Helping Your Blind Or Visually Impaired Dog Adjust To Home Environment (Part 2)

Visual impairment and blindness are two disabilities we often hear of in people. Just as it may happen to us, it happens in our dogs as well.

Being visually impaired requires various modifications to help make life easier, and here is what you can do for your visually impaired canine companion. Here’s Part 1, in case you missed it.

New Training Techniques

• Because the visual ques will no longer be available for your dog, you can start training them in verbal ques. This includes a lot of verbal praise when they follow instructions well. There are four verbal cues that are important to train into your visually impaired dog, as it can be important for their safety. These are:
  • Stay: so that they wait
  • Stop: which can prevent them from entering a dangerous situation
  • Get back: which teaches them to turn away from a situation
  • Step up/down: which teaches them that there may be an obstacle requiring step

New Products

There are many products for visually impaired dogs which can be useful. You can consider buying them a new ID tag which states that they are visually impaired, in case they get lost. In addition to that, there are various types of safety gear that can be useful for your canine companion. This includes a bell doormat to train to enter or leave a room or even a vest with a buffer on it to avoid unwanted bumps.

Conclusion

Just as we need extra care when visually impaired, we need to provide care for our dogs too. Hazards are an important factor to address and we need to be mindful of the process of adaptation to the new situation. It will not be easy for us and it will take time for our dogs too, so we need to be patient. Thankfully, there are a few ways that make the process easier for all of us!

Feature Image Source: Pixabay