My westie is missing one eye and has an inoperable cataract on the remaining eye. He can see shadows [barely] and light and dark.... I used to work with blind children and put several tactics used there in place:
Don't change perfume.... use a different smell for each room... don't move the furniture OR when you do; put him on a very short lead and walk him around the room a few times... then a looser lead progressively until he can dodge the furniture... put something across the doorway to denote the change in rooms[change from lino to carpet works well]....have two blankets that carry their smell- so when you launder their bed... it still smells like home- the same for the sofa/your bed when you clean the sofa/change bed sheets... use the same bows for feedingl[a highly reflective bowl is most useful as it picks up changes between dark and light and the sparkles are a great mind-exerciser.... ALWAYS walk on a short lead- NEVER off the lead if it's a large or un-known place.... Be wary around other dogs- they will often attack a 'weaker' dog [this is what happened to odin with his cataracts].... put a reflective collar/coat on them when out as people need to see them to dodge them as the blind dog can't dodge them.... I tend to wear a necklace with a cat bell on; so that my dog always knows where I am [unfortunately I can't sneak up on pigeons now]... and if you are going somewhere dark wear LIGHT clothes... somewhere bright wear DARK.... dogs who can see shadows/ tell dark from light are more likely to see you then... also always warn them when you are going to pet them- it can startle them... Also keep to the same food- strangely I have found my dog unwilling to eat unknown food as he can't see it- he wasn't so fussy when he could see... |