Question:
We have recently just adopted a rescued 8 week old blind, American Bulldog puppy.
He is having other problems as well and we were wondering if perhaps you could help us with this.
He seems to have a problem with his balance. Tending to fall over when he first gets up, or if he suddenly changes direction. His head also shakes up and down periodically.
He has been to the vet and and appears physically healthy. They did blood work, as well as a check on all his organs and he came out fine. Other than being blind, which is related to the breeder forcing open his eyes...or so the rescuers have told us.
The blindness we can work around but we are concerned about his lack of balance.
Do you think it could be related to his sight and something he will out grow, or could it be a further Neurological problem?
I would love any input anyone may have. Perhaps someone that has had experience with a blind from birth puppy, and had similar actions from them.
We just love our new baby, he is so wonderful!!

Answer:
Here are the link(s) I promised you in the other thread. I am glad you decided to give this poor guy a loving home and am very sure that you thought about this long and hard. If you need anything else, feel free to pm me!

http://www.blinddogs.com/

Darn. I could only find the one. I will keep my eyes open, I think there is another one. This one is a great site however.

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I wonder if his blindness and problem is more neurological then optical.

If you can, talk to your vet about a neurological assessment. Poor little sweetie and bless your heart for saving a special needs dog!

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The clumsiness could just be to his being a large breed and very young puppy. The head shaking I don't know about.

You really should visit the molosser board I suggested. There are breeders of AmBulls on there who could advise you, I'm sure.

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I fostered a 4 month old lab that had a serious "head tilt" If you look this up on the web, you should find out more. The tilt would make him off balance and sometimes fall over. I noticed other strange things with him and it turned out I was right. He was blind in one eye and deaf in the same ear. The head tilt has a specific name for it and you will find out more with some research. It can be caused from an inner ear problem or something more serious. Good luck and I think its great you have adopted this guy.

Heather

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Thanks everyone, for all of your suggestions. I am making an appointment to see our vet this week and have him, give him, a good once over. Especially with his ears.
I was thinking it could be something like that(ear problem), similar to Minear(sp?) Syndrome in humans. He also shakes his head alot. Like when a dog comes out from swimming, or being in a bath. (Trying to give a visual)
Hopefully it is something that we can correct or he grows out of. I am concerned that once he reaches 70-100 pds, even before then, he could really hurt himself falling over.
Wish me luck and I will be sure to keep everyone posted.
Oh and thanks for the links. I have joined both the blinddog site chat as well as the Molloser(sp?) site. Fantastic links with great information, and wonderful people, very similar to here.
Thanks all!!!
Mel

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Glad the links are helpful!

Yeah, the head shaking could be an ear infection. Let us know!

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Does anyone know anything about Wobblers Syndrome??? Someone suggested that, it occurs in large bread dogs.
All I found this morning was a bit about it in Dobermans, but they suggest that it occurs later in life, around 5 years.
Could this be what's affecting my puppy??

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Wobber's Syndrome does also affect younger dogs that are growing at a fast rate.

This does happen with Am. Bulldogs. (They grow fast!!!) I know one that was VERY clumsy when he was a small pup. I think that your dogs lack of sight might contribute to the falling down. I'm no vet - but in my opinion I think you rpuppy is just growing quickly and is clumsy. It doesn't seem too alarming but please consult your vet.

http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/s...cle.cfm?id=205

As for the ears, does he paw at the constantly? He could very well have an ear infection. Will he let you touch it? Can you smell it or look for inflammation?

Do you have pics of the little guy!!!??

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It's no use guessing what it could be. The vet will be able to tell you - it might be something easy to correct.

Wobblers can affect a number of breeds, but I"ve never heard of it in AmBulls.

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I have pics but I am not sure how to put them on here. I can attach one at a time but how do you attach more than one? So that you can just click on them to open?
He doesn't scratch at his ears at all and they don't seem to bother him. Just the shaking once in a while, and the bobbing up and down periodically.
His balance though...when you read the decription of Wobblers it sounds like him. To whatch him walk you would seriously think he was drunk. Only until he gets going, then he is much better.
If he changes direction though its back to the stagger, or he can be standing still and then just sort of flop over.
I wish I could video him so you could see him in action.
I hope in my heart that you are right though and it is just clumsiness related to his sight disorder.
I sooooo want him to be OK!!
If you can tell me how to post pics, I will get some up here.
Thanks

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I know Lucky Rescue, I probably am just worrying myself to death about all of this. New Momma syndrome I guess, and I have it bad!!! HELP!!!
I am just going to try and put all of this out of my mind and wait till we see our vet.
For today we are going to work on walking with a leash. We tried for a bit yesterday and he was quite balky so, I am arming myself with some treats and we are going to head out to learn.
Wish me luck!!

Answer:
If you need more information about wobblers syndrome check out www.dpfa.org/Wobbler.html www.cah.com/library/wobb.html or there is a vet who specializes in Mastiff medicine her name is Dr. Robyn Smith there is a website dedicated to Mastiff medicine, this is more common in giant and large breeds. Mastiffs are affected by this disease.

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Make sure that you DO NOT move furniture around, leave toys,etc out, patio door open, etc,etc. He must get used to a solid environment without any new or surprising obstacles that could result in confusion and / or injury. I had a peke that brought home from the animal hosp I work at and had 1 eye......eventually the other needed to be removed as a result of an injury caused by some abusive teens. It took awhile but he adjusted to the environment but we had to be so so careful that there were no new surprises or change in the environment he was used to .....this way he got used to and learned the layout of his home without worry. Good luck

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