A board certified Veterinary Opthamologist confirmed the diagnosis our primary care Vet made. The doctor said that Hanna is nearly totally blind at this point. In fact, he said he would be surprised if she can see anything at this point. I was shocked becuase you would never have guessed she was totally blind. She walks around the yard with no problems, maneuvers the pack and walking around other dogs. Goes up and down stairs…hops in a crate at dinner time. She goes for walkies. I really thought she had some decent vision left because she doesn’t act like a dog who can’t see. I mean, I live with this dog 24/7 and you would just never guess she can’t see! In a way, I guess I’m a little relieved to hear this. I hate for my Hanna to be blind, BUT it seems like she really is adjusting well. Dogs are so amazing.

So, I have a stack of information on living with a blind dog that I need to read. When we started this journy together, I promised Hanna I would take care of her no matter what, and that’s what I intend to do. If we can make her life easier in any way, we certainly will.

So the search began. I started visiting Project Racing Home’s adoption kennel as often as I could looking for my new furbaby. I couldn’t decide! I wanted each and every greyhound I met.  Because of Haley’s shyness I knew I needed a fairly outgoing and confident pup…I also wanted another girl, preferably on the smaller side since I was living in an apartment. Since I was having such a hard time picking out a new grey, the kennel director suggested that I just take a break from looking. If I stopped trying so hard to find one, eventually a dog would reach out and grab me. So I quit looking. Once I quit looking I actually re-evaluated and decided that maybe one greyhound was enough after all.

But I still visited the kennel because I enjoyed the dogs and the company of the other volunteers. I went one Saturday after a new load of dogs had come in. Luckily, I arrived just in time to help with turn-out.  As I opened one of the top crates, this little brindle head poked her overbite out at me, tail wagging furiously. And that was it. The next words out of my mouth were “You realize that I have to adopt this dog.” I can’t explain it, it was just love at first sight. Once I got her out of her crate, I could see she was a 50 pound or so dark brindle cutie-pie with a mohawk that ran from almost between her ears down the entire length of her neck. The kennel director agreed that “L.T.” had exactly the personality I needed for Haley.

I picked “L.T.” up a week later after her spay and had finally decided on a new name: Hanna. Which has since evolved into Hanna Banana, The Banana and NannerHead. Tongue out Completely fitting nicknames for her, this silly little girl was exactly what Haley and I needed.