Originally Posted By officerminnie We just found out our sweet 6 year old Yellow Lab is quickly going blind. We have only had Luna for 2 years, and when we got her, the previous owners commented that she was "clumsy". I have now learned that dogs are so good at compensating for their loss of vision by using their hearing and sense of smell, that they fool us all the while into thinking they can see - and maybe just a bit clumsy. It wasn't until a couple of months ago I started noticing that Luna didn't see well at night. Then started noticing more and more running into things in the daytime. We went to a specialist in Seattle last month and found out she is in the advanced stages of PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) which is relatively common to Labs, is genetic, and can't be fixed. She may develop cataracts, and even possibly glaucoma down the road. So, I'm wondering if anyone has ever had a blind dog and do you have any suggestions that might be helpful. For instance, I have figured out that if I tap my shoe on the ground or tap the open car door, she can figure out where to jump in without running into the bumper or tire like she did before. Common sense tells me not to rearrange the furniture, to speak to her before I touch her so as not to startle her, and to make sure everyone who interacts with her knows of her condition. I have not researched much on the internet yet, but thought maybe someone in the land of LP might have some experience with a non-visual dog.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros We had a dog who recently died after having him for about 16 years, and near the end we think he was pretty much blind. He had all the same symptoms you describe, and we just did the little things that we could to help him out. He was quite old, and he had had issues with his back legs for a long time, so we would usually have to help push him to get up into the car (a CRV, not the best for a non-fully-functioning dog), or up on a couch. He did jump a little when we started to pet him, even if he knew we were there, since I don't think he could really tell where we were in relation to him or how we were moving. He generally enjoyed it (when he was younger, he would sit next to you on the couch and stick his head under your hand and move it back and forth so you were petting him), but he always seemed a little startled at first. His domain for the most part was in the kitchen, which meant that he was often around chairs that had been moved since the last time he was walking by, which lead to issues several times. His hearing and sense of smell were starting to go as well, but from what we could tell he still heard the things that were important (like the UPS truck, the word "walk", and he started responding to "cookie" instead of "Eddie"). In his later years, I wasn't home as much, so I don't know exactly what happened on a daily basis, but he seemed to do the best he could. I'm not sure if he was ever diagnosed as being completely blind, but the vet did say he had pretty bad cataracts. The last time I saw him, both eyes were almost completely milky, with no real visible pupil left. I'm not sure what else to add, since I wasn't around him most of the time when he was at his worst. Not moving the furniature around does seem like a good idea (it also sounds like a Hellen Keller joke, but that's another thread), especially in places like a kitchen where chairs get moved a lot. As long as you're aware of it, you will find what works best. I think most of Eddie's issues were really compounded by his weak legs, which tended to make him slip down stairs or not quite make his target when getting up on something, but that doesn't sound like it's an issue for you.
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin Make sure you stimulate her other senses...give her things to play with like those little balls you stuff treats in and she has to work out how to get the goodie out and a word about squeaky toys, they may annoy you, but that's what will help her locate it. If she can smell it or hear it that helps her engage in the real world.
Originally Posted By llanatoye officerminnie, I had a blind dog, Liam was diagnosed with diabetes and went on daily injections of insulin, it's not uncommon in that situation for blindness to occur and sadly, it did, Liam was blind within 3 months. I was scared at first and would take him into our yard on a leash so that he could do his daily 'duties'. We had a big yellow lab that became his seeing eye dog, Liam would follow him into the yard. I finally had to trust that Liam would find his way and even though I hovered behind him, trying not to let him know, I learned to trust that he would find his way to the important parts of the house and yard that he needed or wanted to go to. He was amazing, There was a redwood deck with four steps down to the yard and I would watch him, as he got close to the steps, slow down and put one little paw in front of him and feel for the first step down. He did it every time and never had a fall. I remember my vet telling me that a dog that goes blind is able to map out in his brain, the layout of where he is. And he did, and even though I kept a close eye on him, he was just amazing, finding his way by having others senses enhanced. I know that dogs don't have the same emotions as their humans but Liam was very proud, he was a scruffy little mixed terrier and would never let something like diabetes or blindness stop him from being happy. The lab Boone, died about a year after Liam came down with Diabetes (which is another story, Boone was my true heart of hearts) and I worried that Liam would have difficulty adjusting to not having him to cuddle with and follow around. But again, he took it in stride. Liam lived for 5 years after his diagnosis which is quite long for a dog with that condition. The only real negative was that after Boone died he became insanely attached to me, I even took him to work. If I left the house he would cry and whine and that part wasn't good, I couldn't take him everywhere with me. But for the most part Liam taught me many amazing lessons in doing the best with what you've got. You'll be fine and so will Luna. I love yellow labs and will have another when the time is right. She trusts you and that's all she needs, she'll find her way and so will you. If you need to talk or ask questions my email addy is in my profile. Keep us posted on how Luna does ok?
Originally Posted By beamerdog I haven't had any experience with this, but give Luna a big hug and a treat from me. I agree, however, that all dogs should be active, regardless of their handicaps.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck Llanatoye kinda sorta touched on what I was going to suggest. If you have the means to, maybe get another dog that could become Luna's "assistant". Before my husband & I moved in together his family's Dalmatian started going blind. Taz (our Rottweiler) turned into mama dog right away and helped Sheba learn her way around the house. To make a long story short & without getting into a topic I would rather avoid - my inlaw's house is extremely cluttered & Sheba needed the assistance from Taz because of the constant addition of more...well, junk. I'm sure it's 100% safe to assume that your house is nothing like their's officerminnie! The only thing I would say would maybe need modified is if you have a fireplace that has a low ledge on it to maybe get one of those edge pads like you put on them for babies. It may not even be a problem, but that was the one thing that Sheba always seemed to run into & I think it more had to do with that's where her dog bed had been before she went blind & DH's parents moved her bed afterwards because they didn't want her accidentally falling or walking into the fireplace. Out of habit she'd go to lay down at "her spot", she'd misjudge a little and run into that ledge. Of course, because Dalmatians don't have very thick fur, she'd get scraped up sometimes because of the bricks. Like the others have said, a dog is extremely good at compensating for something that's missing. Heck, my ex roommate had a 3 legged dog that moved around better than most 4 legged ones!
Originally Posted By officerminnie Thanks everyone for your suggestions. llanatoye, your post made me tear up, I can tell how much you loved your pets. SaraTonin, good idea on the toys. I will pull out the old Kong we have, I have sort of let that one slide. We have plenty of squeaky toys that she loves too. FA, it sounds like your dog was very well loved. I think we are lucky that Luna is fairly young and doesn't have other health problems to compound the sight issue. Klucky, good idea about the hearth - our upstairs hearth is ground level, but the basement one is about a foot off the ground and now that you mention it, I can see it being a problem. I did ask the specialist about another dog (we had to put our Dalmatian down a year ago) but he advised against it because there are alot of trust issues and Luna not having her sight would be a big roadblock in bonding with and trusting a new canine pal (he gave me other reasons too that I can't remember right now but it made sense). He said it much better than I did . beamerdog, Luna has been hugged and fed treats on your behalf! I know she'll be okay and we are certainly up for the challenge. I like the idea of keeping her active. She loves to go for walks but now I have to keep the leash shorter so she doesn't walk into a tree or fall off the sidewalk. I guess we just all adjust.
Originally Posted By alexbook When I was a kid, our dog (a cocker spaniel/poodle mix) went blind. We used to joke about getting her a seeing-eye hamster. As long as she was in the house or the yard, you'd hardly ever have noticed. There were problems when furniture got moved, but she always learned the new locations quickly. On walks in unfamiliar locations, she'd go a bit slower, though I was never sure how much of that was the blindness and how much was simple aging. She was always sure-footed though--I never felt that we had to worry about her getting hurt because of the blindness.
Originally Posted By Disneydanny I did! he was co-owned by me and my grandfather. he was not just blind but deaf and had dabetes. When my grandfather passed in '02 we continued to care for the dog for the final 28 wks of his life when he passed away...two days before Christmas.
Originally Posted By officerminnie It is interesting how we have to change our own ways in the best interest of the dog. Last night (her vision is the worst in bad lighting) I let DS's buddy in the front door and of course Luna was there to greet him. He had a guitar in tow and she walked right into him, bonking her head on the guitar. He felt bad, and I explained to him that she was pretty much blind now, so to just be aware of that. So everyone will need to adapt, not just our family .
