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Welcome to my story!

Thanks for taking the time to read my story.

Please get something to drink and to snack on and sit back,

get comfy and read on....

I was only 4 weeks old when this lady took me to this bad place.

She did not speak English and there was this person at this

bad place that tried to communicate with her. This person said that

my lady needs to put me to sleep. I looked like an alien!

My eyes were dried opened and I don't think I ever blinked

them from the first day they finally opened. Then they put me in

this cold steel cage, hung a paper on the front and walked away.

I heard the cage door open and I thought, oh boy, this is it!

Then someone picked me and began to carry me around the shelter.

I heard her tell the vet that she wanted me, the vet said, the papers

are signed, and the dog needs to be put to sleep! This lady I

guess just ignored the vet (and by the way, this lady was the vets

boss, so I guess when the paperwork disappeared, no one really

could say anything) so she kept carrying me around. This lady was

warm and caring and I liked being held and loved on. I think I found

my angel, my new mom, and my new life! I had beaten

the biggest odds so far - I was going to live! Note: I did hear that

my new mom quit her job after they demanded she brought me back

so that they could kill me! (Nice place huh)

The next thing my new mom said to me was "Oh little one

I don't know how daddy is going to feel about this"! So onward home

we went. Here I was, this tiny bundle of fur, how could

anyone not love me? The drive home was fun, walking in the house

was interesting, but meeting Keith (the big daddy) was a little scary.

I hear that these men have to act macho and all, but this

Keith guy turned out to be one big softy! Another odd beaten!

Oh, he said, "We can't keep her, Dakota will kill her!"

Hmm, what's a Dakota? You can find Dakota in the Pet Photo Album!

Dakota accepted Asasha (it didn't take much)

I finally got a name ASASHA - it was most fitting with the meaning

"Beyond the Odds".

So big daddy Keith (though he acts tough) use to me to work

with him to watch after me. (He is a MSgt in the USAF)

His troops fell in love with me, so I had plenty of babysitters

at my daddy's office.

(Mommy going to take over the writing, my paws are getting tired!)

At five weeks old Asasha's first eye ulcerated and ruptured.

We had to rush her to the vet for emergency surgery.

The vet recommended we put her to sleep because he said she

would never make it through surgery. She was too little

and too fragile! I told him "NO WAY" and so the surgery was done.

Asasha survived with flying colors. This little Peke came home from

the vets with one eye lid sewn shut and half a shaved face!

She was so cute! We were lucky and had a good 3 1/2 months before

the second eye began to give her problems. This time we went to a

Specialist who arranged for the second eye to be removed. Again,

Asasha came home with her eyelid-sewn shut and the other half of

her face shaved. It was funny, the vet said "I hope she doesn't act

more blind now"! She didn't. She was perfectly amazing

in everything she did.

After determining Asasha would never see, I searched the Internet

to find information on dealing with blind dogs. Funny, there wasn't

much to read. Now if she were deaf, I would have had no problem

finding information. So, how do you train a blind dog?

It was summer when we brought Asasha home, she was so tiny.

I use to sit out in the front yard for hours at a time playing with her.

She quickly learned my voice and became excited to hear it.

So, of course, I started calling her name and she would come to me.

Then we would have two people in the front yard, across from

each other at some distance. We started taking turns

clapping our hands. She came straight for us! This dog was

amazing even at such a young age. In the house we were

extremely cautious due to the fact the other three family dogs are

Dobermans. I always joke around and say "It's a good thing Asasha

can't see who is playing with her", since they are probably 20

times her size! Asasha quickly learned where everything in

the house was. Her food and water were (and still are) inside of her

Doberman size crate where she stays when no one is home.

Not to mention that she USED to stay in there at night, but lately

has been hanging out with the big dogs at night.

(My husbands choice)

If you are the parent of a blind animal, please keep one thing in mind.

DO NOT MOVE THE FURNITURE. I rearranged one day, not even

thinking about how it would effect Asasha and boy, did I feel bad. She

knew immediately things were different and began cowering

on the floor. She would even cower outside in the front yard

even though nothing out there had changed. I couldn't figure out

what was wrong, until my daughter said, Mom, you changed the

house around! Duh... Shame on me. Imagine when we finally

got to move into our new 4-bedroom house. I had waited for almost

6 years to get a 4-bedroom house (We are military and

live on base housing) but I was worried about Asasha and

how she would react to a new bigger house. Once again,

she amazed me. It took her only about 2 hours to get to know

the entire layout of the new house! Including the backsliding

glass door. Asasha rarely runs into anything, even a door that is only

opened a little bit. Her senses are amazing. She knows where

the Dobermans food and water dishes are, she knows where some

of the cats food dishes are. She truly amazes me day in and day out.

I cannot imagine life with out Asasha. Many people say to me

"Poor dog" Poor dog! My..... Well you get the picture, she is one

happy little girl and without me would have been one dead little dog!

I use to feel guilty about keeping her alive without sight,

but not anymore, this girl can chase me and everything else

around the house at full speed, play like there is no tomorrow.

I love to play with my sister Ashley

Finally, a bed I can climb on and lay down!  I love Futons!

Ahh, come on Ditto, let me in!