His Eye
Physically his blind eye is fine. He still tracks with it and I swear sometimes he see something. I was concerned that he was trying to depend on it and it limited his ability to play and interact with the world around him. I have no clue how to improve a dog's eye/mouth (is that what it would be?) coordination but I tried a couple different things. I got him a big, bright red ball. I rolled that around at the park. He enjoyed that game. He bounced, pounced, and ran after the ball. That was great fun for him and it forced him to start turning his head to use his good eye more. I also would run around with him to get him excited and run after me. We just played a lot of games like that.

One evening in September I saw him perk up and look intently at something. I watched him as he tracked it. Then I noticed it was a cricket he was looking at. He watched it closely, swatted it with his paw, nipped at it with his mouth, swatted it some more until he finally ate it. The whole game lasted about 5 minutes and the cricket jumped around quite a bit. I had a hard time keeping up with it but he saw it the whole time. I thought that was a very sophisticated eye/mouth game and something he would not have been able to do before.

 

His Health Robust, energetic, and gorgeous! I work really hard to not let him get overweight but he needs more exercise than I give him. He loves long walks so I try to give him those. But he also loves going to the dog park and bouncing after his sister. He just goes bonkers there and it is hilarious to watch! Perfect strangers stop and laugh as he zooms, circles, bounces, and scoots around. It reminds me of a pup the way he tucks his fanny under when he runs. He bounces like a bunny and has the hugest grin you have ever seen. He loves to dig and it is so funny to watch him I can't even get mad at him. He does a funny little playbow and then starts to dig. He has the most amazing big, powerful paws. They are quite impressive and when someone sees him stretch they comment on those gorgeous paws. The digging looks like it feels really good to him. Someday when I have a yard I'll designate an area just for him to dig.

His Spirit
He is a quiet guy. Calm, thoughtful, and sweet. Some days I think he is still sad and feels like a visitor. Other days I know he is very happy and loves as well as feels loved. I think this is the one that just will take time. I have worked and worked with him. I talk a lot to him (which he loves), I sing to him (he loves), and I touch him a lot. He likes to be touched and will come up to me to get pets and scratches, but as much as he likes it, I know some contact is just too much for him. He doesn't know what to make of it. I can't get down on the floor and cuddle with him. He loves me to be nearby but he just doesn't understand the really close cuddling. I just keep working on it. He will get up on the couch with me now and put his head in my lap. It is funny to watch him do this because he never starts out with his head in my lap. He lays down and then does an inch worm imitation as he works his head over. Eventually he has my leg pinned down because he has his whole shoulder, neck and head draped over my knee.

In September we piled the dogs in the car and drove up to the Oregon Coast. On the way we stopped to visit my brother Steve in Sacramento. Steve made up a big bed on the floor for me, Sapphire, and Argus. Argus claimed the bed right away and looked very happy to have it. That is until I got into bed too. It just made him too nervous. He ended up sleeping about 3 feet away on the bare floor. Two weeks later on the way back from the Coast we slept on the floor again. This time Argus staked a place on the bed with me and slept there all night. This was the first time he had ever been able to do this.

Argus, Garbo, and Sapphire at the GPA picnic.

He and Sapphire They have really bonded. This surprised me. Sapphire is so people oriented that I thought he would depend on her more than she on him. But she has come to see him as a source of security. When she is afraid of something or doesn't want me to do something to her (like clean her ears or clip her toenails) she will run to him and get into bed with him. They seek each other out a lot and I really feel like we are becoming a family.

His Boundaries
As he has gained security he has started to say "no" to me about things. No, he doesn't like his nails to be clipped, no he doesn't like that stranger and he won't visit with him. I love that he is confident enough he can let me know when he doesn't want or like something but now we are dealing with a shyness. He is very wary of new people, especially men. So we just keep working on it. He gets over the initial wariness and will even approach a man for pets. I was watching him at the park one day. A man and his two young girls came in to visit with the dogs. Argus was at the other end of the park and I watched him as one of the girls walked up to him. He didn't duck or run. He stood still for her. I think he is attracted to kids. Kids that are quiet and polite that is. He and Sapphire earned their Therapy Dog certificates. I think he will enjoy visiting the kids in the hospital.

His Affection
He grins at me, he watches me with such a look. I should be lucky enough to have a human man look at me that way! In fact, I have asked Argus to bring me his human counterpart. He would be the perfect man! Smart, sensitive, funny, gorgeous, and madly in love with me. Argus also madly loves my Mom. It is important that he has two strong bonds in his life so that if anything should ever happen to me, he has Mom. He loves deeply, I just don't think he completely trusts that he will always be with us. He may never believe that.