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A friend has a 13-year-old shiba inu. This Japanese breed is unusual in that the dog physically resembles a fox (not only size-wise, but that, too) but has the temperament of a cat. It is distinctive and unlike most dogs I’ve known.
My son’s girlfriend had a shiba inu. A breed similar to the akita inu (‘inu’ means ‘dog’ in Japanese) featured in the 2009 film “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale,” a loyal dog of actor Richard Gere, which accompanied him every day to the train station, where he heads out and returns from work. When the character played by Gere dies, Hachi continues to trot to the train station to wait for him. He did this for 9 years. Onlookers were so touched by the dog’s constancy they eventually erected a statue to Hachi in Woonsocket, RI, site of the remake of the original Japanese film (“Hachiko Monogatari,” 1987).
Kane, my friend’s dog, has developed some unfortunate sensory deprivation as he has aged. One eye is missing, enucleated because of glaucoma. The skin around the missing globe has been sewn shut. I can imagine him as a canine pirate, minus an eyepatch.
The other eye is blind, also from glaucoma, although the eyeball remains. My friend instills latanoprost eye drops in that eye in an effort to keep down intraocular pressure. It is the same medication I use for my moderate stage glaucoma.
