Blind as a . . . dachshund?

[Doxherding Karen]

Raymond Coppinger wrote in his book Dogs: A New Understanding about his own dogs who were unable to recognize him driving up his driveway in his own car.  It wasn't until he rolled down the window and the dogs standing with paws on the car door saw his face, that they would kind of saunter off as if to say, "Oh, hiya, boss, sorry, didn't see it was you."

Today Roscoe and I were riding shotgun in my daughter Miriam's van.  We stopped to pick up Ashira at day care.  When Miriam walked up the sidewalk to my side of the van, Roscoe went into full blown alarm bark, baring his fangs and lunging at the window.  When I rolled the window down and Miriam yelled at him to get a grip, because she owned the vehicle, he stopped and looked downright sheepish.  She loaded Ashira into the seat behind me, closed the sliding door and walked around the front of the van to the driver's door.  He didn't make a peep, he just turned and smiled at me as if to say, "O.K., we're all loaded, where to now?"

I think it's good to remember that doxies are, after all is said and done, still hounds, and they depend on smell far more than sight.  Either that or Roscoe gets glasses!

Karen

[Valerie]

That is so true!  Sometimes Cookie will see me in the outside, but not get excited until she sniffs my leg.  Her sense of smell is remarkable, but her eyesight is only marginal- she seems to only detect motion. 

Good example:
Tonight, I came home from work while my DH and Cookie were out for a walk, and my DH said they walked past my car in the parking lot.  He said that Cookie sniffed the car very carefully then sniffed all around the car, then put her nose to the ground to follow my trail.  Interestingly, I took a different sidewalk than I normally take and my DH said that she took that one too.   When she saw me at the door she was soooo excited that she tracked me down!  Of course, she had to sniff my leg to double check it was me. LOL

I have said half joking to my DH, if I ever go missing, please send Cookie after me- I think she would be our best bet to find me.

[David C.]

The first few times that I came in from riding my bike, the Zs would come at me barking and snarling.   I had my helmet, goggles, gloves, etc. on and lord knows what I must have smelled like to them.   Even when I extended my hand to them, they still barked.  It wasn't until I took my helmet off and started talking that they calmed down.   They were kind of like "Oh, we knew it was you all along, we were just playing". after that.

[Marcia from MI]

The first thing Eddie does when I come home is sniff me.  Sam just looks.  But when I get my hair cut or colored(yes I'm gray) it takes a few minutes for the boys to recognize me. 

[Kari]

LOL - so Penny is a horrible tracker!! There will be a treat on the ground and it takes her FOREVER to find it. It's very amusing since she is a "hound" dog. She also sucks at catching stuff. You can toss her a treat straight on and it will bonk her in the nose or the head! Oh Well...we love her anyway!

[Leslie]

Yeah, but I betcha Rosco could stick his snoot in the wind and announce: "Chikken BBQ and yellow corn being cooked on a charcoal grill by a man who bathes with Irish Spring soap, who owns a female unspayed cat, and is drinking a 12.5 oz can of Black and Tan beer (the man, not the cat) located 5 miles south by southwest, wind speed 11.5 mph."   :thumb:

Or at least, that's what Loki sez.

[Doxherding Karen]

LOL - so Penny is a horrible tracker!!  She also sucks at catching stuff. You can toss her a treat straight on and it will bonk her in the nose or the head! Oh Well...we love her anyway!

I used to play a game with Guinness and Cooper, the late, great border collie/lab mix, who had phenomenal eyesight.  I'd toss a treat in the air and say, "Retriever" and Cooper would catch it 99% of the time.  :apls:

Then I'd take another treat and drop it directly onto Guinness' snout and say, "Non-retriever" and it would hit his nose and fall to the floor where he would sniff it out and eat it! 

[auntydoxzz]

As my Twinkie angel got older and her sight and hearing were both going, it amazed me that she still had to have had a really fantastic nose to smell with(i admit she had the long greyhound type nose).  Early the same week I lost her, I remember we had gone to bed, and we played her favorite game.    I used to get these little kibble type treats from Petco.  They were I think red, and sugar cookie colored and they literally smelled like fresh baked sugar cookies.  Those were a favorite treat for her.  She would go by her fleece blankie on the bed, and sit there will i would hide some of those treats in and around the blankie!!She would root out every one of them very quickly.  If they were some how tangled in the fleece she would stick her head under the fleece and toss it in the air and then snarf up the treats that fell onto the bed!! It really cracked me up when that fleece would go flying.  But usually she would just sit there and snif and head right for each treat!! She could see probably well enough to see movement near her, but not necessarily what it was.

A former coworker recently sent me pics  of a new baby doxie someone in his family is getting.  Those pics are so precious!!

Auntydoxzz