Tiny little Loretta came to FBRN as an owner surrender. She is totally blind in both eyes, and absolutely radiates that special Frenchie magic that draws people to her and makes them fall in love.
As far as vets can tell, Loretta went blind years ago and there is nothing to do to cure it. Otherwise, she is in good health and should be hale and hearty for years to come.
The biggest effect of her blindness is that she is not house trained and probably cannot be taught. Even in a familiar environment, she has a hard way finding her way to the door in time to signal she needs to go out. She really tries, but it is usually too late. Adhering to a set schedule of potty breaks is the best policy for all.
At night, her foster parents put her bed inside a big pen with newspapers all over the floor of the pen. When she has to go potty, she gets out of her bed, walks a few steps to do her business, then walks back and gets in her bed.
Loretta isn't crate-trained or obedience trained, and as with the house training, it's probably not in the cards for her at this point.
As you might imagine, Loretta is not very active. She is happiest either on her bed or in your lap. She only moves for her food and to go the bathroom. She doesn't much care for toys – just a nice soft place to sleep, thank you, and goodnight.
Despite her disabilities, Loretta gets along great with dogs and with children. Other dogs, of course, can't comprehend her blindness, so canine pals in her forever home would have to be gentle and calm. Small children love Loretta because she doesn't move around – she will just lay still and let them pet her endlessly. Her reaction to cats is unknown, but the interaction is unlikely to be a problem from Loretta's end.
Having an owner who is home all day or has a flexible work schedule would really benefit Loretta. She needs quite a bit of supervision, doubly so at first during the stressful process of acclimating to her new environment. She would be perfect for a retiree looking for companionship without a lot of exercise demands. She would be fine in an office as long as she can be taken outside periodically, and with time might also be able to adapt to a situation where someone comes home at lunch to take her out. A fenced yard is a must for Loretta for obvious reasons.
Loretta's foster mom, thoroughly under this tiny magician's sway, has this to add:
"You can't help but love Loretta. Don't let the blindness fool you. She is a trooper. She has become really adjusted to her life in our home. I think she will make a great addition to anyone's family. Her new parents will have to give her time to adjust. We didn't start to see her true personality come out until about a month into fostering her. She is playful, but it is only for about 3 minutes at a time, then she gets sleepy. I really hope someone out there will give her the home she deserves. I promise she will make you happy for a very long time."
Loretta is the perfect dog for someone out there! If your heart says it's you, head on down to Texas. Because although she would probably fit in a manila envelope, and might even sleep through being mailed… Loretta is snoozing comfortably in Dallas right now and will not be shipped.
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