I volunteer with both the Austin Animal Center and the Heart of Texas Lab Rescue, and sometimes these worlds intersect. In the spring of 2015, I was at AAC, and as I walked through the front I heard a mournful howl coming from one of the lobby kennels. I peeked in, and there was the cutest young chocolate lab mix, howling inconsolably. I stepped in for a visit, and he was all love as he soaked up the attention. His name was Maverick, and customer service told me that he was four to six months old and blind. He had been found wandering a busy street and had not been claimed. I immediately contacted HOTLR and offered to foster him if they would pull him into their program; they did, and I did!

Other than the blindness, Mav was in great shape physically, but clearly he had been sheltered from the world; he had no idea how to navigate life as a blind dog. At the time, my trainer, Tara Stermer (K9 Working Mind), was offering classes for differently abled dogs, and I took Maverick to every class available. It didn't take long for Mav’s confidence to soar as he realized that he was unstoppable!

At a year old, Mav’s eyes had to be removed because of glaucoma. I saw him through that surgery and the subsequent recovery. Instead of sealing the eyes, we opted for prosthetics. Most of the time, the prosthetic eyes will end up being either a bit cloudy or black, the color of the implant. But occasionally the membrane actually grows pigment, which is what happened with Mav, and he ended up with beautiful blue “eyes.” Most people never suspected he was blind.

After nine months of fostering, I adopted Maverick. When I made him mine, I loved him but still didn’t like him much. He was a very challenging puppy, which had nothing to do with the blindness and everything to do with being a puppy! But as it does, that phase passed. Then, at two and a half years old, Maverick developed epilepsy. He lived with it for two years before it stole his quality of life. I lost Maverick in February 2019, when he was only four and a half years old. He was my heart, and he taught me so much. He was fiercely brave and showed me that there’s nothing a differently abled dog can’t do. He trusted me implicitly, he was whip-smart, and he made me proud beyond measure. As a friend said, "Maverick taught all of us about perseverance, acceptance, and living life no matter which cards you were dealt."

Maverick was the hardest experience I’ve ever had with an animal, but also the most rewarding. I am so grateful to have had Maverick in my life, and I will never not miss him. In Maverick's honor and memory, I am starting work on a project that I hope will positively impact differently abled dogs well into the future.