Well.....do you know yet if Phoebe liked Olive?

Get the dog! Just joking..... Sort of. You already make arrangements for yours. Olive will just be a plus one.

That said, you would need to understand how to handle a blind dog.

I would also want to be sure that Olive is a sweet non aggressive dog.

Since this is gnawing at you, I think you need to look further into seeing if taking Olive home would be the right thing for you.

That would be the obvious next step. I haven't emailed them to see yet. But it would be a deal-breaker if they didn't get along.

We find two are better than one! But neither of our two have ever been special needs. I would see if your current dog and Olive are comparable. If they are, then you have a decision. And the decision is not a second dog but a SPECIAL NEEDS second dog. I've never had a blind dog and so are not aware of requirements needed for a dog who cannot see. I would also check that out. You said she was GOING blind . . . that perhaps would be easier to adopt because she could adapt to your house before she totally loses her sight.

Get her. Two dogs are always better than one (companionship for each other) plus there's not a whole lot of difference between one dog vs. two. The blindness will be a hurdle but once everyone figures out a routine, it won't be an issue. Only issue is that they need to get along.

I'm jonesing for another dog, so I might not be very objective right now!

I'll keep watching the comments, but this is funny. We are channel flipping on tv and landed on a show about blind dogs. I have had experience with elderly blind dogs.

I've seen friends with a blind dog, they learn to cope quite well (imo)...concerns would be that you aren't someone who likes to move the furniture frequently though. Your dog will learn the layout (if you leave it be) and whiz through the house as if sighted. The saddest thing I ever saw was once when someone unfamiliar locked the doggie door at my cousin's house, and the little dog tried to zoom out...only to go WHAM! Dog was dazed, but no real harm done.

I had a dog that went blind. I agree with Martha Scott that it is important to let the dog adapt to surroundings and routines before she/he goes completely blind, if at all possible. My dog was accustomed to daily walks so the adjustment there wasn't too bad. She adapted quite well to my signals with the leash that let her know a curb was there, etc. For me, having a blind dog vs. a sighted dog was a huge adjustment, especially for her, and never got to the point where it was a non-issue. I couldn't just open the back door and let her go outside. She could no longer just jump or down on the furniture; we had to lift her up and down as she couldn't be left alone on the couch because she could easily fall off. I couldn't leave things laying around where they didn't belong or change the location of things in the house. My dog's liveliness and playfulness went away with her blindness. It was pretty heartbreaking, really. Unfortunately, she never whizzed through the house as if sighted. She walked around very carefully and still bumped into things frequently even though we were very careful to keep things exactly the same. She no longer enjoyed rides in the car. Do be aware that a blind dog may have very different needs than a sighted dog.

(I cannot imagine that someone would dump a blind dog!)

Do it.

With names like Phoebe and Olive, they are meant to be together.

Please get the puppy. How horrible that someone would leave her. She needs to be with a good person like I am sure you are, who will never leave her again.

I fear we may be a bunch of enablers. I would get the dog assuming Phoebe and Olive get along.

Yes, enablers here. Get the pup.

ETA:. Come on, you had to know we would not try to talk you out of it, didn't you? :)

A woman at work just adopted a deaf dog, I know these are two different things, and they are having the time of their life together.

The one thing I would be cautious about, because I know you have a really nice house, is whether or not Olive is reliably house trained. I think I remember reading that this can be an issue for Yorkies? Guessing blind yorkies might have more of an issue?

you may enjoy this instagram of Walter the Blind Borzoi.

https://www.instagram.com/theblindborzoi/

We adopted an older blind golden that had been abandoned by his owner (because he was blind). He was the funniest, sweetest, best boy. I'd do it all over again. He was a wonderful companion and considerably less trouble than other (sighted) dogs we have had!

Watching my DS's dogs play together shows the benefit of canine siblings, especially if they have no child sibling to play with.

If they like each other and you're already kenneling your one dog when you travel, why not? Your excuse just doesn't hold water. :P

Make the kennel agree to not charge extra for a blind dog if you agree to it. After all, they asked YOU.

I haven't read the replies so I apologize if this is a repeat but I believe in fate. She's in need of a home and you have both the love and means to be there for her. Thinking about her all the time just confirms (to me anyways) that she is supposed to be with you. Take her and find a way to make it work.

I'm pretty sure you knew what the people here would say about this decision, and that there would be stories as well, enablers all.

Take that girl and love her like your own pup. She needs you!

It's really about your husbands wishes since he will be the very major caretaker. You travel a lot so dh will be the way primary dog carer. What does he say? It's easy for you to come home, play with puppy, and then travel away from all the nitty gritty.

Westsider makes it seem like an even better deal! hehehehahahhahahaha!

Thanks for all the comments. Hubs and I talked and sent an email to the kennel to see if they get along before thinking any further.

If they get along there, we might try them at our house, but that would include a trip to the vet and doggie ophthalmologist. My gut tells me that this won't work out, but we will see. And I will keep you up to date.

Heeheehee.

So, how about this: take the dog, and negotiate with the kennel that your two dogs get to stay there 2 for the price of 1 whenever you leave town!

Hi Mrs S. Phoebe only goes to the kennel when we are both out of town or on that rare occasion when DH knows he's going to be late getting home. They probably would, but we're fortunate that the financial aspect is the least of our worries. No kids, never had to pay for college.

If your Olive and Phoebe don't hate each other, I'd give it a go. I've had two blind dogs as senior foster dogs--a shih-tzu and a chihuahua. The chihuahua we kept until she passed away, the shih-tzu got adopted by a lovely couple. No idea how old they were when they lost their eyesight, both were blind when I met them. Total lovebugs and they did fine getting around the house. We never took them upstairs due to risk of children leaving a door open and granny dogs tumbling down the stairs. They both held their own/ruled the roost with our large, active younger dogs in the house. The chihuahua was touchy with our larger dogs at first, but as soon as she realized they were not going to boss her, she made friends with them.

Both of these pups were well housetrained and did well finding their way back into the house from the (fenced) yard. My friend fosters for a blind dog rescue and she has had lots of blind fosters. They have all been happy and gotten adopted!

Thanks for the comments. The kennel called Olive's mom (I had thought the dog was there) and she didn't call back. If they call me, we'll test the two dogs together.

This is how Phoebe feels about the whole thing.