo Album! Dakota accepted Asasha (it didn't take much) I finally got a name ASASHA - it was most fitting with the meaning "Beyond the Odds". So big daddy Keith (though he acts tough) use to me to work with him to watch after me. (He is a MSgt in the USAF) His troops fell in love with me, so I had plenty of babysitters at my daddy's office.

(Mommy going to take over the writing, my little paws are getting tired!)

I told him "NO WAY" and so the surgery was done. Asasha survived with flying colors. This little Peke came home from the vets with one eye lid sewn shut and half a shaved face! She was so cute! We were lucky and had a good 3 1/2 months before the second eye began to give her problems. This time we went to a Specialist who arranged for the second eye to be removed. Again, Asasha came home with her eyelid-sewn shut and the other half of her face shaved. It was funny, the vet said "I hope she doesn't act more blind now"! She didn't. She was perfectly amazing in everything she did.

After determining Asasha would never see, I searched the Internet to find information on dealing with blind dogs. Funny, there wasn't much to read. Now if she were deaf, I would have had no problem finding information. So, how do you train a blind dog?

It was summer when we brought Asasha home, she was so tiny. I use to sit out in the front yard for hours at a time playing with her. She quickly learned my voice and became excited to hear it. So, of course, I started calling her name and she would come to me. Then we would have two people in the front yard, across from each other at some distance. We started taking turns clapping our hands. She came straight for us! This dog was amazing even at such a young age.

In the house we were extremely cautious due to the fact the other three family dogs are Dobermans. I always joke around and say "It's a good thing Asasha can't see who is playing with her", since they are probably 20 times her size! Asasha quickly learned where everything in the house was. Her food and water were (and still are) inside of her Doberman size crate where she stays when no one is home. Not to mention that she USED to stay in there at night, but lately has been hanging out with the big dogs at night. (My husbands choice)

If you are the parent of a blind animal, please keep one thing in mind. DO NOT MOVE THE FURNITURE. I rearranged one day, not even thinking about how it would effect Asasha and boy, did I feel bad. She knew immediately things were different and began cowering on the floor. She would even cower outside in the front yard even though nothing out there had changed. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, until my daughter said, Mom, you changed the house around! Duh... Shame on me.

Imagine when we finally got to move into our new 4-bedroom house. I had waited for almost 6 years to get a 4-bedroom house (We are military and live on base housing) but I was worried about Asasha and how she would react to a new bigger house. Once again, she amazed me. It took her only about 2 hours to get to know the entire layout of the new house! Including the backsliding glass door.

Asasha rarely runs into anything, even a door that is only opened a little bit. Her senses are amazing. She knows where the Dobermans food and water dishes are, she knows where some of the cats food dishes are. She truly amazes me day in and day out.

Why don't you check out more of Asasha's family and site.