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Can you take a one-eyed dog on a hike?

1209 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  DaySleepers
Hello,

So I am currently looking at dogs to adopt and I came upon this one dog who I am absolutely in love with. Sadly, this dog needed to have one of his eyes removed but, the information for the dog said he was still acting like any other dog with no problems adjusting.

This is all great but I am a very active person, where I go on hikes quiet frequently and I sometimes go on trails that don't have the best terrain. Would this be a problem for this dog? I understand there would be a depth perception issue and I'm worried about the risk of injury to the dog (I mean more than the normal risk in any hiking adventures).

I am wondering if, despite missing an eye, if a dog could still go on hikes?
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LOL I'll blow your mind. You can take a BLIND dog on a hike! My Aunt has had several blind Saint Bernards. The last one came to her with her brother at a year old when the housing market crashed. My Aunt has 30 years of fostering Saint Bernards and is very good with giant breeds. She took this dog everywhere. It walked on walks and even came to our house for a visit. I saw her hesitate for a few minutes till she heard the foot pattern, but you'd NEVER have guessed she was blind! In fact my Aunt said the first owners swore up and down they didn't know she was blind the entire time they had her! I've fostered a blind Beagle puppy. She was AMAZING! The breeder gave us a male to to be her guide for life, and she ran and played with him normally. Once and awhile in my very uneven ground she'd stumble, but she was full of life and happy. Now deaf dogs have a little harder time, but I've fostered several young deaf dogs too LOL
That's great. I love hearing things like that. I'm considering adopting a one-eyed cute terrier-mutt who was beaten on the way to a slaughterhouse in China. I live in Florida and I'm very outdoorsy so I've been concerned about his ability to protect himself in case he ever wanders off (I do leash my dogs but there are always unleashed moments). He'll have a larger brother (my Cocker Spaniel), so I'm hoping that will cover him in an unlucky encounter (coyotes and bobcats are rare where I am but I have seen them).
My girl Molly has had an eye removed and can barely see out of the other. We hike all the time. I pay attention to the path she is walking and she seldom stumbles. She is so happy out there with me all her anxiety seems to melt sometimes. There is a good chance she will lose her other eye, but my vet told me that frequently it seems to be harder on the human than the dog!!
That's interesting to hear - I would have thought a visually-impaired dog's anxiety would increase in those situations, not decrease. It's encouraging to me since I'm considering adopting a one-eyed dog and I'm very outdoorsy.
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