How I Helped My Blind Dog To Overcome Her Handicap

When my dog became blind I knew that in order for her to continue to live the normal life she did before she was blind she would need my help.

The veterinarian told me there is no reason a blind dog can’t live a happy normal life because their primary sense is not their eyes and she would now rely more on her sense of smell, and would need my help to rewrite the map of her living space .

I began in our home, to help my dog find her way around again I just walking behind her and would tell her to turn left or right or go straight and I used be careful if she was about to bump into something, she learn that one quickly and began turning away when I would say be careful .In no time she was able to get around the house and find her water and food bowls and her bed, and even find where I was in the house on her own.

The best tool I used in helping my dog map out her world was patience, because if you get upset you will then upset your dog and that will not help either one of you and may take longer to get your dog to get around on their own. Also praise your dog telling them they did a good job, in the eyes of a dog praise will go a long way. Now that my dog is able to find her way around our home and has a mental map of her living space it is important that I don’t change that map in any way, by leaving something in her way or even on the floor that she could trip over and hurt herself or by moving any furniture around or do anything that might confuse her or make her lose that mental map of her living space .

Now it was time to see how she would do outside in the yard, I have a big fenced in yard so I don’t have to worry about her going in the street and getting hit by a car. I had found out earlier that she was able to go up and down the stairs on her own so that was a big step in overcoming her handicap . I put the leash on her and let her lead has we walk around the yard, the leash connects us together she can feel me holding the leash and hear my voice has I tell her when to turn or go straight, using the leash like this is like being able to hold my dog’s hand she feels secure that I’m there guiding her around the yard .I walked her around the yard three times, the fourth time I tried to take her the wrong way she pull me back the right way, she already has the yard mapped out .At that moment I knew she would do fine on her own.

. My  dog just turned 14 and is in good health and  goes  around our  home and yard by herself. Even when I let her out at night she is able to find her way around the yard and find her way back and when she is ready to come in she will scratch on the door. She live a happy and normal  life despite her blindness.  In fact  she does  so well that visitors don’t even know my  dog is blind .