[Kitchen Cottage]

I am being driven slowly mad by my blind dog Luca.  I have him and two zoomie working cocker spaniels (Mum and Daughter).  When they move .... Luca barks.... not a single bark but a long, repetitive, screeching noise that turns your insides out....

I have tried everything, Misty (cocker Mum) is food and toy possessive and so when he stumbles to where she has left something she snaps at him.

I have tried separating them but.... I work so it seems so unfair then don't get enough Mum time.

I have tried comforting him......

It really impacts on my life as I am trying to make two lovely active girls stay still because it sets him off!

We have tried thundershirts, zylkene etc

[Jukes Mum]

Question for you; Is he happy?

[Kitchen Cottage]

I would say he lives a life of perpetual stress.  He has happy times but he is not a relaxed dog.

it has taken nearly 3 years to get a harness on him (he couldn't cope with a collar) and I have JUST managed to get him to walk 100 yards without freaking out.

[Jukes Mum]

I'm not sure how to express this without seeming harsh and heartless, but rest assured I mean this with the best intentions. Is it really fair to continue his life of fear and stress? I understand that you have done so much to help him so far and you would do more to keep helping him, but if he isn't happy, is it really fair for you to continue?

[Kitchen Cottage]

The question is fair.  it's a question of degree.  he has environmental stress but he also has happiness.  He drives me mad but I think he has a quality of life.

He would be a million times happier in a quiet home with no other dogs (he is fine with cats) but there aren't people queuing up to take blind dogs on.

[Old Shep]

perhaps remove all toys and chews and supervise feeding to avoid your spaniel snapping? I would persevere with separation time also if it works for them.

[Hevxxx99]

As sight isn't a dog's primary sense, would it be possible to put bells on the other dogs, so they can be easily located? It may make matters worse, but possibly being able to hear where they are more would help. 

Can you work out why he barks? Is it fear that he is about to be randomly (in his mind) attacked by the other dogs if they come near?  Does the sudden change from quiet to noise scare him?

[Kitchen Cottage]

We had another incident last night.  All Luca was doing was walking to the sofa and Misty attacked him because there was a square inch of destroyed chew... he then goes into meltdown.  She never bites him, just pins him to the ground. 

The issue with removing chews is Tilly will destroy the house if she doesn't have something to occupy her when I am out....

I am going to do a separation zone I think....

Shep, he knows where Misty and Tilly are (they aren't that quiet!) and its the sound of their movement near him sets him off..... I don't blame him because of how Misty behaves.  Tilly, a squiggly, squirmy 1 year old, he tolerates near him on the sofa but he isn't comfortable and he will growl if she moves (which she does A LOT).

All the poor lad does is try and find a way to get from the kitchen down the steps and onto the sofa, his "safe zone" with me...

I have only just got him on a harness and my ideal is to be able to walk him, because I also think he has too much energy.

He has been a chain dog in Bulgaria and was deliberately blinded, so his view of "outside" is somewhere wet and cold where you pee and then come straight back indoors...

Any ideas would be appreciated.  He has sufficient quality of life I am sure.  He was in a shelter for a year before I got him, when he shut down completely and just faced a wall, and before that he was blinded to make him bark on a chain.... his whole life has been set up to reactively bark so it's just going to be a lot of different ideas I think!  He doesn't bark at me or ever bite, although he has a warning mouth open when you touch his back or neck as he was carried round by them in the shelter.

I think I will try him living in my bedroom (which is very large) during the day and only doing supervised time at night with me and the zoomies.  I don't know whether less time is better than less stress but I can only try......

[shygirl]

if outside exercise is difficult, consider a treadmill. a tired dog is best.
don't feel guilty about separating them, I separate mine, when the 2boys want a fight, or the beardie pup is driving the others mad.

[Hevxxx99]

Get a large crate and put Misty (and possibly Tilly) in it with chews, when you go out (to stop destructiveness) and at night, or to give the poor dog a couple of hours of security. Make it her special place for chews, food etc so it isn't punative.  A second crate for Luca to have a safe place would also be a good idea. Near you ideally. 

No one need be crated for very long (except overnight perhaps) and everybody can have some quality time.

[Old Shep]

great advice from Hevxxx99

[Kitchen Cottage]

I'm not crating Luca.  I can put him in my bedroom or living room if I need to separate him! I don't think he'd be happier in a living room with me in a crate... remember he can't see me.

I'm also not crating Tilly.  I have a large kitchen she stays in and she only causes damage if I leave stuff out. 

Tilly damage isn't an issue (she's a youngster), it is just an explanation for chews. 

I would far prefer to separate with rooms than with crates in the same room which doesn't seem to have any advantage?

[Hevxxx99]

Of course, it's up to you, but crating means they can get used to each other without inflicting harm and they can all be in the same room as you, which, presumably, they prefer. Luca will know you are there: why else would he stumble across the room to be with you? Remember sight isn't the dog's primary sense: he can hear and smell you.  It isn't remotely cruel unless the crate is too small: in fact, it gives the dogs their own safe place and a sense of security, like a dogbed with a door.

I presume you never leave them all in the same room unattended?

ETA I'd have thought crating for an hour or two would have been preferable to not allowing the dogs to move.

[Old Shep]

Crating isnt cruel its kind. Dogs love the security. I have  5 dogs and 2 crates and  4 beds in the utility.  Both crates are always occupied even though they could chose another bed. I would definitely use crates in rhis situation.

[Kitchen Cottage]

Luca isn't a normal dog, he's spent a lot of his life on a 1m chain and in a small room in a shelter.  He has a high "freak out" factor.  It would really distress him.

It's really therapeutic to write this down and I realise that I need to spend more time with Luca.

1. My dogs DON'T like crates.  Misty is now 8 and Tilly 1 and neither like being contained even in the utility room with the baby gate.  They will go in a crate when I am in a hotel but their little faces look out at me like they are in doggy prison.  I know lots of peoples dogs are crate trained but I can separate my dogs in different rooms.

2. That said, do you really think this is a question of dogs "getting used" to each other.  They have lived together in various degrees of disharmony for 3 years.  Luca's problem is he knows what Misty is like and, for him, randomly, she pins him to the ground and growls at him.  She thinks of him, I suspect, as the spoilt bugger who comes near her toys. 

3. They are frequently left together in the same room and frequently not.  Today Luca is in the living room on the sofa with the baby gate closed and Tilly and Misty in the kitchen diner.  If Luca had been in the kitchen when I left, he would be with them when I closed the baby gate.  You have to "herd" Luca very gently because he goes into crouch and freak mode easily and I don't have time in the morning. 

I do want help but crating isn't for my lot.