Adopting a Partially Blind Dog

[UpTheIrons]

Hello, I have been a lurker for a long time. I am finally in the right position to adopt a dog. I have chosen a shelter I want to adopt from. Actually, I have been visiting this shelter since I was a young girl and it is where my grandma adopted most of her dogs. When she passed away, her will specifically said to send a lot of her savings to the shelter I believe she would be pleased that I rescued a dog from this specific shelter.

Anyway, I have visited the shelter three times in the past two weeks. Each time, the same two dogs really catch my eye. They are a female (5 years old) and male (4 years old) chihuahua?mix, supposedly mother and son. They were transferred from a high kill shelter in North Carolina, where they were apparently surrendered. They did not come with any information, so I only have to go on what the shelter told me about them. They aren't sure if they are housetrained, but they do not go to the bathroom in their crate. They don't seem to have any basic training. The male, was quite a spaz when I spent some alone time with him in a room. He calmed down within a few minutes. The only thing I really noticed was that he was a bit mouthy, and was quite vocal. Not barking, but a moaning sound when I pet him.:lol-sign: The female, who is apparently partially blind was cautious at first. Once you start talking to her, she will come over and want you to pet her. After a while, she buried herself into my lap, licked my hand, and fell asleep. The shelter said they MUST go together, because they are so bonded.

I have a few worries. About the male, he is an adult. Shouldn't this mouthy stage be over? How easy is it curb this behavior? It only happened once or twice while I was in there with him for over an hour. I have some worries about the female because I have never owned a visually impaired dog before. She definitely didn't seem to be completely blind. She never bumped into anything and followed me around room and jumped on my lap pretty easily. Sometimes she would be looking in the other direction when I spoke to her though. I did notice she buried her head into me frequently, like hiding her face. Do blind dogs do this? Or is this possibly just part of her personality?

I am possibly over thinking this, if I am just let me know. I would greatly appreciate your experiences with blind dogs, or just your adopting experience. Thanks so much! And I apologize this post is the length of a novel.

Chica

Doesn't she have the sweetest face. And I have no idea why anyone would name two dogs names so similar..​

 

[Maxy24]

She looks so sweet! Being partially blind I wouldn't worry too much. The only blind dog issues I've heard of are that they can be easily spooked if they didn't know you were near them and you suddenly touch them. However if you just make sure you make some noise before you touch that should let her know you're coming. She'll learn the lay of your house in time. I suppose people with blind dogs might block off stairs and/or take time to introduce the dog to where they are repeatedly before letting them navigate by themselves. I suppose it all depends on just how blind she is, I'm sure she'll do fine. I've never had a blind dog so I can't be of too much help I'm afraid.


As for the mouthing, it's possible he just never learned that people don't like mouthing, without human intervention all dogs would probably play with their mouths. It's also possible uninvited rough play with his mouth was allowed so he sees it as a way to get people to play with him. As long as it's purely playful (mouthing, not defensive snapping) then you can treat it just as you would in a puppy by ending interaction with him the moment he starts mouthing, he'll learn you don't play like that.


Good luck with them, it's a great thing you're doing, I always worry when they list dogs as having to go in pairs, I know I wouldn't want to take on two new animals but I'm so glad there are people out there who are. I'm sure you'll love your new editions, don't forget pictures!!

 

[MicksMom]

That place isn't far from me. Honestly, I would take anything they say with a grain of salt and make your own decisions (to be even more honest, I won't adopt from them or use him as a vet).

It's possible the dogs you are looking at are mother and son, but there is also a good chance they just happened to bond to each other (maybe they were owned by the same person). Anyway- from your description of the dogs, I don't see any real big problems. Like Erin said, it's possible the male was never taught not to mouth people. The positive I see is that he calmed down fairly quickly and wasn't overly mouthy. The noise he made sounds like what I call talking- he was probably enjoying being petted. Are you sure the female is partial blind and not hard of hearing? What you said about her looking the other way when you spoke reminded me of what our hearing impaired GSD/Sibe would do. I think the head burying thing is just one of her personality traits. I'm not especially fond of Chis, but these two sound like gems.

Honestly, I don't think those were the names given by their original owners. They were probably named by either CSA or the shelter in NC.

 

[Brattina88]

I agree with Maxy It sounds like the male just hasn't learned that mouthing is not okay. It should be fairly easy to teach him to mouth on more appropriate items (eg toys or bones) with a little bit of consistency and rewarding good behavior.

I recently fostered a 100% bilnd cocker. I'm the one who pulled her from the (gassing) pound. When I first opened her cage door, I thought she was dead because she did not respond in anyway But once I got her up, and outside, she burried her head in me (like you mentioned) and wriggled all over - it was if she knew I was taking her out

I thought maybe she had some sight at first, because when we took her outside to the run the first thing she did was walk the perimeter of the run - not bumping into anything. I wondered about her hearing, because I was calling to her while she did this, and she ignored me (I later learned this is pretty common in blind dogs). But after she walked the perimeter, explored a bit, sniffed and went to the bathroom she trotted over to me and wiggled as I pet her all over.

She did the same thing when I got her home.

The vet evaluated her and determined that she was 100% blind, but most of us would never know. She walked on a leash really well, she listened to my warnings after a couple of days (step up, step down, be careful = slow down, etc) and started coming to the name we gave her (Tara). I also taught her to sit when I tapped her rump twice, and to lay down when I tapped her paw twice (in the same manor). It never slowed her down. The only thing that was majorly different is she never ran, just trotted, and she bumped into the other dogs a lot (but Tucker does that too lol so who knows)

Owners of Blind Dogs - here's a link that helped me out a lot. I didn't have to do a lot of the stuff in the articles, but it was very informative.

Tara has taught me so much about blindness, and has changed my outlook on dogs with disabilities totally. Life lessons, you know? My dog Maddie is blind in one eye, and its always been a HUGE phobia that she will lose sight in the other eye. And while I still worry about it, I now know it would not be the end of the world, as Tara leads a VERY full, active, normal life in her forever home!

It's all about you & your decision... what you feel comfortable with, and if you feel ready to make them a part of your family. Good luck!

 

[Paige]

How blind is partailly blind? 'cause I am partailly blind and get by just fine in my day to day life. Infact, no one notices my eyesight is as terrible as it is. No vision in my left eye at all and my right one isn't exacty golden. You adapt to your limitations and they stop being a limitation... if that makes any sense at all.

 

[Renee750il]

We had a blind Aussie for 16 years It's really not a big deal at all, you just make sure your dog is never outside an enclosed area unless on a leash, make sure you have any areas that are elevated either closed off or have adequate barriers to keep the dog from walking off the edge. No open excavations, just common sense things

Oh, and don't move the furniture too often

 

[UpTheIrons]

Thank you everyone for your imput. I really appreciate it. I decided I don't think they are the dogs for me or my family. I wish I could save 'em all though.

To MicksMom; What reasons do you have for not adopting from them? I have never used him as a vet, and dont really plan on it. I have a vet I use elsewhere. The shelter seemed to improve in my opinion, MUCH nicer facilities, more volunteers, etc.

 

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

My Lhasa, Jack, is partially blind. He's missing his right eye (it was surgically removed at some point before I got him), and his left eye only has partial vision. He gets around just fine. He walks on a leash just fine, he's able to jump on and off all the furniture, he goes up and down the stairs just fine. The only time I really notice it is when he's playing with a toy - when I throw it, it needs to make some noise (like a squeak or something) when it hits the ground, otherwise he can't find it if I throw it more than five feet away.

 

[MicksMom]

...To MicksMom; What reasons do you have for not adopting from them? I have never used him as a vet, and dont really plan on it. I have a vet I use elsewhere. The shelter seemed to improve in my opinion, MUCH nicer facilities, more volunteers, etc.

His practices just seem a bit shady to me, both on the rescue end and medical. I know of a litter of GSD pups he got in a few years ago in lieu of fees the breeder owed him, and he adopted them out to pay the bill (evidently a common practice from what a friend who worked there at the time told me). At the same time, our oldest son and his wife adopted a Siberian from there. Lucky was being treated for an ear infection at the time of the adoption, and was neutered there. Yet, a few months later when they took him back for something else, the kids were told the dog had never been seen there. More recently, another situation I know of involves a Poodle breeder and a teacher I work with. The breeder took one of her females in for a C section, and turned the dog over to him so she didn't have to pay the bill. When the teacher I work with adopted the dog, he wanted to charge her for the C section, as well as the adoption fee. Despite my feelings, we did go there to look at what was available before we found Caleb's breeder. I wasn't impressed with the "new" facilities at all. What stands out in my mind still was the runs. Even tho they were nice, I thought they were too small for anything bigger than a Cocker Spaniel.

 

[UpTheIrons]

Hm. Thank you for the insight. I haven't really talked to anyone who adopted from there. That does seem a bit shady, I agree. Some runs are larger than others, with an outdoor and indoor portion. It would be better if they all were that size. I personally just think its better than the old accommodations where the dogs used to be housed outside.