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BLUE BAYOU
Blue Bayou is a Shetland Sheepdog that has been blind from birth.
He was the result of an accidental blue merle to blue merle breeding.
These pairings have a 20% chance of each puppy being blind, deaf
or dying in utero. Bayou is fortunate that he has excellent hearing
and some light/dark perception. The dog ophthalmologist says Bayou
has no useful vision. He will hide his eyes from bright sunlight,
however.
We brought Bayou home at five weeks when his breeder decided they
did not want the responsibility of a blind dog. He was an adorable
bundle of silver, gold and white fuzz with perfect tipped ears.
Bayou has grown into a 17 inch, sturdy adult. We have had another
blind dog for years and felt our experience would help us in caring
for Bayou.
When Bayou was tiny his breeders tried to force him to nurse when
he was too weak to suckle. He would exhaust himself fighting them
before they would feed him with a bottle. This treatment left Bayou
with severe panic reactions to being restrained. We feed Bayou tiny
bits of cheese every couple minutes to encourage him to stand still
for grooming. He has a huge coat that takes quite a bit of time
to brush through.
Bayou responded well to the clicker training system for obedience
work. He was an apt pupil using this reward and sound based system.
Bayou’s hearing is acute and he can locate me by the sound of my
footsteps. He is a happy, rowdy, affectionate and responsive dog.
We have seven other Shelties. Bayou runs and plays with the group.
He occasionally takes a nip for blundering into one of the more
dominant dogs. Bayou’s heavy ruff keeps these reprimands from seriously
discomfiting him. He gets around our one acre fenced grass dog yard
confidently. Bayou walks on leash with me. He shows minor apprehension
in unfamiliar locations. If we got him out and away from home more
he’d gain confidence.
Bayou offers a stuffed toy to his best Sheltie friend, Leto, and
they play wild chase games for possession of it. He obviously enjoys
life and we love our Silver Bullet!
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