Blindness In Dogs - Experience With Dog Blindness

Hi,
my collie, Starbucks, has been bumping into things (our legs, stretched out when we are seated, or boxes we packed to ship at Christmas) and cannot see well at night. The vet said that the dog's reactions are inconsistent but that upon examination of the retina, it looks a little suspicious. I have been referred to a specialist about an hr away to see if this is collie eye anomaly.
I researched a bit online and it says there is no surgery to correct this.
In the meantime, does anyone here have a blind or partially blind dog? Do you use any special training methods?

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Blindness In Dogs - DNA Test

Another blindness disease affecting Irish setters, called progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), is caused by the same gene that causes retinitis pigmentosa in humans.

Maver said that PRA in Irish setters had persisted despite an attempt to eradicate it in the 1950s.

"In England they had a major program to find the carriers and weed them out," he said. "They culled a huge number of dogs. They thought they'd got all the carriers but no, it's continued ever since."

He said a genetic test for the disease had been developed recently and could be included in the new genetic testing program.

"Genetic testing allows you to find the carriers," he said. "You can locate the actual genes and you can selectively breed to prevent the disease in just one generation."

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Blindness In Dogs - Nonprofit Pays For Medical Care

To that end, she's started Sammie's Friends, named for a Shar-Pei Wicks adopted 14 years ago and, despite his current blindness, began life like many of the animals at the local county shelter.

The county already pays $100 toward the cost of nonemergency care for adoptable animals. Wicks' nonprofit will pay as much as $400 to fix routine ailments for adoptable animals.

If a dog is suffering from eczema, Wicks will pay for its treatment. Hair falling out? No problem. Malnourished? That can be fixed, too.

Wicks, the animal shelter's volunteer coordinator, said she hopes her work can help keep euthanasia rates sliding at the animal shelter. Of approximately 2,000 dogs and cats brought to the shelter in the last year, 91 percent have been adopted, she said. That's down from six years ago, when nearly two-thirds of the 3,000 dogs and cats were put down once they arrived at the shelter.

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