# one eyed dogs/animals



## Hayley337 (Dec 4, 2012)

As some of you may know due to a recent tragic turn of events, my seven year old male staff Harley has been left with one eye due to an attack.

He had his surgery a week ago today and seems to be recovering brilliantly, it has not seemed to make that much of a difference as though he hardly even notices?

The only thing is that sometimes when you're in his blind spot he gets a little confused until he finds you.

Does anyone else have a one eyed dog or pet?

Do they adapt?

What are the health risks of having only one eye? what precautions need to be made now?

Can he still live the same happy healthy life as a dog with two eyes?


I just want him to be as happy and comfortable as possible!


any experices and advice shared will be greatly appreciated  Thanks


----------



## Goldstar (Nov 12, 2011)

I don't have any experience with a one eyed dog but my dads elderly dachshund (who recently died) was almost blind. She adapted very well and would memorise her way around the house.

Maybe it will be a good idea to keep everything in the same place, i.e don't move any furniture around etc so he feels more secure, this will also help him build his confidence 

I'm sure he can have a great life with just one eye, he probably won't even miss it once he's used to it.

Sorry to hear about the attack on him though, poor boy.


----------



## pearltheplank (Oct 2, 2010)

I have a customer with a cocker spaniel who had glaucoma and had to have both eyes removed at about two years of age, I think. He is such a happy little thing and has absolutely no problems. I do have to remember to not move things around or he does bump into them. He isn't let off lead any more but that doesn't bother him at all

Would say with one eye though, in the early days just go slowly as his vision adjusts ie not startling him from his blind side etc


----------



## fintey (Dec 5, 2012)

Hello there,I recently adopted a one eyed dog from a charity called Blindog rescue who try to rehome dogs from this country and abroad who have sight problems they have several dogs who have only one eye as well as other sight problems in dogs.

I can only speak about my particular dog and things I have noticed about her that are maybe due to her eye loss.
The first thing I had to do when I brought her home after adoption was to put stickers on my patio doors as I found that she had difficulty seeing if they were open or not and walked into them and that cured that problem.
I also find she does nt like it in the park if dogs come up to her from behind or along her blind side as this makes her jump as obviously she cant see what is approaching and she tends to growl a little in that situation probably through nervousness.
People say she will adapt with just the one eye and I am sure she will but as opposed to a human in the same situation ( I have experience of this as my mother lost one of her eyes )dogs eyes are not quite as level on the face as humans they are slightly further back I believe giving them a bit more of a blind side than a human with the same eye loss.
My doggie does have a slight nervousness about her at the moment she jumps at sudden movements particularly if they are on her blind side and likes to face the oncoming traffic if walking down a busy road as large vehicles on the road coming up behind her make her nervous.
I personally think due to the eye loss a dogs hearing seems to come into play more and she seems to sit and listen a lot more than I have noticed in normal vision dogs maybe this is to compensate for what they cannot see on their blind side.
It is early days for my dog the eye loss was not that long ago as in your dog so with time they will I am sure both adapt.


----------



## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

Yeah, he can live exactly the same sort of life as a dog with two good eyes. We never did anything special for our dog who was blind in one eye, he was just treated the same way as our fully sighted dog. He could be startled by people coming up on his blind side, especially later in life as he went deaf, but that was the only issue it caused him.

Wolf went off leash, went swimming in the river, played with other dogs, played with toys and did all the things Shadow did with no problems.


----------



## Hayley337 (Dec 4, 2012)

thanks for the feedback guys !!


----------



## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Hayley337 said:


> As some of you may know due to a recent tragic turn of events, my seven year old male staff Harley has been left with one eye due to an attack.
> 
> He had his surgery a week ago today and seems to be recovering brilliantly, it has not seemed to make that much of a difference as though he hardly even notices?
> 
> ...


I havent personally had a one eyed dog, but know of an English Bull Terrier where I used to walk the dogs who was blind in one eye. He coped fine in the main, but if approached on the blind side especially by other dogs, he could be reactive, by growling and the occasional snap, he wasnt agressive and a real sweety, but he obviously felt disagvantaged and protective against things coming up to him on that side that he obviously knew was there but couldnt see exactly what. Apart from that though he lead a full and perfectly happy life. The only thing I can suggest it that when you are approaching him on the blind side is to speak to him on approach to let him know you are there, that should avoid him getting any surprises and getting confused or should help.

I knew someone else too with a completely blind bearded collie, and again they did completely well, the only problem occured if furniture or anything was moved about inside, but as long as it wasnt, he was able to "map" everything out and knew his way around fine. Because of dogs other senses
of hearing and smell that are more adapt and sensitive then ours they do usually cope much better then we do. They also have whiskers on their face
known as vibrissae, that are sensitive to touch and vibrations which help them decipher things that are near and size and shape that we havent so they can help too. I read an artical about them not so long ago, and a blind dog was sent to the groomers and they clipped and removed his and when he came home it really affected his finding his way around, so they obviously do help and play a part helping blind and partially blind dogs too.

On lead walks you should be fine as you can guide him, but if you do let him off I should think you may have to confine it to safe areas that are possibly enclosed/more enclosed, and make sure you are if possible on his seeing eye side. On lead and off though, you may also need to be aware of dogs approaching on his blind side too, as said that seemed to be the only problem with the one eyed EBT.


----------



## Hayley337 (Dec 4, 2012)

thanks for the advice!  he's quite a nervous dog anyway so we have always been careful, but now just going to have to be extra careful! all comments have been extremely helpful! x


----------



## jesterjenn (Apr 1, 2009)

I have a one eye dog, also called Harley  (who also lost his eye as a result of a dog attack)










He trains in agility, and does exactly the same stuff as my fully sighted girl.

When we first had him, he'd only had his eye out for a matter of weeks, if that, so we were careful to try and not move things around, but we soon learned, that they just adapt to not being able to see on that side.

The things that we noticed were different to Jess were:
- He couldn't catch anything you threw to him
- He couldn't follow a ball (their depth perception changes)

They were pretty much the only things, and now, with adapted training, he can do both 

He's not startled if you come on his blind side, as we were kind of mean with him, and played around with touching his blind side, so he didn't get freaked with it (that sounds much worse than what we did lol but I don't know how to explain it) - it was kind of desensitisation I suppose.

He will walk into cars parked on the pavement if he looks behind, then the car is on his blind side when he turns back round.

One thing that we DID change in the way we handled him in comparison to Jess, was we walked him on our left, which meant his blind side had us on it to "protect" him. Now however, he tends to choose to walk on our right, so he's obviously comfortable with it.


----------



## Hayley337 (Dec 4, 2012)

Thank you so much for sharing that! truely inspirational dog and what a handsome chap! god love him ! this post has comforted me alot, knowing that there are others that have experienced the same kind of situation! i wish you and Harley all the best! x


----------



## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

I have a dog that is blind in one eye. It was from unknown trauma and for a while the other eye was slightly affected too. It affected her confidence enormously. It was not a dog related accident like yours but she still lost confidence in playing with other dogs. She was 2 years old and she completely changed overnight. Apart from that though, sight wise she gets around fine and apart from being a bit careful about approaching her on that side with no warning there really is not a problem. She does not enjoy agility any more either, not sure if her perception of the jumps has changed so she cant judge and therefore is reluctant to jump. She has a further problem with loss of toe nails so it is also possible that jumping hurts her.

Good luck with him, there is every chance that you will notice no difference in him. I have a friend with a one eyed collie and he manages to work sheep.


----------



## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

We didn't confine Wolf to enclosed areas or make any effort to stay on his sighted side. He was just as capable of looking around for us if he couldn't see us as a fully sighted dog was  We did walk him so that his blind side was to us but that was literally the only concession to it that we made.

If your dog is already nervous though you may find him becoming even more so with things approaching on his blind side. It never really bothered Wolf, it'd make him jump but he recovered quickly and never got nervous or defensive about it.


----------



## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

Years ago I had a sheltie with virtually no sight in one eye. She was born that way so made no difference to her but she was forever falling in the river when we were out on walks.


----------



## Hayley337 (Dec 4, 2012)

dogs are remarkable! they really do adapt to anything, it melts my heart when i see a dog with 3 legs jumping and playing! they never feel sorry for themselves they just crack on with it! unlike us humans lol 

another question, is there any chance of infection where the eye has been removed? obviously hes on antibiotics now and he also has a bucket collar on to stop him scratching his stitches. but hes quite a scratty dog, would he be able to cause himself any damage after the eye has fully healed and closed up?


----------



## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

One of the dogs competing at agility at Crufts this year was blind in one eye (following infection from a thorn). He is in the top agility grade and has been for several years. His owner tries to direct him from his sighted side, though sometimes he misses things he can't see. Most of time you'd never notice he's different to any other dog.


----------



## jesterjenn (Apr 1, 2009)

Just to add - I also think the attitude of the owner will have a lot of a role to play with how the dog copes. If they molly-coddle the dog, the dog will wonder what's wrong, and stress, whereas if you just treat it like you would any other dog, they'll learn it's normal (as that's all it is to them). Obviously take safety matters into account when they're adapting, but they do that really quickly.


----------



## Hayley337 (Dec 4, 2012)

i think thats a very valid point actually, over this week i think i may have wrapped him up in cotton abit too much! its hard not to haha but i am trying my best


----------

