my 10 year old dog is losing her eyesite,she can see a little bit I think, but not that much. I want to be able to train her in some way to help her not be scared to walk around the house. She doesn’t like it when people walk past her cause it scares her. any suggestions?
I have a book called, Living with Blind Dogs, a resource book and training guide for the owners of blind & low vision dogs. It’s by Caroline D. Levin R.N.
You will need to come up with a phrase for your dog. Something you always say to the dog. Like: “My friend is walking by” Practice with family members, but only use this phrase so that she learns it. Say it to her as you walk by and give her a favorite treat.
My mums last dog went blind really quickly too when she lost her sight. She went blind at 10 years old and lived until she was 18, so even after her blindness she lived for another great 8 years before we finally had to get her put down.
Things we found to help her was this:
Firstly, don’t ever let the dog off a lead when you walk it.
You can teach it up and down to go up and down steps and bumps in the road or paths when you are walking it, just tug lightly on the lead upwards for up too, they learn this pretty quickly.
In your house -always- keep everything in the same spot, always. As soon as you move something your dog will walk in to it but they will get to know the layout if you do not change it.
Always put chairs IN under the table when you are not sitting on them. It’s a great way for your dog to learn when the chair is in and when it is out (if they pick up your scent nearby the chair is out, otherwise it is in and the dog wont walk in to it).
Something you will probably find you will do naturally anyway is to say “Uh!” real quickly when see your dogs about to walk in to something, and they’ll pick up on that very quickly too and start to actually stop in their tracks till you can reach them and show them around the obstacle in their way.
Also when you approach the dog especially if it is sleeping, make sure you make a sound of some kind so that it knows who it is approaching.
They can still live a very good life when they are blind, it just takes them time to adjust to it (just as it would for a human!)
Source/
Experience with a blind dog for 8 years.
You may consider getting a white lead, like a white cane it is begging to be a symbol of blind dogs. Never Ever let the dog off lead outside of the house. Keep her on a short lead. The lead is her safety net to you. Ensure that you make sure her ears and clean and that she does not have any ear infections as she is going to need them more than ever now. Dogs do most of their living via scent and familarity. Keep the furnture inside the house in the same place, and ensure that her bowls are always in the same place, etc. You should always ensure that you talk to her before you go near her, as she will not be able to see you. You can put a really small scent that you can’t smell but she can in certain locations, ie. near the back door, so she knows her way outside, near her water bowl, bed, etc. Different scents will help.
In terms of her fear of walking around the house. In time she will adjust, just like people do. What really needs to change is the behaviour of the people in the house. You need to make sure that you keep things on the floor picked up, that the furniture is kept in the same place, that important things to her have different scents placed near them, and that people talk as they are going near her.
There are plenty of websites full of resources and books as well. Google blind dogs and you will be amazed at what you can come up with.
I had a dog that went blind she could not be in the house so we built her a house of her own with a sizable yard so she could have every thing in its place and so she would not be scared. She died when she was 18 years old of old age with her head in my lap she just fell asleep with all of her family around her.
That is a great web site.
Here is a great website with lots of tips:http://blinddog.info/blinddoghelp.htm