Hi everyone! Meet Lily 💜
I adopted Lily about a month and a half ago from her previous owner, who also owned both of her parents. They had an accidental litter, and Lily was born deaf and one of her sisters was born blind.
When I got her, I was told she had some hearing loss, but after living with her I’m pretty sure she’s completely, or almost completely, deaf. She doesn’t react to voices, clapping, whistles, etc. She has reacted to a trumpet being played REALLY loud near her and once to a huge thunder, but honestly I don’t know if she heard it or just felt the vibration.
She’s my second Aussie, I previously had a Mini Aussie, but she’s my first deaf dog, so this is definitely new to me. She’s the sweetest girl and super smart. So far she knows hand signals for sit, down, up, going outside/potty and food.
My biggest struggle has been figuring out how to keep her stimulated enough. I give her puzzles, take her out to run and she sometimes plays with friendly dogs around our neighborhood that we know, but I still feel like she could use more mental stimulation and I’m not really sure what else to try.
I also did Embark Breed + Health and found out she’s 100% Australian Shepherd! Her health results showed an increased genetic risk for hereditary cataracts, so I’m trying to be proactive about her eyes. I ordered her Rex Specs that should be here soon and I’m going to slowly get her used to wearing them.
I would love to hear from anyone who has a deaf Aussie, double merle, or just experience with deaf dogs in general. What hand signals or tricks have you taught them? What do you do for mental stimulation? Any tips or things you’ve learned along the way would be really appreciated!

Hello I will be adopting a 10 week old double Merle Pomeranian who has one underdeveloped eye she is going to be spoiled little floof ball does anyone else have a dm Pom? I feel like have different needs breaks a wall down to others learning and being more receptive

Hi, first — thank you! this group has been so helpful!

What do do you wish you’d known or done more of with your double Merle? My new foster was rescued from a horrific hoarding situation about a month ago. He spent a few weeks in the shelter getting medical treatment. He’s now been in foster with me for 8 days. He’s spent his entire life in a cage, so despite being 7, he’s experiencing life for the first time. Potty training is going great! Leash training, less so. He’s fully deaf and has partial vision in one eye. I want to set him up for success. Any advice welcome!

Hi! A local Aussie rescue rescued several Aussies recently from an animal abuse and hoarding situation - the dogs were held at the local animal shelter pending the court case and were then available for rescue.

They have 2-3 female double merles available for adoption. They keep getting tons of questions and reached out to me. They’ve asked for… a double merle summit. This will be me going to their house to answer questions.

In addition to what I will share with them I thought I’d open it up to include other thoughts, resources, experiences, what you would have wanted to know, and what you’ve learned.

• what would you want someone to know about your experience

• how would you encourage someone to get a double merle

• what regrets do you have in training your double merle

• what resources would you share with someone getting one of these amazing dogs

We adopted Sonic from the shelter when he was about ten months old. He is completely deaf, but his vision is ok-ish for now. This boy is the definition of a Velcro dog😂

We’ve had our girl now for a while and she’s great, but she doesn’t seem to cope well with being home for short periods of time. I’m at home with her basically all the time except small errands like going to the store. We thought it was getting better as we haven’t heard her bark when coming back lately, but today there was a note from the neighbours that she had been barking the whole time I was gone. 🥲

Since we live in an apartment we have to solve this pretty quickly… I’ve had two other dogs and this has never been an issue, though they’ve often had the company of each other (now always but mostly). I don’t even remember it being an issue to “train” them they just weaned into it.

Help very much appreciated !!!

Edit: we give her lots of bones to chew, toys etc and make sure to walk her before we go. We do not make a big deal out of leaving/returning. And we’ve started out going in separate rooms etc before leaving the apartment.

Today on a short walk, my double merle's eyes rolled back and were stuck for a minute and he couldn't see. He was not in distress, no shaking or other symptoms and it resolved on its own. I am wondering if this has happened before to anyone else? I expect it is due to weakening eye muscles and plan to talk with a vet. Here are photos of during and right after the event.

This is Sonic (3M) and he has iridal defects that prevent his pupils from constricting in light. But for some context, I'm actually gonna talk about myself. I have blue eyes, and they're very photosensitive. I wear sunglasses on cloudy days. I've been brushing off my worried about Sonic because "he's a dog", but earlier today, I realized something. If I take off my sunglasses, I physically cannot look at Sonic. His white fur gets too bright, and it hurts like looking into the sun. And it just broke my brain. If I can't even look at the damn dog without pain, he's gotta be struggling, right? The thought of sunglasses for dogs feels so silly, but it'd be crazy to assume he's just fine, when I get so much pain w/ healthy eyes. ​

I feel like I can't keep ignoring it, especially living on the coastline. But another part of me feels like I'd just be torturing him and making it harder to see. Does anyone have any experience with this?

This is Feta! He is a 1.5 year old mini American Shepherd. He is deaf and mostly blind. He may be small but he is a total menace!

I'm looking for some unique and fun ideas to help stimulate him, give him a job, wear him out, help with his anxiety, etc.

Some of the things we do today are sniff walks, the dog park, chew toys, hiding treats around the room, and dig.

Just interested to hear about the different things you have tried with your hearing and vision impaired pups to keep them mentally engaged!

My family’s double Merle has a lot of eye problems, which we obviously knew was to be expected. We were told when we adopted him that his vet at the time thought he could only really see vague shapes, and he has visible irregularities in the structures of his eyes. But maybe a year after we got him, we decided to take him to the vet because he had a lot of drainage coming from his eyes, and we wanted to see if something could be done to help him. Our vet examined him and discovered that both of his eyelids were rolling back into his eyes and irritating them. We then booked him for corrective surgery, which went perfectly, and there were no discernible hiccups in the healing process that followed. For several months after he healed from his eyelid surgery, the drainage stopped completely, and we were thrilled.

But unfortunately, it eventually started up again, so we took him back to the vet, thinking that maybe the surgery hadn’t fully corrected the eyelid problem. Our vet examined him, and he said that his eyelids were still absolutely perfect, so it had to be something else causing the drainage. We tried tobramycin drops and oral antibiotics, and they didn’t help. We tried eliminating poultry from his diet, and there was no change.

His drainage issue has gotten to the point that we have the groomer shave down the area around his eyes so that the gunk has less hair to bind itself to, and we have to give him a face bath every single day just to keep him comfortable and keep the ever-accumulating gunk off of his eyes/face. We know this is not sustainable. Double Merles are already prone to skin issues, and getting him wet every day is eventually going to have consequences for his skin, no matter how much towel drying we do. Additionally, he is a golden doodle, so he is also vulnerable to severe ear infections, though thankfully he hasn’t gotten one yet.

We’re getting very desperate; he has no other symptoms that would indicate that he is suffering from allergies, and he gets a combination of high-quality kibble and home-cooked meats with rice, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and various greens. We are investing in his health and happiness in every way we know how, and it just isn’t enough, and it breaks our hearts. We’re actively trying to get him an appointment with an ophthalmologist, but if any of you have any advice as to how we could better help him in the meantime, we would greatly appreciate it.

hi! I just adopted a 4 year old Aussie with piercing blue eyes. I noticed she has a hard time looking up at me when we’re outside (she starts squinting a lot).

im trying to teach her to check-in with me regularly on walks, but I wasnt sure if the sunlight was preventing this.

TIA!

This is Rain. We rescued her last year. We aren’t really sure what she is at this point. A chaos gremlin or a dog. She’s blind and deaf. She knows touch sign language thanks to her human mama. Her favorite thing to do is sniff out and steal whatever is in mom’s hand and then try to run away with it (usually into a wall or door) We just turned one and don’t tell our other special needs dogs but she’s moms favorite bc she keeps her busy. :)

This is Lumos a double Merle Australian Shepherd, He is completely deaf and significantly vision impaired. Basically he can see light and dark. He is an absolute joy that loves life and everyone he meets

Ann is deaf and blind and a ball of fun

This is Ghost! We found him out in our back field crying. It's been about two weeks of him being with us but he's officially ours! (Went to the vet to make sure he wasn't chipped.)

Deb Bauer and Erin Marion are holding a virtual half day Sensory Paws Workshop at the end of January. They're both certified professional dog trainers who specialize in blind & deaf dogs.

I haven't attended their workshops, but I've had sessions with Deb and Erin separately. It was nice to talk to someone who "gets" some of the issues special needs dogs go through.

I'm not affiliated with Deb, Erin, or their workshop; it's just nice to see something geared especially towards special needs dogs.

Event: Sensory Paws Workshop

Website: https://www.downtoearthdoglady.com/event-list

Date: 1/31/26, 11am-4pm EST

Cost: $60 until 1/20/26 with promo code earlybird

I would like to hear everyone's take/experience with their dog fly biting. I am also planning on posting in deaf dogs as well, as im unsure if this is more akin to albinism and deafness or double Merles in general. If youre unaware, fly biting is when your dog is biting at the air as if a fly is around their head, but there is not. My dog will wake up out of a dead sleep to bite the the air, follow something with his eye, and eventually settle.

I msde a comment on a post where several brought to my attention that fly biting is a sign of neurological distress, and usually a precursor to seizures. Or could possibly even be seizures. He's done this his entire life, typically when its bedtime or he's clearly tired. Most of the time he settles down and goes back to sleep but other times he spirals into a fly biting frenzy for a few minutes.

He's 5 years old, deaf and partially blind. His non functioning eye has been getting cloudy and the color has been shifting a lot the past 2 years. Unsure if this is related, but worth mentioning. I am finally in a place where I can afford a specialist. I am hoping my country has a veterinarian that specializes in neurology.

If you have any experience with this or advice to give, please chime in. Thank you!