River the Blind Doberman

Good News!

2009-08-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

River has found a new forever home! We found a wonderful family in Brooksville, Florida, who have welcomed River into their home. They have a female dobe, SheRa, who needed a friend, and River fit the bill. SheRa and River are getting along famously - although SheRa is still trying to figure out just what is "wrong" with River.

River now has over 2 acres on which to play and run and romp. And he has someone home with him almost all the time. We feel very blessed and thankful to have found this family. Here are some pictures of River and SheRa - more pictures to come.

Thank you to everyone for your interest and prayers for River!

New Video

2009-06-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

River Needs a Home

2009-06-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

River is a 4-1/2 year old, beautiful, loving, energetic doberman. We adopted him from the Florida Doberman Rescue when he was 16 weeks old. He was born completely blind, but with nothing else wrong with him. We fell in love, even though he was a lot of work!

My husband and I now have a 16-month old who behaves (obviously) unpredictably. And having a blind doberman in a small house with one child presents some challenges. We recently found out that we are expecting another little one(!), which presents even further challenges. He has been very patient with our toddler, but we feel that his protective nature could become a problem. He is born protective, and blind, so that is a difficult combination.

So...regretfully, we have decided that the responsible thing to do (for both us and River) is to find a new home for him. That's where you can help.

River's ideal home would be a physically active couple who could play with River, give him lots of love and exercise, and keep him indoors. This couple definitely should NOT have children, and we will not place him in a home with children. River does live with another dog in our house, and gets along well with other dogs after an initial "get to know you" period. He would prefer a female canine housemate.

There is a complete list below of all of River's habits and special needs. He is definitely a dog with special needs, who needs a loving, special home. Below is an application form. If you are interested in adopting River, fill out this form and fax or email it to the contact on the page. River does not not have any other ailments or require any special medical care. He is a healthy, 91-pound dobe who really wants to be a lap-dog.

Thanks for your interest in him!

River Can Fetch

2009-06-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

River's List

2009-06-11T08:54:00.001-07:00

-Fully Blind- Cannot see anything
-Crate trained if needed - although he is not currently kept in a crate, he was for about 2-3 years. He is currently kept in the kitchen with a baby gate up. He does fine in there all day long, as long as he has been exercised in the morning with some free, off-leash running time.
-Potty trained - can hold it for 8-10 hours

-No Food aggression but loves his food. He will sit and wait for a verbal "okay" before he will eat. He will also back away from his food if you ask him to “wait” while he is eating.
-Very high-energy dog
-Needs to get out and run around or he will be a handful
-Leash trained, but does tend to pull when he gets excited
-Barks at noises in back yard
-He is very uptight when approached by other dogs. Since he is blind, he cannot see the manner in which he is being approached so he is always on the defensive when approached by other dogs. Once he is acquainted with the dog(s) then he is fine. You can use casual "It's okay, River. New dog coming'" language to try to ease his fears but often he must smell and say hello to the other dog before he will be okay.

-River is also this way with people (not to the extreme that he is with dogs) but if someone approaches him and doesn't talk to him then he gets on the defensive. Children are scary to River because of their loud, high-pitched voices and erratic movements.

-Loves to chew on his bones and toys.

-Loves to fetch HIS BALL in a large open field.
-Loves most any kind of balls, big or small.

-Loves to sit on/in your lap and would love to be a lap dog
-Has not been allowed to put all four legs on the couch. He backs himself onto the couch/chair with his front legs still on the floor.

-Knows the Following commands:
Sit
Stay
Come
Down
OK
Step Up - going up stairs, curb, etc
Step Down - going down stairs, curb, etc
EASY * this is the command if he is about to run into something. Must be said with urgency.
Hands - someone is about to touch him
Right Turn
Left Turn
Stand - this is the command to circle up and stand to get ready to go and fetch HIS BALL.
Ready - this is the command to go and fetch HIS BALL.
Bring it here - this is the command you use to get him to know where you are so he can bring the ball back to you. You have to throw the ball generally in the same area for him to be able to run and fetch it. In other words, you have to go to the same park or open field (or two) for him to know his boundaries, how far/fast he can run/etc. It only takes him about a week or two to get acclimated to a new park or open area.

-He memorizes everything in the house, so if you move furniture, he is likely to run into it. But again, he usually quickly re-learns his space, as long as it is consistent for a time.
-Again he does not get on any furniture with his paws. He may sit on the couch with his butt, but he knows he is not allowed on furniture.

-Has no problem riding in a car long and short distances. He usually sleeps the entire time.

-He does great at the Vet.
-He has never been kenneled and we don't think it is a good idea to kennel River, since he is blind and only comfortable in familiar surroundings.

-He eats twice a day - at around 7:30 a.m. and at 8:00 p.m.

Article in Louisville Magazine

2009-06-11T08:44:00.001-07:00

Here is an article about River, published in Louisville Magazine in September 2007.

Adoption Application

2009-06-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

Fill this form out and send it to the contact at the bottom of the form. Or you can email me at katekirby_22@hotmail.com if you have any questions.