blind/deaf puppy

we have a blind/deaf white boxer puppy,he is 7 weeks old,and about to have his jab.was talking to vet bout him and she recommends he be put to sleep,i want some advice,please,iv had a deaf puppy before which as taught hand signals,but a blind and deaf puppy wont be able to do this,
what if i re-home him and he gets killed on the road,no-one can guarentee he wont ever break free of the lead,
he gets stuck in a corner on cries,i lift him away and he follows the wall round to the corner again.he cries alot,there is no other problems with him,his heart is healthy,for his age,his mom looks after him well with thehelp of us,she knows something is wrong,what will we do?

he has blue eyes.

I think Patch may be able to help you with that one.
Thinking of you whatever you decide.
Personally if he were one of mine I'd bred I'd keep him myself unless I could guarantee 100% that he was going to a well educated (dog wise) experienced home with people who were willing to work with him.
If I felt he was too distressed then I would have him PTS. With me it always boils down to quality of life. However, he is only a pup and getting used to his world so I'd certainly give him a chance.
Becky

I Hope You Let Your Heart Guide You In This...whatever It May Be....this Is A Choice I Could Never Make...god Bless You Whatever It May Be. Check Online, There Are Special Places To Take Dogs Like That, And They Get The Care They Need. I Seen It On Tv, And This Woman Had All Kinds Of Blind Dogs....

Christel

I hope that there is a way for him. Like you have heard of many success stories for deaf puppies and also blind puppies but not both.

I googled but only found websites relating to either deaf or blind puppies not both but might be worth contacting them to see if they can help.

I will pm you the links I found.

Good luck Zoeybeau1

just spoke to the vet about him,he cries whoever picks him up,now i bottle fed this puppy so hes well handled,im worried bout quality of his wee life,he was going to a home when we werent sure he was blind only deaf,however the new ppl wont take him,now and to be honest i cant blame them,his quality of life is my top priority,i dont want to give him to rescue and add to there problem to get the easy option out,i want to be involved in the decision made for him,maybe he isnt meant to be but was put on the earth to let me know white deaf/blind puppies come along once in a life time,so i know what to look for,i dont know why he was given to me by god,but if he has to go back i want to make sure its for the best reasons,does anyone know how hard it is to sit and bottle rear a baby that maybe shouldnt have survived if i hadnt of stepped in,maybe i shouldnt have stepped in and let nature take its course knowing what i know now,would i do it again,your dam right i would were theres life theres hope,unless the qualitity of life is no good only then will i consider pts and sending him to the bridge,i love him and that will take him over the bridge,as far as im concernd,the tears are pouring out now so im going to cry this out

imho - i would have him pts


my reasons for this is - a blind puppy can hear you and follow you voice and follow other noises

a deaf puppy can learn hand signals - therefore both lead a relatively normal life - off the lead

a blind and deaf puppy will livein its own little world, wont know whos picking it up, who its owner is etc - scary


suze

Don't blame yourself Toni, I would have done exactly the same as you. There is no way you could have known what his disabilities were until he was well developed in any event.
As you say it is really down to the quality of life he can expect.
You have my support whatever decision you decide to make. I know it will be in the best interests of the pup.
Take Care.
Becky

Toni My heart ges out to you and to the little puppy what a decision to have to make, very difficult, but I am with Mahooli on this. I would kep him and raise him myself, as Becky says its early days and everything is new to him, I would give him the chance and if it does not work out and he has no quality of life and you have to have him PTS at least you can look back and say well I tried and did my best for him. Thinking of you at this time and seding comforting cuddles.

Excellent post (as usual Eunice)

Ditto what Eunice has said and wish you all the best whatever decision you make *Hugs*

So sorry about the little pup zoeybeau, I can imagine what you must be going through. My 14 yr old Finnish Lapphund Robyn is blind and almost completely deaf but this is entirely different as she was normal at birth.

The blindness is PRA which wasn't diagnosed until age 6 and progressed very slowly so she had some sight up until about age 11. The deafness is just age related degeneration and with the time to adjust to her disabilities, she copes exceeding well. Obviously it's very different for a young pup, full of energy, which has never experienced normal sensory stimulation.

I'm sure it must be very unusual to have both disabilities in a Boxer as the gene that causes white in your breed isn't usually associated with eye deformites as with the merle gene in other breeds.

You might possibly get some information from the Australian Shepherd Club. One particular American breeder is C A Sharp who may be able to help.

http://www.ashgi.org/board.htm

Maybe you already have but could I also suggest reporting this to Bruce Cattanach. I'm sure it will be of interest to him and he may also be able to offer advice.