Testing night vision

[Caro]

Maybe it is a fear period. Perhaps I'll wait a few weeks and see how she goes - by then she may be in heat. She's so immature compared to my others at her age. But then the other two were getting walked for hours every day and training a couple of times a week. Poor Kis had Covid lockdown and a crippled mum who can't walk fat and who gets stuck teaching instead of training.

I took her to the dog club last night and she helped me set up for class, then had to go back into the car for an hour. Now I wonder if leaving her in the car will make things worse. She was very happy to be at the club. Tonight I have hydrotherapy at the hosp and was intending leaving her in the car with a Kong so we can walk after hydro at the Uni next door (lots of lighting). There's security guards right next to where I park so they keep an eye on her for an hour, although maybe having strange men stare into the car is scary too.

 

[Selena Wohlslagel]

Kismet has become really scared of things and people at night. It's become noticeable with daylight savings ending. i had originally thought it could be the overdue heat cycle. But her reactions at night are over the top (she's terrified) and are just not normal for the well adjusted pup she usually is.

As she's due to start dog sports soon and will be training at night I'm worried she could be hurt if she can't see properly. Kis does have mild CEA, but that was tested at 6 weeks so maybe it's changed.

Anyway, wondering if anyone knows of ways to test her vision myself? We used to have a visiting eye clinic once a month but Covid.

Luke was afraid of dark too even though he was on enclosed area but now that he's a bit older he's okay.stlll I do know with standard collies they got so involved in breeding for long snouts .they bred out room for optic nerve, making pups blind.this was long ago and more responsible breeding correct it.stll I would want it checked out to be sure vision was ok

 

[Selena Wohlslagel]

Sonic now 5 had fear periods until 2. He had more than most being a singleton. I don’t remember if my other guy did, he was precocious but it could have manifested as a hyper stage.

does she have small eyes? Those are more at risk for early cataracts per my vet. Sonic has them slightly. It is a double recessive gene that most don’t have but would have been hidden and not expressed in generations before.

 

[Selena Wohlslagel]

Luke has small eyes and though he's a tri ,he has blue eyes.he is now 2 and is no longer fearful on the closed in porch at night.but he thinks he is in charge of our whole street.He likes to make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be. He outgrew his fear.i sure hope he outgrows his car sickness lol

 

[Caro]

Looks like it was a fear period, Kismet has gotten better with going for walks at night, admittedly we're only walking in areas she knows and in public places because I'm not keen on walking alone in the dark with a little dog.

I did notice her eyesight, esp at night, is not as good as Della's. I throw a treat on the ground and Kismet has trouble finding it but Della can zoom in on it (Della is 8yrs compared to Kismet 16mths) . Kismet has CEA and Della doesn't so I wonder if it has a slight effect on their night vision. I noticed years ago that Deska's sight generally was much better then Tully's, and Tully has CEA and Deska didn't. I wonder if CEA is like being short-sighted in humans.

And other thing that I finally solved. Kismet went through a spate of peeing in the house recently and I could not understand why. Well I worked out she's scared of the dog behind us and when it barks when she's in the backyard she races inside - and I guess that's interrupting her going to the toilet. I don't know what to do about that barking dog. It's a young cattle dog and is developing fence aggression - it's stuck in the backyard bored and is barking and barking all day. Poor Della is so very stressed too.

 

[trini]

Looks like it was a fear period, Kismet has gotten better with going for walks at night, admittedly we're only walking in areas she knows and in public places because I'm not keen on walking alone in the dark with a little dog.

I did notice her eyesight, esp at night, is not as good as Della's. I throw a treat on the ground and Kismet has trouble finding it but Della can zoom in on it (Della is 8yrs compared to Kismet 16mths) . Kismet has CEA and Della doesn't so I wonder if it has a slight effect on their night vision. I noticed years ago that Deska's sight generally was much better then Tully's, and Tully has CEA and Deska didn't. I wonder if CEA is like being short-sighted in humans.

And other thing that I finally solved. Kismet went through a spate of peeing in the house recently and I could not understand why. Well I worked out she's scared of the dog behind us and when it barks when she's in the backyard she races inside - and I guess that's interrupting her going to the toilet. I don't know what to do about that barking dog. It's a young cattle dog and is developing fence aggression - it's stuck in the backyard bored and is barking and barking all day. Poor Della is so very stressed too.

Caro that is good that it looks like it was a fear period rather than declining eye sight that Kismet went through.

On the barking issue...do you have any ordinance in your area against constant barking? Where I live, even though we are rural, any barking that goes on without interruption for more than 15 minutes can be reported and the owner fined...and the fines increase with each complaint...so if an owner doesn't take action to make sure their dog/dogs are not upsetting neighbors close enough to be bothered by the barking they can end up paying several hundred dollars in fines.

Trini

 

[Caro]

On the barking issue...do you have any ordinance in your area against constant barking?

There is a process for barking complaints, but it's the process. You have to log all the times the dog barks for 2 weeks. Which is a catch because I'd have to subject myself and the dogs to the stress of the constant barking by using the backyard. Poor Della's anxiety levels are through the roof already. We have a whole different type of govt in Canberra - because we are the Federal capital we only have one level of Govt - so the same govt that runs the public transport and hospitals deal with dog complaints, and do it all poorly.

 

[trini]

There is a process for barking complaints, but it's the process. You have to log all the times the dog barks for 2 weeks. Which is a catch because I'd have to subject myself and the dogs to the stress of the constant barking by using the backyard. Poor Della's anxiety levels are through the roof already. We have a whole different type of govt in Canberra - because we are the Federal capital we only have one level of Govt - so the same govt that runs the public transport and hospitals deal with dog complaints, and do it all poorly.

Caro would it work for you to put one of those ultrasonic devices on or near your backyard fence, aimed toward your neighbor's yard, that emits a sound that humans can't hear but dogs can and hate...hopefully would make barking and fence aggression unpleasant enough that it would stop.
Trini

 

[Caro]

Caro would it work for you to put one of those ultrasonic devices on or near your backyard fence, aimed toward your neighbor's yard, that emits a sound that humans can't hear but dogs can and hate...hopefully would make barking and fence aggression unpleasant enough that it would stop.
Trini

I was just wondering that too. I found an old one in the garage, and I was trying to work out if it would make my dogs even more stressed when the other dog barked, or if they would even hear it inside. My dogs rarely barked (and they really are Shelties) so they wouldn't set it off even if they went into the backyard.

Kismet's about to go into heat (she's getting really obnoxious and pushy with Della) so she'll have to toilet and play in the backyard when that happens. Too many people around here walk along the road out front with unleashed dogs.

 

[trini]

I was just wondering that too. I found an old one in the garage, and I was trying to work out if it would make my dogs even more stressed when the other dog barked, or if they would even hear it inside. My dogs rarely barked (and they really are Shelties) so they wouldn't set it off even if they went into the backyard.

Kismet's about to go into heat (she's getting really obnoxious and pushy with Della) so she'll have to toilet and play in the backyard when that happens. Too many people around here walk along the road out front with unleashed dogs.

I think the standard outdoor ultrasonic device that you can hang or post somewhere has a range of only 50 feet (although super expensive ones can range up to 100-200 feet) so if you could place it where it pretty much only effected your neighbor's dog it might not cause a more general issue for people walking by with their dogs. Most also have the ability for you to control the level of sound emitted, so could use trial and error to find out the strength needed to deter the neighbor's dog. Not a perfect solution, but it might be worth a try and hopefully the noise would in time stop that dog from coming near the fence and barking even if the device is not on.
Trini