In this article, we will be taking a look at how to care for a blind dog. Taking on a dog can be a pretty large challenge, especially if you are a first-time dog owner. Taking on a blind dog can be a massive challenge but there are dog owners out there who choose to do it. Blindness can also be a relatively common problem in senior dogs too.
Our hope with this article is that we are able to offer as much help and advice as possible to anyone in either of the situations above. The methods we will share in this article have been tried and tested by a large number of blind dog owners the world over and we will try to share a video on as many tips as possible.
How To Care For A Blind Dog
Some of these tips will only be applicable if you are getting a dog from a young age if you have a senior dog that either is or is starting to go blind then some tips may not apply to you or maybe harder to implement.
Toys For Blind Dogs
Many dogs enjoy playing fetch with a ball. Unfortunately, this becomes much more difficult with a blind dog, that said, a blind dog still has options.
A scented dog ball can be the perfect toy as they give off a strong scent that dogs find appealing. As dogs have a much stronger scent of smell than humans, they will usually be able to make their way to the ball before bringing it back to you.
You will have to check the play zone over to reduce and possible hazards to your dog due to it being unable to see them itself. Once removed, you can play fetch with your dog to your heart’s content.
As a blind dog is unable to see any potential threats or danger coming its way, it is important to teach some basic safety commands. These will allow you to get your dog under control in an attempt to make the situation as safe as possible as quickly as possible. The most common one is a variation on “sit” or “stop”.
The goal is to get your dog to either sit or stop what it is doing as soon as you give the command. This will often render the situation safe and prevent your dog from moving into danger. Although not the main focus of the article, you can adapt our how to get your dog to come when called article to getting it to sit if you like.
Keeping Your Blind Dog Social
One often overlooks yet very simple task is to get a collar with a bell on it for your other pets in the house. This is cheap, quick, and easy to do yet can help keep your dog social as it is able to hear where the other pets or its other friends are in the house as the walk around.
Sound Is Soothing
As your pet does not have the use of its eyes, sound is usually its most used sense. If you have to leave your blind dog alone then leaving the television or radio on at a lower volume can be soothing to your dog. Just try to find something with lots of discussion and people talking rather than music that can get high tempo.