ADVICE
Living with a blind dog
Dogs vary in how they react to becoming blind. As a general rule, older, smaller dogs often cope better with blindness than young, large and energetic dogs. However, every dog is different, and many owners are pleasantly surprised at how well their pet copes.
There are many things that you can do as an owner of a blind dog to make their adaptation to blindness easier:
- Most blind dogs will form an excellent mental map of their environment. You can help this by initially restricting their access to a small area of the house and garden until they are comfortable with negotiating it, and then gradually extend this area. This is particularly important if your dog has become suddenly blind or is moved to a new home
- Do not move items of furniture around, and remove potentially hazardous objects that they may bump into
- Leave food and water bowls in the same place
- Leave the TV or radio on when your dog is left alone (these act as an auditory cue to allow them to orientate themselves within the house)
- Place scent or tactile clues to aid orientation around the house (e.g. place mats at the entrances to rooms – they will learn to feel these under their feet so that they know where they are)
- Use positive reinforcement to increase their confidence.