Training a dog can be a fairly straightforward process, but what about when they lose their sight? Dogs can lose vision due to disease or old age, and certain breeds and genders are more susceptible to blindness. If your dog loses vision, never fear. Since dogs rely heavily on other senses besides just their sight, there are still a lot of options at your disposal. Read on for ideas that have worked for others.
Meg Marrs is the founder of Safer Senior Care, a website dedicated to helping caregivers find the best resources for elderly friends and relatives to allow them to age in place safely and comfortably.
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Use other senses
Growing up we always had dogs, and now I live with my own pup, Remy. One of our dogs lost his sight as he got older, and we used his other senses to help with training him. Here are a few techniques we used:
1. Scents
Often blind dogs can feel disoriented and unsure of where they are. An easy way to let them know where they are is by placing a different scented candle in each room. Always keep to the same candle for the room as they will become accustomed to the scent, and never light the candle.
2. Touch
Adding rough-textured mats to the top of the steps or stairs will help your dog recognize the hazard. When you introduce the methods, it is good to do so with your dog on a leash and use the command “step.” The dog will become familiar with the texture meaning there is a step in the home, and the voice command can be used to alert the dog of a hazard when outside.
3. Noise
Calling a blind dog to you can be stressful for both you and the dog as they can lose your position after you call their name. The best way to call a blind dog to you is to call their name and continually click your fingers until they locate you.
Daniel Caughill is a professional journalist, marketer, and one of the co-founders of The Dog Tale.
A treat
Many aspects of training a dog are auditory, not visual, so training a blind dog doesn’t need to be that different. Make the pup aware that a treat is available by having them smell it or by wrinkling the treat bag. Once the dog is aware, give your chosen verbal command, such as “Sit!” and help the dog sit by gently pushing their rear end toward the floor. The instant they touch the floor, give them the treat and praise them liberally for a job well done, then repeat.
Caleb Riutta, CEO of Dusk Digital.
Give attention and affection
There are no special training methods for blind dogs. Just do everything as you would with a regular dog. Dogs are very resilient, and they quickly learn how to live with their disability. In the beginning, it might be a little bit difficult, but with time and patience, they will learn to orientate themselves.
Blind dogs need a lot of attention and affection. A blind dog will be calmer in a household where there are many people and where it gets a lot of attention. Blind dogs need more physical contact with their owners and during the training sessions.
Use your usual techniques
Training a blind dog is a little harder than training a sighted dog. After all, your sighted dog responds to your visual cues as well as your audible ones, and dogs are very good at reading body language. Nevertheless, they can be trained. Use your usual techniques, but try to bring in a touch cue instead of a visual one, and teach them your verbal cue much earlier.
For instance, when teaching them to sit, you would usually show your dog a treat then hold it over their head so they’re forced to sit to continue seeing it. You then give the treat as soon as their bum touches the floor to reiterate that it’s the sitting you are rewarding. You don’t bring in the ‘sit’ command until they’re regularly sitting with the hand movement.
With a blind dog, you may need to hold the treat closer to their nose or even in contact with their nose so they know it’s there. Move it up and over their head more slowly than normal, so they can follow it. Once they move into the sit, say ‘sit’ and reward them.
Dr. Joanna Woodnutt, MRCVS works at DoggieDesigner.com.
Danielle Mühlenberg
Danielle Mühlenberg, a dog behaviorist and blogger at pawleaks.com. She has been featured several times on media outlets like Bustle, US News, and Readers Digest.
Use a clicker
You can best train a blind dog by using a clicker that produces a sound that can be easily identified by the dog. Different from your voice, the sound of the clicker always stays consistent. All commands need to be taught with your voice only and luring.
A blind dog should obviously always be kept on a leash outside, and indoors you can prevent him from hurting himself by providing a tool called Halo.
Because your dog has lost one of his senses, the others are much more used. Take advantage of that and use nose games or dummy training as primary exercises.
Teach your dog a command that will let him know that he is about to run into something like “watch” or “careful.” Constant supervision is very important.
You can choose cues for everything that other dogs could normally see such as when you are meeting a friend outside. You can use a command to let your dog know that someone familiar is standing in front of him.
You can even teach your dog to go up or down the stairs on cue. He can also learn the names of all of his toys, furniture, people, and animals.
