Can a dog blind in one eye compete in AKC or UKC agility and obedience?
Do they get some sort of handicap? And is it possible to train a dog that is blind in one eye to excel especially when it comes to weaving? She is still a pup and we are working on basic obedience right now.
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October 27th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
No sorry they can’t take the chance they might get hurt.
October 27th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
NO
October 27th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Ya,
It probably is weird havving a blind dogbut it is okay! Alot of people dont know that thier dog is! she should be just fine and i bet she is spoiled!
Hope this helps out and good luck to you!~!
October 27th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Sorry, but AKC and UKC rules state the dog must be in excellent condition, no impairments.
but there are other clubs that will welcome her, and will rate her on her ability, not on her handicap.
she is a lucky dog to have such a great owner!!
good luck to her and to you in the competition!!
October 27th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Your dog can’t compete in AKC shows but it could make an excellent therapy dog. You can get your dog trained and visit sick children in the hospital. Your dog will love it and so will you. I promise. Good luck to you and your blind ANGEL.
October 27th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
I saw a program on French TV about a blind dog named Vasco last week. He is 3 years old and came first at an agility and obedience competition!! he and his master were amazing!
http://www.30millionsdamis.fr/lemission/archives/les-emissions-de-2008/emissions-des-26-et-27-janvier-2008/vivre-avec-un-chien-aveugle.html
October 27th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
They can, I believe, compete in obedience. But they are not allowed to compete in agility. It’s a safety factor. Any dog without 2 working eyes has difficulties with depth perception which can make it dangerous to jump or be on the high equipment.
October 27th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
This is how you got in this position in the first place!! You bred two dogs of a breed known to have hereditary eye problems WITHOUT an eye test because someone told you it was OK, rather than going to the source (the ASSA). So now you have a puppy that may be blind, because of your own actions.
So now, rather than check with the officiating bodies, you are asking for opinions from people, who although are well meaning, most have no idea the actual regulations.
Here is directly from the AKC rule Book (took me 5 seconds to find it)
“A dog that is blind or deaf or has been changed in
appearance for cosmetic reasons (other than changes
customarily approved for its breed) may not compete
in any obedience trial or tracking test and will be
disqualified.”
From the AKC Agility Rule Book:
Dogs should be physically sound. Dogs that are blind or deaf shall not be eligible.
So take the time to do the research rather than rely on answers that may or may not be true. Look where it got you last time… with a puppy you produced who may be blind.
October 27th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
YES, they can compete in Rally, just not thru the AKC/UKC…
Check out this site
http://www.apdt.com/po/rally/default.aspx
this is the form you use to inform the judges of the handicap the dog has.
http://www.apdt.com/po/rally/forms/pdf/exercise_mod_form.pdf
Have fun!!!
October 27th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Yes, they can. Both. I personally knew a dog who lost an eye to an attack who competed in Obedience and Agility (both AKC and UKC, and also NADAC, CPE and USDAA agility).
A fully blind dog cannot compete, and a fully DEAF dog is not allowed to compete either.
It’s certainly possible to train a dog who is blind in one eye to excel. You just need to be aware of your dog’s limitations and adjust to help him or her, and use your voice probably more than many handlers will have to.
From Chapter 1-Section 3 of the AKC Agility Regulations:
“Dogs disfigured as the result of accident or injury
but otherwise qualified shall be eligible provided that
the disfigurement does not interfere with functional
movement. Dogs should be physically sound. Dogs
that are blind or deaf shall not be eligible. Blind means
without useful vision, and deaf means without useful
hearing.”
P.S. Interesting to be downrated for answering the question truthfully. Look it up, guys–dogs must have useful vision–they CAN be blind in one eye, but cannot be TOTALLY blind.
October 27th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
For all you people that have said that a dog with only one good eye cannot compete in AKC/UKC obedience, you are wrong!!! One bad eye does not make the dog blind, two would.
My Border Collie has a cataract and retinal damage in his right eye. You would never know it unless you looked real close. He has his CD, RN and is now training for his RA.
He can jump but I don’t do agility because he can’t work offside . I had him in agility class and he could do all the equipment.
You will have to work your dog with the bad eye towards you so when you send her out/away she will see the obstacle.
Your dog will learn to adjust its’ head position to keep you in sight while moving with you. My BC turns his head to the right to keep an eye on me while heeling. It makes for a really nice heeling position/picture.
I say go for it and have fun.
You don’t get any handicap/advantage because of the bad eye.
October 27th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
I don’t know, can she?
She MAY compete if she is capable of doing the exercises and isn’t functionally problematic. If the blindness isn’t overtly apparent I doubt anyone would know or care but if there is any stumbling, running into things or anything like that, she would be considered functionally impaired and would not be able to compete in AKC (I am not familiar with UKC regulations).
I don’t think anyone could tell you if she could ‘excel’ or if she could even properly do the weaving since we have no way of assessing her capabilities but you should be able to tell once you have started working with her – if she can’t avoid obstacles on that side very well then I would think agility might be an issue but obedience shouldn’t. Dogs don’t have binocular vision like humans and as such, they don’t have the depth perception issue when they loose sight in one eye – they can still relate fairly accurately spacialy so she may not have much of an issue at all. Good luck.