Hey. One of my dogs Holly had to go to the vet Friday. We found out she is going blind. She was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this year and almost all diabetic dogs go blind so we knew it was inevitable. I work with dogs so I know a bit about dealing with blind dogs, since we have a few from time to time at my work. But I was wondering if anyone had any personal experience tips on dealing with a dog in the process of going blind and trying to make it easier for her to navigate.
Sorry to hear. ? I saw a video where a blind dog had a “therapy dog” and was attached to the blind dog and walked her around.
One of the dogs at my work, Cherry (she was born without eyes, has that with her brother Spud! Unfortunately my other dog Scout is a dųmbass and clumsy as hell. And thank you @Wednesday. It's difficult. She's only 10 and I don't want her quality of life to deteriorate. She's already not fond of the needles for her insulin.
My house has 3 floors. She's tripped down the stairs a few times so far, mostly in the dark. So my family and I have been trying to make sure to keep lights on for her or go up/down the steps with her. The good news is she likes to follow us around anyways, so we already are kind of with her for the most part.
I'm sorry to hear that! Our family dog was a schnauzer and they tend to have problems with their eyes. He didn't start going blind until he was around 14 or so, by that time he was very familiar with the house so he managed really well. It was quite gradual for him but i think making sure you don't rearrange your furniture so they don't get confused, and of course lots of love ?
My parents used to keep baby gates/baby play pen type things around for when any of our cats or dogs got pregnant. A newborn puppy isn’t quite the same, but you can keep the same sort of idea. If you haven’t tried already, you can possibly put up a baby gate or something at the steps so your dog won’t hurt herself by accident on the stairs. You can just keep them up at night or while no one is home since that’s when it could lead to the most injuries since no one is there to help?
Oh yeah furniture rearrangement. I didn't think of that. We don't do it often but I'll be sure to advise against it if my mom decides to go on a rearrangement spree. Holly's a black lab / husky mix we believe.
That's a good idea. She sleeps in my bedroom with me and I keep the door closed so at night isn't too much an issue, but home alone would definitely be concerning. I feel bad restricting where she can go while home alone but that's less important than if she were to hurt herself and no one be around for a while.
She's so cute ? I think because certain eye problems can be gradual that it gives them time to adjust to their conditions as well. My grandma had a dog that was born with slight eye issues and he just walked slower, he would bump into things sometimes but dogs are just so happy, they brush it off so easily. I agree with Warmth though, the baby gates would be a good idea!
She said diabetes, not fat. You don’t have to be fat to get diabetes. If it were that simple the vet would've just recommended a diet and people and their dogs wouldn't be in this position...
i've never had a blind dog before, so i don't really know what you're going through but i still feel bad for both your family and the dog. maybe teach her how to read brail maybe crate training the dog would be a good idea, that way when there's no one home she's safe. there's pretty big crates, so she could have a bunch of room to move around how she wants and stuff. also, apparently placing rugs and mats in front of areas to signal a change in scenery is a good idea. like a shaggy rug if she's about to go up or down the stairs, a rubber mat if she's about to enter the kitchen, idk.
I had a Boston Great Dane who went blind with age and could only see shadows. This made him scared and really timid, I hate to say but he had eventually bit someone who had snuck up on him. Basically please just make sure you guide him through it as best you can, speak before you or anyone else approaches your pup. Don’t assume stomping your feet or being really loud will alert them as it’ll most likely just frighten them, they rely on the comfort of a familiar voice when they can’t see a familiar face.