What To Do If The Dog Is Blind

Blindness is a condition that affects many dogs, for several reasons: due to the deterioration of vision as they age, as a result of an accident or disease or a congenital situation. Here are some tips on what to do if your dog is blind or becomes blind.

How to spot a blind dog

Blindness can present itself as a slight decrease in vision or acutely and permanently. Normally you can notice the dog’s blindness when it does not react to the stimuli of light, appears disoriented and beats against objects that have been moved around the house, or against walls and furniture, in case it does not know the place. .

When a dog begins to lose his sight gradually, he  can become nervous and disoriented and will tend to hide in corners.  A visit to the vet will be necessary to get an exact diagnosis on the severity of your dog’s blindness; moreover it will be able to tell you if this is reversible, degenerative or total.

It is much more difficult to detect blindness in dogs that are born blind or that have progressively lost their sight, because they are used to not seeing, and have adapted well to their condition at home. However, when you move something around a room, such as a piece of furniture, or the dog bowl itself, the dog will be disoriented, and will likely bump into it. The same thing will happen when you carry it around.

If the blindness is progressive, you may notice that he no longer catches the ball or objects you throw at him on the first pitch, or he may be annoyed when you take him for a walk in the evening. When blindness affects only one eye, it will have difficulty calculating distances, or measuring the depth of a space.

What can cause blindness in a dog?

There are many causes that can cause blindness in animals. Among the most common pathologies we remember:

– Disease of the lens, for example cataracts 

-Degeneration of the retina 

-Inflammations of the optic nerve  

-Glaucoma  

-Tumors  

– Bumps or scratches on the eyes  

-Diabetes

Most of the conditions that cause blindness are treatable and, in some cases, reversible. Unfortunately there are cases where this is not the case: if yours is one of these, you will have to adapt, to make life easier for your dog.

How to help a blind dog

A blind dog who has become accustomed to this condition knows how to move well in known spaces. For this, you will have to remember not to move the objects, to avoid them becoming an obstacle for him. The other senses, such as smell and hearing, will become more developed and allow him to have a good perception of space.

In case your dog has recently gone blind, the best thing you can do is to buy some sort of device with peripheral guards to protect him and help him get into the surrounding space until he gets used to its new condition.

You can help your friend locate different areas of the house by using your other senses. For example, try to perfume the different places in the house with aromas: you can use rose essence for the kitchen, lavender for the living room, cinnamon for the bedroom and so on; this will allow the dog to create an odor map, which will help him find his way around the house. Considering that dogs’ sense of smell is very sensitive, a small amount of essence will be enough for it to recognize the various areas.

You can also use something recognizable to the touch, such as a carpet, to highlight dangerous places such as stairs or unevenness in the floor. Over time the dog will connect the tactile sensation of the carpet with the surrounding area and thus avoid falling or injuring himself.

You must avoid leaving it alone on the upper floors, from which it could fall and get hurt. Also avoid exposing him to risky situations, such as walking off the leash, which is not correct even for dogs with excellent eyesight.

A blind dog can have a very normal life; you just have to take care of some details and let him learn to develop his abilities,  without protecting him excessively.