Wyatt 
By
Barbara E. Anderson 

First appeared in the Summer 2001 issue of the American Bouvier des Flandres
Club "Dirty Beards"

When Jasm’s Big Gun (aka Wyatt) was born, my husband dubbed him the "Dog of Destiny". We could not have imagined then how completely Wyatt would live up to the name. At a hulking 1 ½ pounds, Wyatt came into the world on St. Patrick’s Day 1999. Today, he is a happy, active and confident 95-pound beast who turns heads wherever he goes. He is a certified Therapy Dog and begins herding training this summer. Wyatt is also partially blind.

Wyatt’s story is about glaucoma, a devastating disease that robs dogs of their vision and often times their eyes. His story is also about the courage and resilience of our beloved breed.

In late August 1999, we learned that a half-brother of Wyatt’s had lost the sight in one eye due to glaucoma. We had Wyatt’s eyes checked and found that he had "moderate to severe" drainage angles (not all bouviers with poor angles will develop glaucoma, but it is considered a risk factor). Through the fall and early winter, Wyatt’s left eye periodically looked bloodshot or glassy, the eye was treated for "conjunctivitis" twice and he would sometimes paw at the left side of his face. The symptoms were subtle and fleeting, and though we watched his eyes carefully, we hoped these were just signs of minor eye irritation. After all, Wyatt was an otherwise healthy, active and growing puppy.

One evening in late January 2000 Wyatt suddenly became very agitated. He paced, cried, vomited, cowered, pawed desperately at his left eye and would barely open his eyelid. The emergency vet thought it was conjunctivitis. But the next morning Wyatt’s beautiful brown eye was a cloudy bluish-white. We knew it was glaucoma.

Our regular vet immediately started Wyatt on medication, and the traveling eye vet happened to be in town. After an emergency consultation that afternoon, the eye vet had his laser machine overnighted from Fort Collins to Boise and performed laser surgery on both of Wyatt’s eyes the following morning. We hoped the surgery would save the vision in Wyatt’s left eye. With the right eye we knew we were taking a risk. Laser surgery in a healthy eye can prevent the development of glaucoma. However, it is not a guarantee and in fact it can trigger glaucoma in the healthy eye.

Wyatt never recovered sight in his left eye. After the surgery, Wyatt had to have drops in both eyes three times a day and trips to the vet once a month to check his eye pressure. Both eyes were stable for seven months, then in July the pressure in his left eye began to spike again. For three weeks Wyatt was on a regimen of eye drops six times a day plus pills twice a day. The medication failed to keep the pressure under control, and in August we made the heart wrenching decision to have Wyatt’s left eye removed. The eye vet implanted a silicone ball to keep the shape of the "eye" and stitched the eyelid permanently shut.

The first two weeks after surgery were devastating. The left side of Wyatt’s face was shaved and horribly swollen, making him look like the Dog of Frankenstein. I had to keep reminding myself of the eye vet’s words, "all he’ll miss is the pain".

Glaucoma’s pain fluctuates with the pressure inside the eye, ranging from a dull ache to a migraine-like pain. In classic bouvier style, Wyatt remained stoic throughout his yearlong ordeal. We only realized after removing the eye how severe his pain had been. Within a few weeks of surgery, Wyatt was a new dog. Despite losing the sight in his left eye seven months earlier, Wyatt had remained active. But in a strange twist, removing that eye opened up a whole new world to him. With the burden of pain finally lifted, Wyatt showed a calm, confidence and energy that we had not seen in months.

Wyatt’s ability to compensate for his vision loss has been remarkable. He recently began putting his head confidently into narrow spaces to retrieve a toy or explore a smell. The commands "left", "right" and "behind you" help him know which way to look when he loses something in his field of vision. With only one eye, Wyatt has no depth perception. So he raises and lowers his head as if to triangulate the distance of an approaching dog, extends a paw toward my arm when leaping for a stick to give himself another reference point and puts his chin up to an unfamiliar log to judge its height before jumping over.

Wyatt still swims in the river, chases squirrels, romps in the Foothills and plays at the dog park. He almost always runs other dogs on his blind side, cocking his head to watch the dog and periodically glancing forward for any obstacles. Wyatt uses his famous bouvier agility to avoid running into things, frequently astonishing everyone with his leaps, turns, spins and talent for stopping on a dime.

Wyatt’s right eye remains stable and healthy with eye drops once a day. We live with the possibility that glaucoma may eventually take his other eye, but are confident he can face that challenge with courage and strength. Throughout his long and difficult battle with glaucoma Wyatt has been an inspiration. His zest for life and determination to overcome pain and disability are a testimony to the breed. We wouldn’t trade him for all the eyes in the world.

(Wyatt’s story will be the featured health segment on Animal Planet’s "Breed All About It" bouvier episode, to air in fall 2001. Go to www.animal.discovery.com/atoz/breed.html to check dates and times).

To learn more about canine glaucoma: