In 2004 my husband and I decided that we were ready to get a dog. I have had German shepherds since I was a baby, and so, that’s what I wanted. I know and am comfortable with the breed.  But I don’t like buying dogs from breeders when there are so many in shelters that need homes. So, I went searching on rescue sites specifically for German shepherds.

I found a place in Logan, UT, that had several dogs, and that’s where I first saw Charlie. The picture above is the one that drew me to him. This picture really doesn’t do him justice; but this image with the injury over his eye, and his story of being born blind really made my heart ache for him. I knew we could give him the home he deserved and needed, with lots of love and encouragement.

So, I told my husband that I had found the dog I wanted. I explained that he was an 11-month-old German shepherd puppy.  I gently broke it to him that we’d have to drive about 10 hours (one way) to go get him.  Bob, of course, gave me a hard time about having to drive so far to get a dog. You can’t find one closer? There are dogs in the shelter here…

Then, in a small, muffled voice, I said, and he’s blind. So, not only were we going to spend all day driving to get him, he wasn’t even going to be able to see us when we got there. Talk about a tough sell!

I explained that we could drive down on a Friday, and pick up Charlie for the weekend to see how things worked out between us. We could drive home Sunday, with or without him, depending on how our time with him went. My husband already knew, though, that there was no way I was leaving without Charlie.

We were able to get Charlie Friday night and keep him at the hotel with us. We spent all day Saturday at a park with him, playing and getting him used to us. He had had some basic training, which was nice. And we were convinced that he wasn’t completely blind. He made his way around so well that we figured he had to be able to see shadows or blurry shapes.

On Sunday we went back to the rescue house and learned that Charlie had been examined by a veterinary ophthalmologist. It was determined that the optic nerves and retinas never fully developed, and he was, in fact, completely blind. He didn’t look like it, and didn’t really act like it. He was definitely not what I expected from a dog that was unable to see.

But I was in love with him already, and so we adopted Charlie and brought him home to Idaho with us. That was the beginning of our 9+ years of education and adventure together.