Experience of partially sighted dog?

[Paq]

Looking to rehome a dog and found one with "limited vision". Has anyone had any experience of owning or adopting a partially sighted dog? This one is 5-7 years old and a spaniel cross.

Just wondering how he might fit into our lives.

Not direct experience (sorry, not exactly what you asked for!) but I have a friend with a dog that has gone almost fully blind. The dog is around 8/9 years old and funnily enough also a spaniel. It's been harder on them than it had the dog as I think they were all rather sad when they found out his eyesight was deteriorating, but the dog has been happy throughout and doesn't seem to mind much at all. He simply uses his other senses to get around and follows the sound of her voice. She keeps furniture etc in the same place in the house as he knows the layout like the back of his hand. You wouldn't really know he was blind if you visited him in his home.

I think it's lovely to consider adopting a rescue dog that's partially sighted. Ensure you discuss with the rescue what his overall health is like and if his eyesight is likely to need an operation or further intervention down the line so that you're informed and prepared

My Lab was blind for the last ten years of his life. He knew his way around the house (and we moved house) and my parents ' house and various relations and friends, as well as three holiday cottages we visited. They develop the most amazing mind maps. Don't leave doors half open, as he'll walk into them, nor sit with your feet outstretched! Teach him off and up commands to warn him of kerbs. Mine would grope with a paw to find the edge. The more you can teach him while he still has some vision, the better you both will cope.

Thanks both. It's a tricky one as he will be coming into a new environment with partial sight so will have a lot to learn...

I guess the upside is they don't tend to run off!

My much-missed lab ended up blind due to diabetes and he still ran around like a total lunatic.

As others have said, they learn where the furniture is, and some people also use essential oils or similar on table legs, especially if they're moved, so the dog can smell them. That could be an idea at first, but nothing toxic to the dog in case it's liable to lick it.

My dog learned two new commands quite quickly. We did "wall" which meant he would stop immediately and turn around, either running in a different direction or waiting for me to call him. This worked better than "stop" because of how close that was to the next one.

The other was "step", which worked for both up and down and he learned to use his paws to feel for the step, whether it was the stairs in a house, stone steps outside, or just a kerb.

It's not always easy though but they do tend to adapt well.

Ddog has diabetes and is now 100% blind. You really wouldn't know to look at him (apart from the cataracts!). His nose is in more than perfect working order.

Re the new environment they adapt really quickly, we still take ours on holiday for example. When we get to the accommodation we walk him around on a short lead so he can get the layout.

He is mostly lead walked now for his own safety but we have a local very flat grassy park with no obstacles and he can still go off lead there and chase his ball around.

The only think I would do is block off stairs in an unfamiliar environment. He also has a harness and lead that says I am blind because he can get spooked if another dog suddenly appears in front of him.

What made this one lose his sight?

We had a blind corgi and apart from when my mum would "winterize" or "summerize" the living room (which involved changing furniture around a bit), you'd never know. Even then she'd get used to it very quickly.

Oh and we have taught him commands like 'up', 'down' and 'careful' for when we are walking and if if I click his lead he knows to stop as there is an obstacle coming up. Bin day can be a bit of a hazard!

@MaverickGooseGoose I don't know, the rescue centre only has a partial history of him.

I suspect my own dog's eyesight was pretty poor at the end but he was only doing short stumbly walks by then.

It does depend very much on how much they can see.

I had a working scent dog that went totally blind (a spaniel) and although he was used to using his nose he found being blind really hard work.

We had to keep everything in the same place always, nothing on the floor, doors wide open. Walking we had to keep him on a lead as he would still scent but then walk into trees etc. He didnt seem to mind but it was horrid to watch.

Dont believe the dog will stay close to you! If the nose is still working the dog will follow any scent and just go with what could be awful consequences.

They do need extra care, time and support if you are willing and have time to do that then great.

Just remembered we taught ours to wear goggles as he would still walk into hedges and bang/damage his eyes etc. The googles protected his eyes from this. He also had lovely spaniel ears that got ripped a few times on gorses bushes as he walked too close to them :( so after that he tended to be on lead for most walks.

Just an update, the rescue decided to rehome the dog we were interested in with a different family who had another dog. They thought he was best with a buddy to show him the ropes.

Still on the look out, although DH is slightly less keen than me and DD as he still misses our old one too much...