hi, i have 3 dogs....an 18month old, a 30 month old and a 5year old

the 5 year old, Missy, is a border collie cross ( i got her as a rescue when she was about 6months)

about 3 months ago, her eyes started to look "cloudy" and i was going backwards and forwards to the vets for tests for her....they've ruled out cataracts and glaucoma, and they think it could be a de-generative thing.....they said she could have possibly been knocked about on her head when she was a puppy, and her sight is just going to deteriorate, and they can't do anything for her

anyway, missy has always been the most sweetest, gentlest dog you could ever wish for....i would've trusted her with a newborn baby, she was that docile. however, on 2 separate occasions last week, she "turned" on someone aggressively. the person ( in my home) went to stroke her, and she whipped her head round, and went to bite them. i have NEVER known her be like this, and i really don't know what to do for the best

Do i see how things progress or what? i'm worried she may hurt someone, even tho i know she'd only be doing it out of fear, as she can't see very well. please, has anyone had experience of this?

My old dog (sadly PTS a few weeks ago), started to lose the sight in 1 eye a few years ago, early this year his other eye started to lose sight. This made him 'jumpy' if he was touched without being aware of the impending fuss, this was more so in the evening when it was darker. To manage this I would not let a stranger stroke him and in the house the kids, my OH & me would all gently offer our hand for him to sniff before we fussed him, so he didn't get a fright. If he came up to us for a fuss he would expect to be touched and wouldn't startle, the same as if you stroked him from infront of him - he would be fine, stroking him whilst behind/to the side of him caused him to startle. I also left the livingroom light on at night so the other dog or cat would be less likely to startle him.

I'm so sorry for you girl :(

My mother has a dog who is going blind, I'm sure that she will be as confused and startled as your girl is feeling right now.

You need to give her some respect now as in, don't just stroke her, speak first so that she knows you are there, her vision is most probably blurred, she can't make out things as well, perhaps say good girl before touching her, I would certainly allow her to smell your hand as you would a strange dog before even thinking of touching her, you can imagine how we would feel if someone just came up behind us and touched us, some of us would jump others would become defensive.

Her scent should tell her that the other dogs are near, but she may well be caught off guard with them too, so that is something that may well need watching out for, not to mention she will be feeling out of her league, you will need to start treating her differently, make commands very clear to her, give her somewhere to relax and sleep out of harms way.  If she becomes very grouchy and unpredictable you may need to keep her behind a dog gate in a room where she is not going to be startled or snap at anyone in the house, it would be terrible if she becomes defensive all the time.

See how she goes, hopefully if you are all very aware of her needs adn respect those, she will still stay a nice friendly dog, but you are going to have to think first how strange the world is to her and make allowances.

Beat me to it mastifflover. :-)

> Beat me to it mastifflover. :-)

lol,

yep, but I totally forgot about speaking to the dog first as my poor old boy was deaf, so we relied on smells with him to get his attention. They can lead a very secure life, but they do need a lot more thought so they can feel safe.

Another thing I did with my dog was when he was on a walk I would keep some very gentle tension on his lead so he could feel that I was still at the other end of it and he wasn't alone.

thanks for all your kind words....i already talk to her first before stroking her, but you're right, she DOES get easily startled by the other dogs ( they're yorkies, so only tiny!) and she has started to turn on them

i know there's gonna come a time when i have to think about having her PTS, but that would be a last resort, obviously. she's as much a part of me as my children are, and it would break my heart if it came to that. i just don't want her loss of sight to make her aggressive, even tho i know she can't help it

Hi Mandy

as well as the other advice you've had I wanted to add a little encouragement for the future :)  My aunt has a small terrier cross who had a tumour behind his eye and it was removed when he was around 4 years.  Two years later the sight became less in his remaining eye and he behaved similarly to your own girl, even though he'd adjusted very well to the loss of his first eye.  He is now 14 years of age and has lived the last 6 years without either eye - he manages just fine and so long as furniture etc isn't moved around then to anyone not knowing of his total blindness it would be easily missed (he has black curly hair on his face, bless him, and it's not immediately apparent that he has no eyes).

She just ensures that nobody tries to touch him without speaking to him first and only approaching him from the front so he smells them :)  He does live in a single doggy household however he shares his home with 3 cats and always has had a variety of cats sharing all the TLC going around.

My aunt had been convinced that having him PTS was the only option when it was discovered that he had a tumour in the second eye also but the specialist treating him at the GUVH persuaded her to take things one day at a time with him since he'd known of many dogs similarly affected which coped well, despite what we'd expect in the circumstances.  It worked for Jiggs - much to our amazement (and, I admit, my initial disapproval!)

Perhaps this will give a little brighter hope for you with your girl :)

Best wishes, Teri

Hi Mandy Moo - I have a 4 and a half year old dog who is blind and has been pretty much since birth.  What the others have said is true, always let her know you or anybody else is there before approaching her.  Also, just another point, my girl becomes extremely diorrientated on windy days and even with the lead held taught as normal she can become quite upset - I think the noise of the wind and the smells is to blame, might not happen with your girl but just keep it in mind.  If you do your best to help her and manage her encounters, she'll be fine, the yorkies, may also cotton on in time, my lot seem to realise that my blind girl may run into them or should be avoided at times and they seem to make allowances for her.

Just to say as well, my girl managed to complete her puppy foundation and bronze award -  It took a bit more effort but she did it and I have been ever so proud of her since!

> i know there's gonna come a time when i have to think about having her PTS, but that would be a last resort,

Just to let you know that we didn't have our old dog pts sleep though being deaf & nearly blind, he had many problems starting and all-round failing health, he had started fitting, falling over and basically the poor old chap was quickly loosing quality of life :(

As he was deaf a while before his eyesight started to fail, he had a bit of practice with honing his other senses. It's amazing how they adjust to rely on smell and sensation (feeling vibrations through the floor etc..).

Just a thought as I have no experience with this at all. I was wondering if you could put a cat bell on the collars of your other dogs so your dog with the failing eyesight can hear them approach and not be taken by surprise by them. I would imagine she would very quickly learn to associate the sound of the bell with the presence of one of the dogs and thus have some warning that they are there.

> you could put a cat bell on the collars of your other dogs

Sounds a brilliant idea Lizzie - I'm sure that would be very helpful not just for the OP but for any of us for future ref should we ever need it :)

oh thank you so much for all your positive thoughts :)

i probably sounded like i was ready to give up on her, but i didn't mean to come across like that. i just knew that i should be prepared for that eventuality, but all your advice and help makes so much sense...i especially like the idea of the bells on collars

i'm just gonna take one day at a time, and not rush her with anything, and be extra careful when we're around people she doesn't really know

ever since i got her, she's been a very timid dog....frightened of the wind, traffic, plastic bag blowing up the street etc so i'm already used to dealing with that side of things.

I was wondering if you could put a cat bell on the collars of your other dogs so your dog with the failing eyesight can hear them approach.

Excellent idea. :-)

Actually I should have also mentioned what my mother and I are starting to do with her dog.  All our dogs are whistle trained, and of course voice too, but at certain times of the year I have a house full of dogs approx 20 (and people too of course :-) ) and we all go for a nice country walk together, so she may very well not hear her name being called, so we came up with the idea of also clicker training her, so that she knows that sound is just for her and she can react to it.

This particular dog is a terrier and she loves to be on the scent whilst out on walks, so simple clicker training of stop, left, right etc could still enable her to be free running when her eyesight goes completely.  Though she may very well feel more comfortable on lead next to my mum or myself, I guess we shall have to play that one by ear.

But I think it would be a good idea for you to try to help her along with practising your verbal commands or also getting a clicker too, just as extra back up, it will also give her some fun, being a Collie mix she will love to learn new things and it will keep her occupied, it may also help with her fears, she can concentrate on the clicks and understand their meaning, it may take her focus off, the wind, traffic, plastic bags etc. :-)

You can actually buy books which teach you how to clicker train and you can take from them the most useful commands she could use.

Aww bless the poor girl :(
I would deffo say she is reacting out of fear so going on Mastifflovers ways of treating a blind dog seems ace to me, gentle and slow to approach and make as much noise as possible ifbut low key noises too when approaching so she knows someone is there and/or approaching and wont be startled and lash out, as you cant blame the poor girl at all if shes startled and reacts, just got to let people know her condition as they walk in and tell children not to storke the dog till you say so IE when youve let your girl know someone wants to storke her and fuss her :)

Dogs are amazing at coping tho, Matts aunties dog (A gorgeous old shaggy cross) has gone blind and has managed to cope just fine but like your dog gets a little jumpy and snappy if she is startled but there is a line between their frontroom where the dog isnt allowed till evening and the kitchen where she is allowed and she still knows where one ends and one begins even tho shes blind and cant see where one ends and the other begins, I know shes used to it but none the less, dogs are so amazing when it comes to things like this :)

I would simply advise people not to try to approach or touch your dog without alerting her to their presence and waiting for her to come for a fuss.

I would also go and see a Canine ophthalmologist, a list can be found from the BVA site under Health schemes, eye scheme.