Shasta is more playful than ever and does have some vision!

On January 4th, a long-time friend of Shasta's had come to visit for 3 weeks. He is a little Bulldog named Tucker who Shasta used to play with when they were both puppies. I may have mentioned that Shasta has become somewhat picky in who she plays with as she has gotten older and isn't necessarily as submissive as she used to be. So I kept her apart from Tucker until all three dogs got comfortable. As I put Shasta outside while the other two dogs played in the kitchen, I saw Shasta looking through the sliding glass window and her head and eyes followed the other two dogs as they played and moved across the kitchen floor. I was very excited to see this, although I know myself that there have been instances and proof that Shasta can still see in the distance as she does things on walks and when we are outside that I can tell she can see something. I was more excited for my husband to witness it! She has gone from laying around and being a little mopey from when she first lost her vision, to now playing with her sister, even playing keep away with her ball, teasing me by pulling on my shirt when she is tired of me working in the afternoons. Shasta has always loved the water. She has gone to lakes, rivers, beaches, swimming pools, baby pools, and bathtubs without apprehension. When she first lost her vision though, she became apprehensive of getting into the bathtub. I think mainly because it was a shower tub and had the sliding door which made her entry a little more difficult. After some coaxing though she would always climb in with some assistance. Well the other night after we all went to bed, I heard some rumbling around in our bathroom. I told my husband I think that Shasta had climbed into the bathtub and he was sure I was wrong. I turned on the lights and she had climbed in and layed down in the tub. She used to do this when she was a puppy as she liked to lay in the cool tub. Also, the other day I had turned on the shower for myself and walked away just for a second. Shasta thought it was a clear indication of her bath time and jumped in before I could tell her no! So she got an extra bath! : ) There are many things that she does now that a dog or a human just would not do freely if they could not see at all. I will try to post more as they occur. When I go to clean her ears and use a flashlight, for awhile she would not flinch or look away from the light coming at her, but the other day she did. I'm no longer devastated that Shasta has lost some vision as she is a very happy dog and that's all that really matters, however, knowing that she is not totally in the dark and that she even has some distance vision gives me peace of mind. If it weren't for trusting Dr. Plechner, I don't know what kind of condition Shasta would be in today and I'm thankful every day that I contacted him when I first discovered Shasta had SARDS.