Your dog has been diagnosed with an eye disease leading to blindness or severely limited vision. When the cause of blindness is limited to the eyes and the remainder of your dog’s health is good, then your dog should be able to lead a fairly normal life. Your dog’s remaining senses can help them adapt to their surroundings.
- Keep the home layout consistent whenever possible: limit changing furniture positions in the house so that your pet can memorize a consistent layout in your home. (But, please move dangerous or unstable obstacles around the house to safer and more stable conditions.)
- Maintain your dog’s usual routine: feeding time and location, walks, etc.
- Limit open access to pools, stairs, or other potential dangerous environmental hazards
- Consider cushioning sharp edges on furniture
- Consider adding tactile signals to your home or yard such as a rug in front of the top of the stairs or woodchips in front of the fence outside to warn your dog to stop when they transition from grass to woodchips
- Continue to offer full lighting in darker areas of the house and yard
- Provide non-slip flooring in slippery areas of the house
- Use different textures or scents around the house to help your dog navigate and adapt
- Use positive reinforcement training techniques to teach your dog phrases like “wait” or “stop” to prevent collisions with obstacles
- Purchase a blind dog halo harness to help protect your dog’s face and help them navigate better
- Purchase dog-specific sunglasses to protect the eyes from the sun and from bushes, etc. while outside