Helping Your Blind Dog Navigate

When Dogs Go Blind

Dogs that go blind are especially challenged when it comes to navigating around the house. Sure, he can likely smell his food dish and find his way to it, with effort, but during the course he's apt to bump into furniture, take a wrong turn, or manage to get in the vicinity but not to the bowl.

If your dog has gone blind there are many things you can do to help him throughout each day. Your dog will count on his other senses to help him somewhat. He will develop an even keener sense of smell, touch, and hearing. These keenly-developing senses will make it somewhat easier for the dog to make his way around the house.

The first thing to remember if you have a blind dog is to limit rearranging of furniture, pet bed, food dishes and other things in the home. Even one piece of furniture, having been moved, can cause the dog trouble. The dog knows his surroundings and will be able to function without sight, so long as re-arranging doesn't throw him off-balance.

One thing that will help your dog tremendously is to have rugs leading to his favorite spots. Purchase different rugs for each spot to make it simpler for the dog to get the hang of the rug "guidance". Lay one high-pile rug that leads to his bed, a low-pile rug that leads to the back door, or a long runner-type design that the dog can follow to find his food bowl. Rugs can also help a dog determine what area of which room he is in at the time.

Dogs' noses are very sensitive and it could be very irritating to the dog to bump into many things, in the course of a day, with his sensitive nose. Helping the dog find his way around is helpful but the dog eventually needs to find his own way. If he becomes totally dependent upon you to carry him everywhere that will do the dog more harm than good. It's easy to feel sorry for a dog that has gone blind, but if you truly love him, you'll help him to learn his way around and carry on with his normal life, as much as possible.