WINNIPEG — The end of the trail is near for Isobel the blind sled dog. The nine-year-old Siberian husky-malamute cross will retire in January, five years after she lost her sight.
In January 2005, veterinarians told Isobel’s owners Gerald and Jenofar Azure that a virus had destroyed her eyes. The dog, they said, would never work again.
But Isobel had other ideas.
“Isobel went absolutely wild. She wanted to run,” said Jenofar, who lives with her dogs in the northern Manitoba community of Churchill.
The blind dog learned to use sound and smell as beacons, her owner said.
“She absolutely loves it,” said Jenofar. “She runs better now than she did with her eyesight.”
Before her illness, Isobel ran in the middle of the pack or at point position, behind the lead dog Thunder. But now she and Thunder take turns running in the lead, Jenofar said.
“In the North, everyone is expected to carry their own weight,” said Gerald. “Isobel does that and more.”
The end of this season marks a sad one for the Azures, as Isobel is set to retire in January.
The pup will be adopted by a family in Alberta, where her ophthalmology specialist lives.
“Gerald and I derive a lot of strength from our sled dogs, but from Isobel in particular,” said Jenofar.
“She doesn’t know she’s blind anymore.”
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Servicehttp://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/Sled+retire+doesn+know+blind/2263946/story.html
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