Dog who lost both eyes learns to navigate by scent

A working cocker spaniel who lost both eyes to a painful condition has undergone a remarkable rehabilitation, using his sense of smell to navigate the world almost like a new pair of eyes.

Hero, from Clevedon in North Somerset, became blind in July and initially grew withdrawn and anxious, but scent training has helped him regain confidence and adapt to life without sight.

His owners, Jane Stuart Brown and Rob Grubb, say they are amazed by how he has coped with the life-changing loss.

"He's a superstar. We're so proud, of how he's accepted this situation and he's just getting on with it," said Stuart Brown.

Hero was first diagnosed with glaucoma in January after his owners realised something was wrong on New Year's Eve.

"He was not himself. He was very subdued and was not wanting his food," said Stuart Brown.

They also noticed that Hero's eye was dripping.

"We took him out for a little walk and he walked into our legs," she said.

At Rowe Eye Clinic in Bradley Stoke, Bristol, veterinary ophthalmologist Fergus Cronk confirmed the pressure in Hero's eye was causing him great pain and that removing it offered the best outcome.

He then carried out the operation.

But seven months later, Hero developed the same symptoms in his remaining eye and it too had to be removed.

"We were warned by Fergus, that Hero might not be able to cope. There's a 10% chance, I believe, that dogs can't handle it," said Grubb.

"He was very nervous to start with, you know, we couldn't leave him, if we'd left the room or went out of the house. He was barking an awful lot."

Hero's recovery was helped by scent training with dog trainer Lucy Shipway, who had worked with him since he was a puppy.

The training involves Hero searching for a tiny piece of clove buried in gravel or an oily cloth hidden behind a plant pot.

"We hone-in how to use his nose very specifically, how to work around the environment, to find a particular scent.

"Now that he's lost his eyesight his olfactory gland is being used an awful lot more than any other of his other senses."

Shipway said that when Hero returned after his second operation, she and his owners spent the session in tears.

She described watching him carry out activities he had done before losing his sight, but in a more specific way, as "fantastic to watch".

Glaucoma is an overarching term for a range of different diseases, all of them characterised by high pressure inside the eye, due to a drainage problem.

Cronk said it is a very painful condition that often causes blindness if undetected.

"Among the breeds that are affected by the primary version of the disease, it can have quite a high prevalence, up to 5 or 6% of individual dogs within that breed," he said.

The loss of Hero's second eye initially caused him to "shut down", becoming withdrawn and nervous.

But with Shipway's help he has regained confidence.

Hero's owners are immensely proud of how he has adapted to his situation.

"The other evening, we were relaxing, sitting on the sofa, and something triggered him.

"He went off, found his favourite toy and dropped it in our laps, as if to say 'Thank you, we're all doing our best'," Grubb said.

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