'We found out she had (almost) no brain': 6 years after adopting a "normal" mini Australian shepherd, her owners discover her brain cavity is 95% fluid

Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager

Feb 1, 2026 10:00 AM EST

You've heard of dumb dogs before, but you've probably never heard of a dog that's missing 95% of its brain.

Certain dogs are praised for having higher levels of intelligence, but most of them come far from being the next Einstein.

Most people don't get a dog for its intelligence. They get one because it's a friendly, fuzzy, loving canine companion that will basically just do whatever you want to do and cuddle with you at home. Sure, you can teach dogs incredible things, like how to get you something from the fridge, or even how to communicate using buttons. And as impressive as that is, they don't need any of those skills in order to be a dog. Dogs rely heavily on instinctual actions to keep themselves alive.

Their instincts not only keep them alive, but also happy. Finding a trail that leads to a tasty morsel of food, chasing after moving objects, and licking as a self-soothing act are all things that dogs don't have to learn, they are born with these skills. And it turns out that's basically all they need to live a good life, as is taught by our mini Australian shepherd that was adopted with 95% of her brain missing.

She lived a completely normal life, even had a litter of puppies, until one day, she had a seizure. They took her to the vet to do a scan, and it revealed that her brain was mostly empty! Well, technically, it's mostly fluid, but she only had 5% of her brain as compared to a normal dog.

Her story teaches us that, in some cases, you don't have to be a genius to be happy. Sometimes, all you need is to be surrounded by love and a home to rest your head. It also teaches us that dogs can survive with very little brain, which gives us hope for some of our seemingly-brainless coworkers.

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The first scan doesn't really make sense until you see the second one, which shows a “normal dog's” brain. Then, when you look back at the first scan, you realize that all that white space is just… empty. Which is actually hilarious, if you think about it. She survived on pure instinct and lived a great, happy life.
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Dogs with blue eyes always kind of look like they don't have much going on up there, but this girl really didn't have gears to turn in her thought-noggin. It's a miracle that she was able to do all the things she did!
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