Blind puppy & littermates - help!!

Noodledoodle

Hi all

After lurking for quite some time and reading all the threads on the pet forum ive decided to bite the bullet and join :j

Righty ho... heres my queerie....We are having a new male Cav king charles puppy on Mothers day.

The breeder (before i get shot down - no its not a puppy farm!!) 1st litter....emailed me yesterday to say that one of my pup litter mates (they think - almost certain) is blind....She has asked would I like him. As whoever was going to have him before has now dropped out

Now this little one has an uncertain future.

What im asking is :-

Has anyone ever had a blind puppy - if so what to look out for (so to speak).

Littermates - yes i know it states not to all over the net but has anyone ever done it? and how hard is it?

Thankyou all for any replies....

Caroline_a

I've not had a blind puppy but have had a deaf one - my last Dane was deaf, not totally, but you could walk in the kitchen when she was asleep and she wouldn't wake up! Having a dog with a disability is much more difficult that I would have thought - they do compensate to some degree, but I guess it depends on your own individual circumstances. Are you intending to get 2 including the blind pup? I would say that would probably be a better option for him, rather than going to a home where he would be an only dog.

Sezzler

I was just wondering what happens if you / anyone else doesn't take the puppy. Will the breeder keep it ?

shegirl

I'm quite shocked that the breeder is trying to find someone else who was down for a healthy pup to sell/pass the pup onto.

Personally,if I was the breeder I would be keeping that poor pup.

Has she had this pup checked by a vet?

Ask yourself how you will train a blind puppy.Things aren't going to be as straight forward or the same with a blind pup,that's something you need to remember.I would also consider how scared the pup may be with things around him -do you have children?

One of the dogs we had when I was a kid was blind (not from birth though) and she had a habit of bumping into things.She also got snappy on occasions as she couldn't see what was going on.

To be honest,I'd be running a mile from the breeder but others may disagree.

shegirl

Caroline_a wrote: »

I've not had a blind puppy but have had a deaf one - my last Dane was deaf, not totally, but you could walk in the kitchen when she was asleep and she wouldn't wake up! Having a dog with a disability is much more difficult that I would have thought - they do compensate to some degree, but I guess it depends on your own individual circumstances. Are you intending to get 2 including the blind pup? I would say that would probably be a better option for him, rather than going to a home where he would be an only dog.

I'd agree with that.The other one would help him feel more secure,dogs can also end up helping each other out.Think there was a story of a pair of pugs a while back where one was blind and the other one helped 'guide' him?

Do bear in mind the extra work involved in having two pups and one being blind though.

shegirl

Just thought I'd share this story that I've just found -again it's cavalier king charles pups born blind due to cataracts.Something that does happen with them at times http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089875/Spaniel-pups-born-severe-cataracts-cured-blindness-following-pioneering-operation.html lovely story really

I'd be checking if the parents were health tested aswell tbh

krlyr

How much dog experience do you have? Consider the implications of a blind dog, e.g. off-lead walks may be more difficult, recall and other training more difficult because you can't give visual commands, interaction with other dogs on walks may be stunted as he can't read their body language (he may approach a dog giving clear visual signs that it doesn't want to be approached, for example)
http://www.blinddogs.com/tips.htm

I would want to know the exact cause of blindness - it could reflect on the breeder. You may not be buying from a puppy farm but that doesn't necessarily mean you're buying from a responsible breeder. The breed is prone to several eye conditions and I would want to be sure that these have all been tested for, strictly avoided in any breeding lines, and that this was just an unfortunate fluke. Otherwise you may end up with two sickly dogs, not just the one. Bear in mind that insurance companies may put strict exclusions on any policies since this is an existing condition - they may refuse to cover anything relating to the eyes, even if it's seemingly unrelated, e.g. dry eye syndrome, entropion, corneal dystrophy, cataracts and so on - all conditions that the breed are prone to. Aside from the health issues, if you have little dog experience and the breeder wants you to take on this dog, I would ask myself why - are they trying to get rid of the responsibility? If it's a case of you having lots of experience of the breed and them feeling more confident in your ability to deal with it, fine - are they expecting you to pay for the blind puppy though?

Two male littermates is preferable to two female dogs but even if they get along, read up on potential issues. Dependency on the other dog can be common, and this would probably be excerbated by the blind one learning to rely on the other to guide it around. You would have to ensure you encourage independence from the very start (seperate crates, walking them seperately, etc). I didn't have two litter mates but ended up with two puppies of the same gender (females), very similar ages, and the same breed. It didn't have a happy ending, their hormones kicked in and they fell out big time and we had to rehome one of them before they ended up killing each other (I think they literally would have done).

If you have experience, willing, full support from the breeder and the finances to deal with any issues - behavioural or health-wise, it can be done, but if you have any doubts I would say no. It will be a lot harder to return the pup in a month's time if you had issues because you'll feel very attached and probably very guilty (you probably feel a bit of both already because it's a sad situation, so imagine how you'll feel once you've had the dog a while!) and if you can't manage with it, you might end up with two dogs with problems. Remember that it won't be a case of returning the blind puppy and everything being fine with your other pup too - in my case, the dog we kept had a lifetime of issues with other dogs, which can't have been helped by the rocky relationship with the other dog in a time of their life where they're learning a lot about how to interact with other dogs, plus it may tarnish your feelings towards the dog you keep if he was the instigator of any aggression.
I would make the decision carefully, with your head rather than your heart.

Person_one

Taking two littermates is a lot more than double the work of one, even without the added challenges that come with one being blind, just ask Vicx on here!

I don't understand why the pup faces 'an uncertain future', the breeder should definitely be keeping that pup if there isn't a new home for it, that's part of being an ethical breeder.

Sounds to me like they're trying to guilt you into taking the pup.

Noodledoodle

Yes...I have always had dogs ranging from border collies to rottys to jack russells to pretty varied - but never had a blind pup or never taken on litter mates.

Yes i would be taking on the original pup that i chose from the litter and the blind one, so I wont just be having the blind one.
I have two teenage children - one is home ed'd so we are always here - in some shape or form!! lol

With re the breeder - she said she wanted to keep him but cant as they have just moved into a new property and are renovating it . So at the moment everything is a bit upside down there. No probs with any of the other pups .

Ive just taken some advice from my vet too - he said that my orig pup will prob help the blind pup so there shouldnt be a prob - housetraining will obv be alot slower .

But with a bit of patience im sure we'll get there in some way,shape or form!! lol

Thanks all

shegirl

Noodledoodle wrote: »

Yes...I have always had dogs ranging from border collies to rottys to jack russells to pretty varied - but never had a blind pup or never taken on litter mates.

Yes i would be taking on the original pup that i chose from the litter and the blind one, so I wont just be having the blind one.
I have two teenage children - one is home ed'd so we are always here - in some shape or form!! lol

With re the breeder - she said she wanted to keep him but cant as they have just moved into a new property and are renovating it . So at the moment everything is a bit upside down there. No probs with any of the other pups .

Ive just taken some advice from my vet too - he said that my orig pup will prob help the blind pup so there shouldnt be a prob - housetraining will obv be alot slower .

But with a bit of patience im sure we'll get there in some way,shape or form!! lol

Thanks all

All that aside you need to check if the parents were health checked.You also need to know the reason for the pups blindness.You could end up spending a fortune in vets fees depending on the cause of the blindness aswell as the possibility of something else potentially occuring in the other puppy.Bare in mind any insurance problems too if the pups blindness is due to something that has not been checked.I'd expect the breeder to have had the pup fully checked to ascertain the cause tbh.

Person_one

Noodledoodle wrote: »

With re the breeder - she said she wanted to keep him but cant as they have just moved into a new property and are renovating it . So at the moment everything is a bit upside down there. No probs with any of the other pups .

I'm not remotely impressed with that, she shouldn't have bred the litter if she wasn't able to keep the pups in a situation like this.

What if they just didn't sell?

Is this breeder registered with the KC?