Tips For Owners Of Blind Dogs

Photo – © Eric Isselée – Fotolia.com

We found a great page of tips and advice for owners of blind dogs. The link is after our commentary as usual.

For a pet owner, to witness his dog lose its sight and enter a world of darkness can be daunting, distressing, and overwhelming. In some cases, it seems that the owner suffers as much as the dog. But this isn’t the end of the line for both of you and your dog. In fact, it may be the start of something new and rewarding.

Dogs can cleverly pick up their owner’s feelings. While it’s understandable and parent-like to experience and express grief for your dog’s loss, you will help your dog better by keeping that negative feeling confined out of your dog’s perception perimeter and by maintaining a calm and positive attitude. True, things will be one level tougher this time for your dog, but some doses of miraculous remedies called “optimistic outlook” and “encouragement” can aid your dog to overcome such somehow disabling adversity. Trust that your dog can cope with his visual impairment or blindness, especially with some extra help and assistance. If a human were to go blind, a dog could certainly outperform him and come to terms with its vision loss more easily. But then, dogs rely more on their sense of smell and hearing rather than predominantly on their sense of sight, which we humans do.

Blindness in dogs results from a wide range of causes – including heredity, aging, infection and injury. The loss or impairment of vision can be gradual or sudden, particularly as a result of trauma or serious disease. Some dogs are born blind however, and it may come as a surprise to you that they can manage to thrive with their disability so well and interact with their human companions and littermates just like a puppy with a pair of functional eyes would.

So, there are a number of measures one can take as a pet owner to help your dog adjust with blindness and to ensure a safe and happy environment for him, many of which are listed here: http://www.blinddog.info/blinddoghelp.htm