Backstory
I got him from a local reputable breeder when he was a puppy. He was the runt of the litter and needed extra special care. He was me and my husband’s first dog together and we just fell in love with little Nemo. We don’t have any children so our dogs are like our kids. Nemo fit right in to our home and loved attention. He used to run in circles like a crazy dog just for entertainment. We used to have stairs and even though he knew how to go up them he could never figure out how to come down so he would play this game where he would run around in circles and then out of nowhere run up the stairs and get stuck. So he would then bark and bark until we would go up and get him. He was a little ham! He loved going for walks. That was Nemo’s most favorite thing to do! When he walked he literally looked like a show dog with his tail up in the air and his body posture just perfect and his head held up high. He was very proud and very happy on walks. He would look at everything in sight and when he saw other dogs or people he would pull his way to them to say hi. He loved seeing squirrels run and birds fly. He would literally look from side to side taking in everything he saw. When we were at home he would jump up on the window sill and look at the window all day to get a glimpse of some sort of activity. We even had visual games we would play. I taught him commands just using gestures and he was so smart. He learned them quickly.
He has always been pretty healthy until last year we noticed him bumping into things and walking slowly and with his tail down. At the time his eyes were not cloudy yet and so we could not tell he was going blind. Finally we had him checked out and sure enough he was going blind due to the cataracts and the progressive retinal dystrophy in both eyes. Nemo didn’t stand a chance. Within 6 months he pretty much lost all sight and we noticed him getting depressed. It made me sad to see him this way and how when we went on walks he would now walk very slowly with his tail down and his head down and all sounds made him jump. Then just 2 months ago we noticed some other things that didn’t seem right and that is when we found out he had a small mass on his intestines that turned out to be cancer. They removed the mass and they don’t believe the cancer has spread but he had to go through a very major surgery to have it removed which made him even more depressed. Nemo is slowly getting his confidence back and his slowly managing the blindness although he does bump into things. What I wouldn’t give so that he could see the birds and squirrels again and walk like that show dog Nemo that he used to be. Nemo is very special to me and my family. I love him with all of my heart! He is my heart.
