"My heart hurts"

It was a very sad day in our house yesterday and these were the last words I heard before falling to sleep last night. I felt the same way but I just could not say it so well: "My heart hurts".

Sarah brought a puppy into our lives 3 1/2 years ago, a puppy she named 'Jouet Chanel'. We all have fallen hard for this little dog, a dog who like Sarah was given the happy gene. Jouet just makes everyone smile, she thinks she is the biggest dog in the neighborhood and she has the heart of a lion.

Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration syndrome(SARDS) may affect any pure or mixed breed of dog. Affected dogs are generally between the ages of 7 and 14 years of age, with females predominating over males. Studies have shown that these pets have total destruction of the visual cell layer (the rods and cones) of the retina resulting in blindness.

Jouet is 3 1/2, the youngest dog the Ophthalmologist has ever seen with the syndrome. A true shock. It happened over the course of 4 or 5 days, from sighted to blind. She now seems a bit confused and quite tentative, certainly looks to be picked up and loved. It will take some training of both Jouet and us but with any luck all will be well.