Living with a Blind Dog

Training is an essential part of living with a blind dog as it also helps alleviate fear, dependency and depression. In fact with proper training living with a blind dog will become much safer and easier enabling the blind dog to participate better in everyday activities with its owner. For those who have a blind dog as a family pet, they should remember not to move furniture around or leave any obstacles on the floor as the dog trains itself to know the positions of various materials and furniture in the house and any movement or rearrangement of the same will confuse the dog causing it to walk into things and even injure itself. While conducting blind dog training one should remember to emphasize on the other senses of the dog such as smell, hearing, touch and taste as blind dogs are known to feel vibrations caused by the movement of a person. In some cases, when living with a blind dog, meeting new people may be a fearful experience that may even result in biting if not addressed with correct blind dog training. In such cases one should allow the dog to smell the hand of the person before allowing that person to touch the dog so that they are conformable and the dog does not bite out of fear.

One can help a dog identify different rooms or different areas in the house by probably placing different scented candles in different rooms of the house or even hang an air freshener or a pot pourri sachet at the door enabling the dog to distinguish one fragrance from the other and hence correctly judging which part of the house it is in. While living with a blind dog, owners should try and keep landmarks in the house pertaining to some daily objects such as the dog’s water or food bowl or even the place where the dog’s toys have been kept. The owner should help the blind dog to feel connected via daily interactions with them through short verbal cues. The owners voice will not only guide the dog but will also reassure it. One should remember to always return objects to their original place or position because if a blind dog accidentally bumps into them, as it may disorient the dog and also lead to fearfulness or anxiety in the dog. Sometimes the dog may get distressed as it is not able to locate its owner; to prevent this owner should always wear a familiar scent