Blind,Blind-deaf and Partial Vision Dogs
- Blind and blind-deaf dogs can adapt to live very nearly as happily as ordinary dogs with human companions (excepting in a few dog-occupations.)
A few unusual behaviors, such as "contact- mapping" (bumping) were reported among some newly blind dogs as they and their companions adapted. Barking, for mapping, was said to be more common as many dogs learned to use their echoes to "see" like sound-radar sonar used by bats, dolphins and Navy submarines.
Various people provided aids for mapping and navigation that were widely used to ease the transition for both the dogs and their humans.
As always,
- first it is a specific dog,
- then it's breed,
- last and most important! - its a dog that "sees" with its heart, nose, whiskers and ears.
Most important to their happiness is
1. Loving people (which makes their life worth living despite any confusion, fear or anxiety)
2. To be free of pain (which can require medication but even surgery)
3. Safe (things and places that are safe for large dogs can be very challenging for little ones)
4. Secure (no risk of sharp objects at their height, or risk of intruders )
5. Encourage Independence (adapt and learn, regression permitted)
6. Ample food (happy "sailor")
7. Scent marking of places and things (because all dogs map and navigate with smells)
8. Music, voice, and their own bell (for mapping-location use)
9. You Speak, They Gesture: (Share understanding of situations and needs: verb, adjective, noun – Reference ~ see Web and book by Sean Senechal)
10. Exercise and Daylight (or blue-light): (For most, regular access to daylight, which they can sense as infra-red or blue, and enjoy is probably valuable for their physical and emotional health - indoor 'soft-white' fluorescent lights might be useful for dogs that can't get outside often.)
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With these, each dog becoming blind or already blind does their personal best to enjoy life with their people, learn new things and prosper. For blind dogs and their people, nose-ability and hearing adaptive mechanisms, or other abilities provide ways for blind dogs and blind-deaf dogs to understand, react to and get about in (map) their homes.
Most adjust very well to a considerable independence indoors and outdoors in fenced yards. There were well over 5,000 blind, blind-deaf and partly blind dogs in the year 2011 living well with people who were sharing experiences and supporting each other in an Internet discussion group.
Some dogs of each breed encounter blindness from one or another cause. Genetic difficulties encountered and associated with old age seem to be most typical of the causes.
Selective breeding for "flashy" (spotted, dapples, almost all white) fashionable coats, approved by Breed Clubs, such as the double dapple dachshunds, double merle (spotted) Aussies, white Great Danes and others were probably causing a dramatic increase in the numbers of blind dogs at birth in those breeds.
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Topics of this Section
Blind Dog US Populations
Behaviors,Biology, Origins
Blind-dog Adaptive "Seeing"
Frequently asked Questions
Climbing & 'clock' Confusion
OCD & Obsessive "Flies" Chasing
Why Dog Bumping
You Speak, They Gesture
Misery & Companions
Blind & Blind Deaf Voices
[Also good stories about toys for blind dogs, and introducing a pup to a blind dog are under the heading "Your Stories"]
### Deaf or Blind Dog FAQs & answers <--- linked to that page under the "Deaf" tab
### Adapting to Deafness might be interesting to owners of blind-deaf dogs, <--- linked to that page
Topics of this Section
Blind Dog US Populations
Behaviors,Biology, Origins
Blind-dog Adaptive "Seeing"
Frequently asked Questions
Climbing & 'clock' Confusion
OCD & Obsessive "Flies" Chasing
Why Dog Bumping
You Speak, They Gesture
Misery & Companions
Blind & Blind Deaf Voices
[Also good stories about toys for blind dogs, and introducing a pup to a blind dog are under the heading "Your Stories"]
### Deaf or Blind Dog FAQs & answers <--- linked to that page under the "Deaf" tab
### Adapting to Deafness might be interesting to owners of blind-deaf dogs, <--- linked to that page