One Eyed Puppy

[mbern]

My 12-week golden retriever puppy lost his eyes from another dog when he was 8 weeks old. He seems to be adapting well however he has problems with depth perception. How long do you think it will take him to learn stairs and things like that. I'm nervous it will effect his greatly affect his life.

Not a puppy - but I had a dog who had an eye out as an adult...

Tbh after a couple of weeks you’d never have known, possibly slightly less good at catching things but that was about it really.

So I wouldn’t expect him to have much more hassle than any puppy - they all take a wee while to get stairs and stuff.

Due to an injury, my two year old dog has very limited vision in one eye.

You literally would not know. Can catch treats, do anything. Sometimes she startles because she hasn't seen something on that side, but other than that, totally fine.

I'm not sure from your post if your dog has lost one eye or two, but I've also known a blind dog who coped extraordinarily well. Far better than you might expect.

Many totally blind dogs do really well - they're very scent orientated.

The only thing I'm wondering out loud about is the impact of losing an eye before they've learned about stairs etc (at what point does the brain wire itself to think about depth?). I'm sure your dog will learn about stairs eventually, even if it takes a bit more effort and a few more mistakes!

CORRECTION TO POST ABOVE.
Thor lost 1 eye. His left eye. His right eve is 100% perfectly functional.

Not quite the same in that I have a one eyed cat. He had it removed as a 6wk old kitten due to his owner ignoring the signs of cat flu, then dumping him at the vets when they told him he would need surgery as he didn't want to pay for it. It's unlikely he ever had sight in that eye.

He adapted very well, maybe slower than previous kittens to learn things but he's about 8/9 now and life is fine. The depth perception is a slight problem- more when he's playing as he can't always judge where to pounce! There was also once a wonderful comedy moment where he was chasing a fly on a windowsill- the fly flew into the room, and he chased it not realising the surface was narrow. He did that run into mid air thing you see in cartoons then dropped like a stone. Bless him he looked so confused

My mums dog has lost the sight in one eye - you’d never know it she’s absolutely fine, and charges up and down stairs no problem.