International Blind Dog Day

This year, on August 23, we're supporting the first ever International Blind Dog Day. International Blind Dog Day is an event that brings together the owners of blind dogs from across the world, to celebrate the amazing things that blind dogs can do.

RSPCA Derby currently have three seven-week-old blind puppies in their care. We catch up with Sadie Brice, supporter engagement officer at the centre, to see how the puppies are getting along.

Meet the puppies

The three puppies are Angel, Leo and Lexie. They have all been blind from birth, as they were bred by crossing two merle type dogs, which can often lead to complications such as loss of sight.

Despite this, they still enjoy playing and they're able to quickly adapt to new environments, learning their way around using their other senses. And they have no trouble sniffing out their food!

Sadie tells us:

They are still quite young, so like most puppies of their age they wobble around quite a bit finding their feet - but they do like to play and have a good roughhouse together!

Lexie

Lexie is the most confident of the three pups, she looks out for the other two, and will check to see if they're okay. She struts round the playpen, and she loves to wrestle with her brother

Leo

Leo is a very well behaved boy, he can sometimes be quite boisterous and funny.

Sadie tells us about how he loves to play while sat on her lap:

I'll play spiders with him, which is a little game that I play with all the dogs. I pretend my hand is a spider and tickle him with it - he gets all silly!

Angel

Angel is the more sensitive of the three puppies. She's not as interested in wrestling as the other two, and she loves to be cuddled up with her siblings. She's the one who will always be in the middle when the three puppies curl up to sleep together.

Touch is incredibly important to Angel - we think she may have some hearing issues too - and she likes to always be able to feel out where her carers and her siblings are.

Next steps

Life will of course be a little different for the three puppies, and their new owners will need to help them adjust to their surroundings. But their condition won't hold them back from having normal playful, happy, fulfilling lives. Blind dogs can adapt really well, especially as unlike humans, sight isn't a dog's primary sense - they have an incredible sense of smell that they use to find out about the world around them.

Are you interested in adopting?

Happily, Lexi, Leo and Angel have gone on to loving foster homes, and their new owners plan to adopt.

We have so many animals waiting to be rehomed, each of them unique in their own special way. If you're interested in giving a rescued animal a second chance, check out the animals in our care who are still looking for homes.

And if you want to take part in International Blind Dog Day, or you want to see how others are taking part, check out #InternationalBlindDogDay on twitter and instragram.