Can OES's see very well?
I have a 6 month old female named Lily. She is a bundle of energy and the joy of our lives. Of course sheepdogs always seem to have their hair in their eyes. I try to clip it up but it seems Lily just doesn't see very well. Maybe its just me but I've noticed in the last couple months that she might be having trouble. Maybe she needs glasses? lol She does not have any signs of cateracts and her eyes look perfectly normal according to our vet. She can obviously see me but for example when I am playing ball with her she will often run right passed it. Not in play but like she just doesn't see it until I point and say "There it is". I am wondering if this is normal and if any other OES out there have the same problem. I know I could take her to a doggy eye doctor but honestly I don't know what they could do if there was even a problem. If anyone out there has any thoughts on this please let me know. Thanks! |
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| Actually OES and dogs in general see well, its just different from what we see. Remember dogs originally were mostly nocturnal so their need to see colors and patterns were not as important as the ability to see a wider viewing field, motion, and in low light. Dogs are not color blind, instead they can detect pale yellow, blue and purple but not red or green. It has been suggested that an average dog sees similar to a human deuteranope, a person that is red-green colorblind. So it could be the ball and surface are too similar in color or totally the wrong color for the dog. The dog's ability to see detail, also termed acuity, is around six times poorer than an average human. Acuity, measured in cycles per degree, is how many lines that can be seen as distinct entities in the visual field. Humans have the ability to see about 30 cycles per degree while dogs can see about 12. An example is a black and white stripe pattern. If the stripes are too close, the dog only sees grey. To see stripes the pattern would have to have thicker and more widely spaced bars. If you were hinding behind a bamboo clump, the dog would either detect your motion or your smell, but probably couldn't pick you out among the vertical lines. If it were possible to test a human and a dog using an eye chart, and the human had 20/20 vision, the dog would be between 20/50 and 20/100, making them nearsighted. Yes, I too had heard dogs are farsighted. Instead the dog has the ability to see motion and especially motion in dim light far beyond us. I suspect this ability to see motion is what has lead people to believe dogs are farsighted. They probably can't determine pattern and surely not color but they can see far off motion. As for your pup, if the ball wiggled or contrasted with the surface, yes the dog could see it. Remembering they see green grass as beige/white and cannot see red or green, perhaps changing the ball color to blue or purple would help or a frisbee with a big block print. Try that before you go running off to the doggie eyedoctor. Your pup might indeed have a problem, but eliminate first, the fact that she sees.......like a dog. |
| Most OES don't appear to see as well as many other breeds. Even when the hair is trimmed/put up I think there's enough facial hair to interfere. I notice a big difference in my buzzed dogs and my dogs with even a few inches of coat. Their eyes function the same, their field of vision is just limited to varying degrees the more hair they have. Consider that we only pull the hair over their eyes back, but the hair under their eyes/ on their muzzle sticks out, often flaps in their face when running. I've had this conversation with my vet, who has OES, and who says her show dogs always become more playful (and in tune to the world) when buzzed. Not that OES aren't prone to several sight problems, including juvenile cataracts and PRA (which tends to be later onset in this breed), but consider how your own vision is impaired if you have hair in your eyes  If you notice a decrease in vision with no change in hair you can always find a canine opthamologist and have her checked. It's pretty quick and painless and not very expensive. Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: If you notice a decrease in vision with no change in hair you can always find a canine opthamologist and have her checked. It's pretty quick and painless and not very expensive. Kristine Ditto what everyone else said in above posts. And if you look for a Cerf Clinic (usually held by a dog club as a public service project) you can have their eyes checked by a board certified opthomologist & much more reasonably than an actual office call. These clinics can be held as part of a dog show or independenly. |
| Yes, very true, Marilyn. I had three of mine checked at an eye clinic at a show just a couple of weeks ago for $25/dog. I think normal office visit price is $40-45 around here. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) keeps a calendar of various health clinics around the US. It can be accessed at http://www.offa.org/clinics.html though keep in mind it's only as good as the people who remember to submit their data on upcoming clinics, so doesn't list all of them. I usually find out about the clinics because I get dog show premiums sent to me automatically and the clinics I attend are often in conjunction with a dog show and will be listed there, although various dog clubs will sometimes offer special clinics at their facility and not in connection with a show. Either way, if you contact your local dog clubs someone is bound to know if there's anything coming up. KB |
It can't hurt to have it checked out, but really oes aren't retrievers and most of the oes I've had won't go get a ball etc either. I throw it and they usually look at me like "Are you going to get that?"  Maybe your pup just isn't into toys, or if she is try something different, a bigger ball maybe, or stuffed animals. |
Willowsprite wrote: It can't hurt to have it checked out, but really oes aren't retrievers and most of the oes I've had won't go get a ball etc either. I throw it and they usually look at me like "Are you going to get that?" Maybe your pup just isn't into toys, or if she is try something different, a bigger ball maybe, or stuffed animals. Same here. When it comes to retieving a dumbell, mine have to be taught. Some learn faster than others. One thing my instructors always said, even when using food to be retreived, was to use something bright in color so they could see it on the floor. |
| Thanks for all the wonderful advice everyone!! Lily absolutely LOVES to play fetch and has a pretty good size toy box that she tends to dump over every single day. lol She has to play with everything it seems and what ever she wants is always at the bottom.... of course!! Ha She is very smart and is easily taught.......... except its taken me MONTHS to teach her not to jump up on people. lol She is slowly but surely figuring it out though. It may be the color of the ball we were using. She has about 10 of them from big to small and all different colors. I will try to figure out if she sees certain ones better than others and let you all know what I find out. Again, thank you all so much!! I love this site!! |
| mine loved to play with the balls, he was much better at it after a real eye trim. he also never ran headon into me at full gallop after trim. |
| Tonks and Luna are hopeless when it comes to tennis balls. I don't know if its the color or the size, but they too will race right past a thrown tennis ball, and look around like they cannot see it. I got a larger, red children's soccor ball from Old Navy, and they have no problem getting that ball. When I saw how much they liked the size and color, I went back and got them a bunch to have handy. |
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