Initially, we fell in love with an older Golden that was blind. Once our approval process was completed, that senior guy had already been adopted.  But ,we knew that the perfect Golden for our family was still out there, just waiting for us.  One day soon, a phone call led us to our introduction to a puppy named Peanut.  His big, brown eyes, curly red coat and outspoken personality instantly stole our hearts. We finally found our forever Golden and thought a perfect name for this handsome young man would be “ Madison”.

Madison was definitely a handful. A big bundle of energy, who walked to the beat of his own drum.  But, we love his cute little quirks.  His favorite time of day is breakfast, dinner and treats!!  Everything was going great for Madison until June of 2007. Then he began staring and drooling for no reason; showing signs of anxiety by chewing and scratching at the walls, if alone.  Anti-anxiety meds prescribed by our vet really changed his sweet personality; so we discontinued them. Just days later, he could not find his treats and began running into furniture. Something was VERY wrong.  We immediately took him our vet, who recommended seeing an ophthalmologist.

We felt completely helpless as we faced the difficult reality that our 5 year old spunky Golden was going blind.  It was heartbreaking to see him so frightened and frustrated.  The Dr. diagnosed him with “SARDS”, sudden acute retinal degeneration”.  The rods and cones in the eyes shut down and die.  The condition is permanent.  His vision loss was too rapid and acute to be a good candidate for experimental surgery.

In a matter of days, he was completely blind.  We “kid proofed” the house with foam bumpers on all sharp edges to provide him with a safe environment. To help him through the adjustment with the best possible care, we read every book and watch every video on the subject.  Madison required patience and love to relearn all his life and play skills.  He is still our happy. Playful Golden boy who loves to swim (now with his new fancy life jacket) and run with his brothers.

Our Madison is a true testament of how very resilient dogs are in all types of situations.  All they need is love, patience and guidance.  After all, isn’t that what they GIVE to us.  We think it was fate that brought Peanut, now Madison, into our lives. We are lucky to have such a sweet boy who makes our family complete.  His happiness and Zest for life is truly inspirational.