When most people meet Blaze, they immediately fall in love with his unique toothy grin.
But his human mom fell in love with him long before she noticed his interesting dental situation.
She had been looking to adopt a dog for a while. But she wasn’t having any success with making a connection with any of the dogs she came across until she saw Blaze’s profile.
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She immediately fell in love and knew that he was the dog for her.
“I knew he was the one and we didn’t even know about the teeth before he came home,” she told GeoBeats Animals. “That was a glorious surprise.”
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When Blaze was first adopted, his new humans were told that he was a German Shepherd and Greyhound mix.
They noticed his eye was sunken but he appeared to have full vision.
He was referred to a veterinary ophthalmologist, who advised them that Blaze was blind in his right eye.
They also said he needed surgery to save any vision he had in his left eye.
Blaze went through with the surgery, which appeared to be successful at first.
“Two weeks post surgery I was on a walk with Blaze and he just started to walk into everything. I rushed him back to the ophthalmologist to find that the surgery was unsuccessful and he was also blind in his left eye,” Blaze’s mom said.
According to the American Kennel Club, blindness in dogs can happen for a multitude of reasons.
Blind dogs are often able to enjoy a high quality of life despite being blind.
Once you remove any potential safety hazards in your home, your blind dog will likely readapt to its surroundings and be able to resume the activities they enjoyed before going blind.
Blaze did experience some behavioral chances after he lost his vision, but his mom said he handled it with so much grace.
He’s also able to navigate the world around him with “little issue.”
“We had his right eye surgically removed a few months ago due to repeated infections and I think I was more put off by the change than he was,” mom said.
When Blaze was first adopted, he was 50 lbs. Now he’s up to 80 and much healthier.
Mom is now working on Blaze’s anxiety and helping him to be less apprehensive about the world.
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“Obviously we didn’t anticipate the number of challenges we would have faced when we adopted Blaze. But given the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing,” mom said. “He’s my very best friend and I thank my lucky stars every day for him.”
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Mom says it is a true pleasure to see how much joy Blaze brings to not only her but others as well.
You can follow all of his adventures on his Instagram page @blindboyblaze.
Check out a sweet video about Blaze below!
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