Dog can only make right turns due to unusual condition

Arbor @everydayisarborday 4/26 3:00 pm

Transcript

00:00He can only make right-hand turns because of his neurological deficit.

00:03Hi, I'm Katherine Dago and this is Arbor's story for GeoBeats.

00:08Arb's was part of a breeding hoarding situation. He is blind.

00:13I was following I Stand With My Pack, which is a rescue organization that saved him,

00:17and I knew that he was my dog. I don't know how to explain it other than that. He was my dog.

00:22Good morning, buddy.

00:23We flew to Los Angeles to meet Arbor. The meeting went beautifully and then we drove him

00:28all the way from Southern California to the Willamette Valley in Oregon over two days

00:32to get him to his forever home.

00:34What do you think, Arb's?

00:34Arb's has congenital hydrocephalus.

00:39It is a very profound case. He has almost no vertical matter in his brain. Most of his skull

00:44is water. He can only make right-hand turns because of his neurological deficit.

00:50We began treating him with the correct medications and he's living his life to the fullest.

00:56Did you have a good day, Arbor?

00:59He loves his human brother. He loves his four rescue siblings. He does what we call twinkle

01:06taps, which are these big circles making big right-hand turns around our house, around the

01:11backyard. When I come home, he would run laps around the house. The tail would be up. This

01:16big smile would be on, like, mama's home. It's a party. What's he doing? I have bad days just

01:20like everybody, and he is very aware. He will come over and put his head right into my chest

01:26and just stay there. He breathes and I breathe and we share a moment of gratitude and it resets

01:32my day. Arbor, being blind, doesn't feel comfortable necessarily just taking off and

01:37going for a walk. So instead, we have a beautiful stroller for him that he loves to get into.

01:43We take him on walks so he can hear new sounds and smell new smells.

01:47Did you have a good time?

01:48His condition was just so profound that my heart changed seeing it. I was already on

01:54the course of becoming a veterinarian, but that really helped solidify my path. He's actually

02:00lost his instinct to drink water, so the only way we can hydrate him is to add water to his food,

02:05and so I've had to step in and basically measure out how much liquid he actually consumes.

02:16I just constantly keep watch over him and make sure he knows that every day

02:20is going to be his best day. At the end of the day, I'm grateful for his existence

02:24and that's what I want to share with people. I'm not coming at it from a point of grief,

02:27I'm coming at it from a point of gratitude.

02:31I am grateful that I get to share my life and my world with this beautiful soul.

02:35He is kind, strong, and brave all day every day.

02:41Hi!

02:48Good boy.