Guest Post: Yvonne Harper and Blind Faith

Today we’re excited to feature a guest post from artist and writer Yvonne Harper, author of Blind Faith, which tells the stories of special needs rescue dogs. Here, Yvonne writes about her own two dogs and how they changed the direction of her life.

My name is Yvonne Harper and I have been blessed to share my life with two little blind rescue dogs named Twinkle and Kizmit. Twinkle found me when I was working as support staff at a Seattle vets. A friend had tended to him the night before at a local animal ER and for some reason thought he would be the perfect dog for me. Twinkle was an 8 month old male Shih Tzu who had been beaten and abandoned. He had sustained a blow to the head which had ruptured both his eyes leaving him totally blind. As a result Twinkle had to have both his eyes removed because of pain, his eyelids were then permanently sewn closed. This poor pup was a gruesome sight but for some reason I fell instantly in love with him.

I had never had a dog of my own and was terrified at the thought of taking care of a blind and emotionally bruised dog but something inside of me screamed take him home, so I did. Twinkle proved wrong every misconception I had about what it would be like to live with a blind dog, he could do just about everything a dog with sight could including going for walks, jumping up on the couch, he even played fetch. Twinkle instantly became the love of my life, he was my best friend and constant companion. Watching him over come the horror of his past and live happily in the present really put life in perspective for me. Sadly this wonderful new friend had to leave me way too soon, Twinkle passed away at only 4 years old while coming out of anesthesia after an emergency neck surgery.

To say I was devastated would be the understatement of the century and right then and there I swore I would never get another dog again. Well it’s true what they say about never saying never. Almost 1 year after Twinkle passed away my husband and I had a little blind Pekingese flown into Seattle from a rescue in Texas. The dog had been up for adoption for over a year and no one had shown any interest in him. Like Twinkle he had lost both his eyes to trauma and had his eyelids sewn closed. Maybe looking at an eyeless dog proved disturbing to some but for us it was totally normal. We named our new puff ball Kizmit. Kizmit has been part of our family for 7 years now and in that time his special needs have grown, he is blind, has hip dysplasia, heart disease and chronic bronchitis but he continues to be the happiest dog on the planet.

My dogs have changed who I am as a person, before them I was empty, I had no idea what to do with my life, the truth was I had no real joy in my life at all. Watching these two little blind dogs barreling through the darkness with the courage of a bear made me look at things very differently, I began to see positive changes in my world and I know I had them to thank for it. They have shown me what unconditional love and trust can accomplish. How fear can cripple us and when we let it go how our world brightens and opens. How perfection has many faces, some of which just happen to be eyeless! When Twinkle died so suddenly he taught me the ultimate lesson of living in the moment and I do my best to honor that everyday. Kizmit also taught me an important lesson when he entered my life, he showed me there can be great love after great loss and I thank him for that. As unbearable as the pain is of losing a dog it is even worse to imagine a life without a dog in it.

The changes my world took on after adopting my dogs were so profound I decided to make it my mission to help raise awareness for special need rescue dogs like my own sweet boys. To help the world see these dogs for who they are and not for what they lack. I am an artist and although I have had a show or two I was never really sure what to do until my dogs came along. I decided to go out and interview others who live with special need rescue dogs and document their stories along with their dogs photos. I put them together and wrote a book called Blind Faith. The book also includes information on rescues and shelters and my hope is even if the person reading the book was not ready for a special needs dog that it may guide them to a rescue or shelter. Lets face it, any dog in a rescue or shelter situation has a special need, it needs a home.

I can honestly tell you I would never have had the self confidence to do this before adopting Twinkle and Kizmit, they have a way of making me believe that anything is possible. Seriously, look what they do with their eyes sewn shut, it was clear I was not living up to my full potential. So you see, my dogs didn’t just change my life, they gave it a purpose and direction. I can’t begin to imagine where I would be today if I hadn’t brought Twinkle home. It really was the first time I had ever done anything with complete blind faith and it took my life down a path I could never have dreamed. It has taken two blind dogs to show me the way and I will be forever grateful they chose me to share their lives with. If you are interested in my book or seeing interview footage and photos of Kizmit, Twinkle and a few other dogs from the project please visit my website at www.yvonneharper.com Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story.

Kizmit

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