Living With a Blind Dog
 

Of course the first few months were the most difficult. Tyler was lost and confused, and we didn't exactly know how to help him. At the time I couldn't find any help or resource material.

Learning to vocalize to him has been the most important thing. A couple examples would be:

bulletWATCH - When he goes to bump into something it makes him stop and veer away.
bulletSTEP - He knows he's at the steps and starts feeling and smelling for them.
bulletJUMP - He knows it's ok to jump off the couch or when he's at the top step.

We've also found throw rugs and mats help him. He feels them with his feet. We have his bowls on a welcome mat and rugs leading to the front door. When he gets disoriented he goes to the rugs and starts over again.

There are days when he gets confused and loses his confidence. The worst thing you can do is pamper and baby them (I know it's hard not too!) If you start carrying them around or bringing things to them, you'll be doing it permanently. Every time Tyler does something right-no matter how small- he gets a GOOD BOY! He gets VERY excited! You can see how proud he is of himself.

Just recently we realized Tyler has been trying to give us clues on how to help him. We noticed when the TV is off in the living room-he circles back and forth-confused. He'll stand there as if waiting-listening. Turn the TV on , he has NO PROBLEMS!

To help Tyler find his treats (which is VERY important to him) we sometimes have to pound on the floor to help him zero in on it. However we normally don't have to do this often, since he went blind his nose has become a bionic one. I call him my six million dollar baby, looking at my vet bills that's not far from the truth.

We also have found out routines are important to him-even minor ones (we think-but what do we know). Usually Tyler zooms out the door first ahead of you and down the steps. One day he went out first-but got busy smelling something on the porch. He "followed" down the steps and ended up falling off the steps edge. Changing his step routine either threw his timing off or he tried to hurry to catch up.

There are really only a few things I can think of that Tyler doesn't do anymore.

bulletTyler still loves to walk. He will drag you along for hours if you let him.
bulletTyler still loves to sit on the porch and in the yard and smell for rabbit tracks.
bulletTyler still loves to ride in the car. Somehow he also knows when he's going to the vets-he starts getting upset miles from his office.
bulletTyler still is a great watchdog-however now he sometimes barks in the wrong direction.
bulletTyler still loves to play

I could keep going on and on. The bottom line- Tyler is still the same as he always was. He just had to find his way of adjusting to his blindness. In all honestly, it was harder for us to deal with it than it was for him.

The most important thing to do is try to treat them as normal as possible. Coax, encourage, praise and expect them to do almost everything they did before. Some things they won't be able to do again, while other things they maybe able to still do, only in a different way and YES you may also find there are NEW things they will be able to do. If you keep in mind a blind dog depends on their sense of smell, hearing and touch (and that these senses become even keener) you will be able to help your dog even more.

To see new pictures of my happy boy click here Tyler

For support and information on living with a blind or visually impaired dog I invite you to join the Blinddog email list. It is a wonderful group of people that have a vast amount of experiences. For information on joining please visit the Owners of Blinddogs Site I own both the site and the Blinddog email list so if you have any questions or problems joining just let me know.

Click here if you would like to know more about the Blind Dog Fund

 

 

The following pages have moved to the Owners of Blind Dogs site
 

The following page has moved to the Pet-Diabetes site:

cajones_2000@yahoo.com
Last Date Updated 2/14/2000