Speedy1

Thanks for the replies. We'll definately have the pup Baer tested. By the way, the pup with two blue eyes is very active and "spunky" and is not the "suspected deaf" pup. Our "suspected" deaf pup does however have one blue eye and one brown eye, and as I mentioned before is white from stomach to head. She's the "oddball" of the litter because the rest of the pups have the "typical" black & white markings. Neither parent is merled, both are black & white. There are no future plans to breed these dogs again because Tass will be spayed once the pups are weaned. If this pup is deaf, we're considering keeping her, and naturally will spay her also. We've already started to so some reseach on living/dealing with a deaf dog and realize this will be a new challenge. We spend A LOT of time with our dogs and think we're up to the challenge. But any advise from the board would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again! Debbie

First of all I'd like to say that I'm new to this board and have found this to be a GREAT place to get help with our border collie "concerns." We have three sweet & wonderful BCs: 4-year old Gunner; 4-year old Tass and 1-year old Otis. Four weeks ago Tass had 9 beautiful black & white BC pups - they are the source of our concerns. In this litter we have one female with two blue eyes, and one male and one female with one blue and one brown eye each. Is it rare to have a BC puppy with 2 blue eyes? And....we think one of our pups might be deaf, either that or she's a "deep-sleeper." When we enter the dog pen, all the puppies are usually asleep until they hear the gate open. At that point they all wake up and start jumping around - all expect one pup. She usually doesn't wake up until one of the other pups jumps on her. Maybe this isn't a good thing, but we've tried clapping near her to try and startle her, but that doesn't work either. In the past, I read (or was told) that if a dog's upper body is pure white there is a greater chance it could be deaf. The coloring of this pup is white from stomach to head and black from stomach to tail. There is just a bit of black speckled on her ears. Does color really have anything to do with deafness, and how old does a puppy have to be before it can be tested for deafness? Thanks for all your help!!