phall Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 I will soon (this coming weekend) be bringing home a greyhound (Lucas) with progressive retinal atrophy. He is just 3 years old and was diagnosed a few months ago. He still sees well - has some problems in low light. I'm glad to be getting him at this early point in the disease so that he'll bond with me and Sox (my other greyhound) and get adapted to our home. Lucas is a wonderful dog. He's social, playful, and very loving. I can't wait to get him home. Has anyone had experience in working with and helping a greyhound adapt to slowly progressing blindness? If so, I'd love to hear about your experience and advice. Pat Hall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin1017 Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 No experience, but this is so exciting Pat! And he's adorable! I'm sure someone has experience and will be able to chime in. Commenting to bump it up! :-) Quote Cathy & Calvin (DOB 9/18/13). Always missing my angel Robin (Abdo Bullard). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeh2o Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Congratulations on your new dog and thank you for not being afraid of adopting a dog who will have limited vision! They really aren't that much different, in my experience. There is a supplement that seems to slow the progression of PRA, it's called Occu-Glo, not to be confused with a Ocuvite (completely different and doesn't work for PRA). Sadly, my girl has thrown pups with PRA. At least one of her pups is on Occu-Glo and it does seem to help. There is a Yahoo Group called Owners of Blind Dogs, it was a godsend to me when my beloved non-grey, Sheila, lost her sight within 4 hours from SARDs (she could see when we left Las Vegas after Thanksgiving, was completely blind 4 hours later when we arrived at home in LA). Vision loss with PRA is much slower, so it's easier for the dog, and owner, to acclimate. Quote Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog) Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phall Posted October 26, 2016 Author Share Posted October 26, 2016 Thanks so much, Cathy, for bumping this. And thanks, too, seeh2o, for sharing your thoughts/experience. I will check out Occu-Glo. I will also check out the Yahoo Group - that sounds great. Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin1017 Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 I do remember reading about it on here a few years ago, so you might want to do some searches of the forum. The main thing i remember that i thought was really interesting and can really help is to use different scents in different rooms to help them distinguish where they are. I would imagine this would be even more effective if begun while he can still see, so he will associate the scents with different rooms now while he can still see them. Quote Cathy & Calvin (DOB 9/18/13). Always missing my angel Robin (Abdo Bullard). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeh2o Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 I do remember reading about it on here a few years ago, so you might want to do some searches of the forum. The main thing i remember that i thought was really interesting and can really help is to use different scents in different rooms to help them distinguish where they are. I would imagine this would be even more effective if begun while he can still see, so he will associate the scents with different rooms now while he can still see them.Yes, I learned that trick from the Owners of Blind Dogs forum. When Sheila lost her sight in 4 hours I put different essential oils at nose height in each room so she would know which room she was in. I didn't need to do it for years, just a few months. I also wore a bracelet with bells on it at home and put a cat bell on my other dog's collar, again only for a few months. Quote Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog) Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phall Posted October 27, 2016 Author Share Posted October 27, 2016 That's a great idea about the scents. I will pick some up. Also good idea about the bell. I was thinking along that line. I so appreciate all this advice. It's so helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeh2o Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 When we would go for walks I taught her the commands upon stopping at a curb or step, "step up" and "step down". That helped a lot. Most people seeing us walking never knew she was blind. She lost her sight when she was 10, but she never missed a beat, she was always very confident. She could, through the power of scent, find her tennis balls under chairs! She'd lay on the floor with them between her front legs, bounce them and catch them! Quote Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog) Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3greytjoys Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 Similar to seeh2o's comment: Teaching heel left and heel right helps all our hounds during walks, and helped one of our seniors who began to lose sight as a teen. Our hounds like the rubberized horizontal channel material on this ramp: https://www.amazon.com/PetSTEP-Folding-Pet-Ramp-Khaki/dp/B00006OALW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.