Hi all,

While attempting to summit (and failing, but that's another story) the highest mountain in the lower 48 states, a guy came walking up with a german shepherd wearing goggles. We were all camped at 12,000 feet.

He said some dogs are more prone to eye damage at higher altitudes.  Said german shepherds and huskies especially.

I hope to do a lot of backpacking with one or both of our dogs so I thought I'd ask here what people knew/ thought about it.  My eyes are very sensitive to light so I'm always wearing sunglasses.  Seems natural to me for dogs to wear them.


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Since I'm blue eyed and before cataract surgery was very near sighted - both conditions that exacerbate the "brightness" of sunshine (or light in general) - I often wondered why the Nordic peoples generally have blue eyes.

Take the following aside with a *big* grain of salt.  The Celts are said to have originated in north eastern Europe and migrated west eventually to western Europe the the Welsh Isles ( ) Said migration took thousands of years and the Celts left their genes all across northern Europe.  Which explains why so much of northern Europe is fair skinned and blue eyed, doesn't it???

The genetic reason for the fair skin is for the increased creation of vitamin D (created by the body in response to sunlight) which allowed them to fare better in the northern climes than the darker skinned peoples who inhabited the Mediterranean coasts.

End of non-sense aside.  There is nothing in the above that should apply to our dogs ... so why some breeds sport blue eyes in a higher percentage than other breeds?  I'll let Haaretz provide a non-answer to that.

To return more directly to your question.  According to Powell Vet Services in Kersey, Col dogs are susceptible to Pannus (about half way down that last link) resulting from the decreased air pressure and sunlight at above 20,000 feet.  According to a related article in Science Daily suggest that a decrease in oxygen may also cause corneal pressure to increase (makes sense to me)

But all that nonsense aside, goggles aren't going to affect either the pressure or the amount of available oxygen so I can't see that as a factor for the dog to wear goggles.  I, honestly, see nothing that indicates that the brightness of the sunlight itself might be a problem for the dog ... mine wander around the desert (bright sun, light coloured sand) and seem to accept it in stride.

And I apologize, you toggled my "Curious" switch ....

Good info. I have light eyes also so who knows. Maybe I'm part husky?

The articles I read were that it had to do with UV. I would think the fact that huskies are (assuming here) genetically built to run on snow, the light would be less of an issue. Lots of reflections off that snow.

I can tell you the brand of goggles here are RexSpecs, they have a lot of information on their website but with that they are trying to sell a product. I have them for my pup as we like to go kayaking and the sun can get pretty intense from reflecting off the water.

We have a pair of RexSpecs that we use on Murdock when we’re mushing and hiking or at the dog park but it’s because he’s blind with open sockets so we don’t want foreign objects getting in them. I see a lot of people using them for other reason, such as the one you listed.

ran into a husky on the mountain this weekend with them, i have been hiking high alpine with jack for over 9yrs and his eyes are fine so i am not worried about it.
they do make the pup look pretty cool.