Tips/ideas for helping a blind dog

[kuhio98]

A friend of mine put bells on the laces of all her shoes so that her dog could hear her coming.

[jessewills]

A friend of mine put bells on the laces of all her shoes so that her dog could hear her coming.

Dogs have their own intelligence patterns to perceive coming of their masters, so maybe that don't actually need those laces. Dogs react to blindness differently. Some owners witness severe depression in their dogs. Some owners report aggressive behavior changes. And yet, other owners report that they never even suspected that their dogs went blind because nothing changed. Some dogs remain totally unfazed by the situation. As with humans, dogs may utilize a variety of behaviors to help them cope with vision loss. They may utilize more than one behavior at a time, and they may switch back and forth between behaviors. Typical behaviors a dog may display include depression, fear, aggression, and dependence. Since a dog cannot understand what is happening, and since we cannot communicate that to him, we can only surmise what is going through the dog’s mind. One animal behaviorist believes that animals perceive physical ailments akin to being attacked by another animal.Do not allow your dog to become dependent upon you. Once coddling stops, and training new skills begins, your dog can regain confidence in himself and the world around him. As you progress further into the training program, you will learn how to better deal with this issue.

[Karen]

I brought this up on the radio show, and the vet said not to worry too much - Buddy likely doesn't feel as bad as you do when he bumps into things. Just don't move furniture around often, or leave a box in an unexpected place ...

She has a dog that has been completely blind for more than three years, and still will take advantage of an improperly latched gate and take a jaunt around town - which usually ends with the doc finding her in the assistant sheriff's back yard, usually when he isn't home, thank goodness!

[lolli94]

She has a dog that has been completely blind for more than three years, and still will take advantage of an improperly latched gate and take a jaunt around town - which usually ends with the doc finding her in the assistant sheriff's back yard, usually when he isn't home, thank goodness!

Yeah...I have no doubt that if I would forget his Invisible Fence collar again, he would not hesitate to take off. Silly boy