The rescue that we got our beloved Pittie Ms Sophie is trying to get a blind 5 month old Pittie. If they do I agreed to foster it ( secretly hoping he fits right here for his forever home) While I have lots of Pittie experience I have absolutely no experience with blind dogs. Suggestions?? Experiences?? Stories?? Reading material?? ANYTHING PLEASE. It is so hard to get pitties adopted and I can only imagine how hard it will be for one that is blind so I want to be prepared .
You should be able to teach him how to get around your home using a leash. Eventually he will learn through using his other senses how to get around. I have a dog who is blind due to age, what I learned from her is not to rearrange the furniture to often :) I would call and talk to some professional trainers and see what they have to offer. Good luck!
First of all, my name is Sophie, so I find it funny that your dog has the same name. My mother had a maltese that went blind when she was about four years old, due to an eye injury. The best advice I can give is to keep her on a lease with you at all times until she get's used to the house and then, whatever you do, don't rearrange the furniture or leave anything in the walkway. Talk to the dog a lot so that she can get used to your voice and, when she bumps into something and gets startled, just call her name and reassure her. "It's ok baby!" Pet her if you are nearby. If you have any more questions feel free to message me and good luck to you!
Quoting Razzle_Dazzle1:First of all, my name is Sophie, so I find it funny that your dog has the same name. My mother had a maltese that went blind when she was about four years old, due to an eye injury. The best advice I can give is to keep her on a lease with you at all times until she get's used to the house and then, whatever you do, don't rearrange the furniture or leave anything in the walkway. Talk to the dog a lot so that she can get used to your voice and, when she bumps into something and gets startled, just call her name and reassure her. "It's ok baby!" Pet her if you are nearby. If you have any more questions feel free to message me and good luck to you!
I LOVE the name LOL Thanks for your advise. We are now just trying to figure how to get him from Seattle Area to Northern Colorado. Say a prayer for us PLEASE.
Make noise! Not stomping around screaming or anything but talkwhen you're entering a room he's already in so he isn't startled and put bells on any other pets you might have. If you have children make sure they know they MUST talk to him before petting him, it's much easier to startle a blind dog than a sighted one.
ok I have had a blind dog before. he wasn't blind when I got him but eventually went blind. they have no traits of being blind really. you just can't rearrange your furniture. they memorize it. if you do it will take them about 3 days to get used to it. mine always stayed right beside me and followed my foot steps. if he got lost outside or whatever (he could see shadows) he would follow my voice. not much difference in having any other dog really. just they stay glued to you and memorize your house is the only difference.
To adopt a puppy or a dog?
- erinsmom1964
on Jan. 22, 2012 at 1:26 PM