deafness in blue eyed dogs?

[ilovemybasset]

hi im thinking about buying a basset pup but it has blue eyes. i know it isnt part of the breed specification but im not bothered about that. what concerns me is that i have been told that blue eyed dogs are deaf. is this true? please help

[bernicesmama]

There must be a lot of blind australian shepherds then! lol

I am not an expert but i have found many dogs with blue eyes hear very well. Now, it may be selective hearing but they do hear. I don't know the corrolation between bassets and blue eyes though I am sure you will get a wealth of info here. welcome to the forum!

[sheplovr]

Well, u can test if for deafness for sure. Like sneaking up on it see if it hears u coming and turns to look, many tests or ways u can tell if deaf before paying for it.
Personally I never heard of this and in horses a horse with a blue eye will never go blind in that eye I was told many times. Never had one to know though.
Have sombody go along and try things to see if it hears u. Get a warranty on this also. The breeder should know about this, ask questions, many of them.

[ilovemybasset]

from what im told it is something to do with the pigment, well lack of. that pigment is also what the hairs in the dogs ears are made from. prehaps it is if they have one blue eye. thought i would try and get more info on it before i go and see the breeder as we have got to travel about 300 mile to get there

[GermanShepherds]

well Sid has blue eyes...and although she has her moments, she listens and hears me.
So I would have to disagree on the whole, all dogs with blue eyes are deaf.

[ilovemybasset]

thanks for that

[Moo]

Originally Posted by ilovemybasset

from what im told it is something to do with the pigment, well lack of. that pigment is also what the hairs in the dogs ears are made from. prehaps it is if they have one blue eye. thought i would try and get more info on it before i go and see the breeder as we have got to travel about 300 mile to get there

That is right.

It is not that "dogs with blue eyes are deaf". It's dogs that are missing pigment that can be deaf.

If HeartSong was around, she would be able to tell you much about it. An albino of any breed, for instance, has a high likelyhood of being deaf. Since the eyes are blue, and not naturally blue, it is because they are missing pigment- another indication is if they are dominantly and abnormally white. Thus their internal ear hairs may be missing pigment, therefore having hearing problems.

[ilovemybasset]

so because they do have lack of pigment for there eyes to be blue do they suffer from any health problems that a dog with brown eyes doesnt?