Help me help my blind dog

**Spirit Deer** · 02-21-2009, 10:10 AM

Anyone have any good ideas what to do for our doggy? She has glaucoma and has been losing her sight for several years now. Over the past month or so, the degradation in her eyesight seems to have accelerated rapidly. We think her vision is almost totally gone now. She's adjusting slowly.

We're trying to keep things picked up and not change the location of anything to help her keep from bumping things.

She has a ramp outside and has learned to be slow and careful on the steps.

We're trying to think of other ways we can help her navigate better and with more confidence. Any suggestions?

**3LittleMonkeys** · 02-21-2009, 10:37 AM

We had an Alaskan Malamute named Dreamy who became blind about 5 years before she passed away.

We didn't really do anything different. She would go outside to go potty and she knew to walk to the edge of the patio and out into the grass. Then would make her way back to the door.

Now sometimes in the house she would get herself cornered and had problems getting out of it. Which when you have a 125 blind dog trying to find out her way out, things got knocked over. LOL

The only problem she had was with snow. She couldn't tell where the patio was and the grass was. So she would end up going potty in the snow on the patio.

She was a really good dog. I miss her terribly.

**nancycg56** · 02-21-2009, 10:39 AM

My golden was going blind but wasn't quite there yet when she died so I can't be much help.

I did a quick search and came up with these sites that might have some good ideas:

http://www.school-for-champions.com/..._blind_dog.htm
http://www.blinddogs.com/sitemap.htm

**Milly** · 02-21-2009, 10:46 AM

This may not apply to your situation, but my DD is a Vet Tech and had this to say.

"Dogs are very smart and very competant, but they're not people. Especially if her eyesight has diminished slowly, she has NO idea that anything has changed and doesn't feel bad about it as a human would. Many people treat their infirm dogs with excessive sympathy, which confuses the dog because they can't figure out what's supposed to be wrong.

Leaving the household furnishings in the same position is the most important thing you can do. She'll memorize her way around and be able to navigate pretty well. Try not to use highly perfumed cleaners on floors or carpets. 'Sniff' trails are important to her ability to get around.

Speaking of scent, dogs use that more than vision, anyway. Be sure to take her on long sniffy walks so she can still read the doggie news."

Good luck.

**Patty A** · 02-21-2009, 10:50 AM

There are eye drops that will help with glaucoma in dogs just like they do people, I have it and use drops....
Here is a great site with some information on it.
http://www.animaleyecare.net/diseases/glaucoma.htm

And here is one with some holistic treatment help.
http://www.holisticpetinfo.com/condi...s_glaucoma.htm

Hope these help in some small way, and I think your doing an awesome job in trying to make things easier for her to get around and be able to adjust to not being able to see.

**Debbie-cat** · 02-21-2009, 11:03 AM

I don't have any suggestions SpiritDeer but my heart goes out to your dog. Good luck and give her lots of loving.

**Spirit Deer** · 02-21-2009, 11:08 AM

Ours is a really good dog, too. She is a Malamute cross, we think. She only weighs about fifty pounds but she gets it in her head that her way is the correct way, so is stubborn about moving the right direction when we try to guide her.

She starts to shake badly when she gets herself cornered. I think she's just so scared and confused because she doesn't understand why things aren't where she thinks they are.

She gets five different meds a day and is under the care of an ophthomalogist. Everything that can be done for her medically has been. It's just a progressive disease that is finally winning the battle we've been waging the past few years.

Now why didn't I think to Google for this problem? Thanks, Nancy! Even if reading the stories did make me a big, sloppy, weepy mess! But they're very encouraging, too.

**nancycg56** · 02-21-2009, 11:17 AM

Give that doggie of yours a big hug from me and Zippy!

**Spirit Deer** · 02-21-2009, 11:25 AM

Sparky before the onset of her vision problems.

**Debbie-cat** · 02-21-2009, 11:26 AM

Awwwww, she is beautiful!!!

**Michelle68** · 02-21-2009, 11:26 AM

I have a patient who has a little yorkie who is blind. At first I didn't even realize he was blind because he seems to get around the house so well. If you start watching him, though, you realize that he's sniffing his way around things and you can tell that he takes it a bit slower than the other dogs in the house. The patient told me that he has been blind for a couple of years, but he has really compensated well with his sense of smell. The others have given some great suggestions and links. Give your dog a big hug and a kiss for me, she's just beautiful. This must be really difficult for you to watch as yours becomes accustomed to dealing with her blindness.

**baxjul** · 02-21-2009, 12:17 PM

I had a cocker spaniel that had both eyes removed because of glaucoma. If you didn't know it, you never would have known she was blind.

I used to show her around when we would move something, and she adapted. She even used to chase the cat!

**madhen** · 02-21-2009, 12:18 PM

I think what you are doing is the best approach. Keep her area clear of obstacles and don't move stuff around too much. Most dogs adjust very well to being blind. I have a good friend who adopted two blind Chows, and you'd never knew that they have a problem when they are in a familiar setting. They run and play and basically just act like dogs.

**tbs727** · 02-21-2009, 12:21 PM

I wonder if it would help to leave a certain scent by the door so that she could always sniff herself to freedom when she gets cornered. Maybe sprinkle some garlic along the door way. Each time she goes out, she would smell it and connect it to "outside". I don't know that it would help, but it probably wouldn't hurt.

Your pup is beautiful. I hope she adjusts quickly and goes on to live a long life.

**Spirit Deer** · 02-21-2009, 04:57 PM

I've been thinking along those lines, Tiffany, but can't come up with what scent to use. It can't be anything that diffuses through the whole room or it won't help her, and it can't smell like food or it'd just confuse all of them, and it has to be something dogs aren't repelled by and I'm not sure what that would be. I'm still thinking on it.

She has dog doors and can get in and out okay by herself, so that helps. I think the rubber on the doors probably has a smell, and unfortunately she probably feels or smells the cold air that comes in around the doors, too.

I have two really large pieces of that rubber non-slip stuff for under area rugs and I'm starting to think that would work pretty well to make trails for her. It would have a distinctive smell but nothing that would smell all over the house, is non-slip, is easily cut, easily washed, cheap (I paid $4 for the two pieces and I think they're something like 12x16), should be reasonably durable, should stay in place fairly well till the cats start playing with it, and has a texture and sound that would be different than the hard floors. I thought of this the other day when we moved a six-foot rug from in front of our couch. It got shaken out but not replaced for a few hours, and Sparky seemed really confused. It took us a couple of hours to figure it out, but I finally realized the rug was a 'marker' for her. Her claws don't click on the floor when she walks on it, and no doubt it has a smell that's different from the hard floor, plus it feels different on her paws. The rug leads into the bedroom and she must have been looking for the rug to give her some guidance. Once we put the rug back in its place, she was fine. So we're going to have to be really careful about moving things even if it's not something she would run into, and try to be more aware of how she uses stuff like that to find her way around.

I guess we have some adjusting to do too.