Blind Dog Was Afraid To Walk Down Stairs Until Her Brother Showed Her How
"It was such a proud moment!”
Bonnie has overcome a lot of things in her life, but you’d never know by looking at her. The blind husky just recently conquered her fear of stairs — with the help of her big brother.
“She had to work her way up to it,” Victoria Pombeiro, Bonnie’s mom, told The Dodo. “The bottom of our house is split level, and for the first few weeks she only lived on the ground level and made no effort to come up to the kitchen area.”
Pombeiro knew Bonnie would make an attempt at her own pace, so she didn’t push it. Plus, big brother Wookie was right there to guide her.
“After a while, she'd do a couple of stairs and then lose confidence and go back down,” Pombeiro said. “Then one day a friend came to visit, and we were chatting in the kitchen and there was something about the tone of my friend's voice that just made Bonnie run all the way up to greet her. It was such a proud moment!”
Bonnie, who Pombeiro rescued from Rushton Dog Rescue in the UK, then had to take the steps to get back to the ground level — with a little encouragement.
“I'd sit at the top or bottom of the stairs and just talk to her,” Pombeiro said. “Wookie would run up and down the stairs as if he was trying to show her what to do. It was adorable!”
The 4-year-old special needs dog took to Wookie right away. They love to nap together, play together, and he’s always there to guide her on walks.
“Bonnie is amazing, you'd never know she was blind,” she added. “She maps out a room, bumps into things once and then learns where they are and never bumps into them again.”
Watch Bonnie go down the stairs for the first time here:
Now that Bonnie has conquered her fear of the stairs, she does it often. But it’s more likely with Wookie at her side.
“The one thing she relies on is the bell we put on Wookie's collar so she can hear where he is,” Pombeiro said. “She follows him around the house and sits right next to him — pretty much on top of him.”
When Bonnie first went to her forever home, she’d already survived so much — an animal shelter in China, wounds and a traumatic transportation to England. Now, she spends every day with her best friend, Wookie.
“He was really patient with her when she first arrived,” Pombeiro said. “It was like he knew she needed a bit of moral support.”
Now, Bonnie has a second chance.
“To have gone through everything she's been through and still be so affectionate with both people and other dogs is just amazing,” Pombeiro said. “I can't believe we were so worried about adopting a blind dog, she's certainly shown us. She's just such an inspiration and we're so proud of her.”
