My beloved dog was diagnosed with diabetes 8 months ago. That was okay 2 shots a day we can handle that. But about a month ago we discovered she is also blind now. We live upstairs and she has to go down stairs to go to the bathroom and since she has diabetes she drinks lots of water. I've been walking in front of her to keep her from falling down the stairs, which she did a couple of times but it was close to the bottom so she was alright. Tonight she got around me and fell all the way down. It's breaking my heart we've had her for 10 years. I'm going to try putting the leash on her next time and keeping a short hold on her. Everyone says dogs will adjust to the blindness but how long does it take? Anyone with experience with a blind dog that can give me some ideas to keep her safe on the stairs. I know one day I will have to put her down but I don't think the time has come yet, she isn't in any pain. Please help if you know anything that will help us.

Most decent pet stores will have a harness she can wear with a handle on top. It works great. You and she will adapt to it within minutes I'll bet. It is similar to seeing eye dog harness, but cheaper and handle is parallel to the dog.

There is an excellent book called Living with Blind Dogs by Caroline Levin. It is out of print now, but Amazon has several copies available. This book was suggested to me by my vet when my dog went blind. It goes thru how to train your dog to go up and down steps on command. Be patient. It does get better. I considered putting my dog down at first as it would break my heart when my dog walked into a bush or wall. It upsets us more than it seems to upset the dog. My dog did adjust to the point he got confident enough to lope beside me and even play a soft and easy version of catch in an open area. He learned to listen for the sound of the ball hitting the,ground and locate it that way. Dogs are really quite remarkable. Good luck

Our 10 y.o. Black lab lost her sight about a year and a half ago. We're in the same situation in that she is in no pain, but unfortunately doesn't have much quality of life. She doesn't complain and seems ok though. We don't have a lot of stairs to navigate, so that's not much of an issue. She does well in the house, and really didn't take too long to adjust, but just goes slow. When going outside we just stay ahead of her. I get right up next to her when approaching our 2 steps, and just tell her to step down, or up when returning. She does well, but has stepped off of our low deck a couple of times, without injury. Think your short leash idea is a good one at least until she is able to adapt. It won't take her too long, most likely. Good luck, you're doing right by her!

I had a Retriever\Chow who was diabetic and blind for his 7 final years (he made it to almost 15 years old).My experience was that he did very well once his BG stabilized.He navigated well and went up and down stairs and thru two pet doors to go outside by himself.If you just let your dawg find her way on her own (under your watch) I'm sure you'll be quite surprised how well a dawg adapts.Good luck there...things will right themselves try not to worry too much.

Ditto on the harness... I have never seen one made for blind dogs, but either that or just a regular harness should be a big help. For a regular harness you might want to buy a "traffic loop" which is a very short leash, just a loop, to leave on and use on the stairs.Also, if you have an upstairs patio, this might be a good time to consider if there is any way to fix her up a potty spot there.

Blind Dog | Good Sam Community

23 Replies

brirene
Explorer
Jun 10, 2013
Our 10 y.o. Black lab lost her sight about a year and a half ago. We're in the same situation in that she is in no pain, but unfortunately doesn't have much quality of life. She doesn't complain and seems ok though. We don't have a lot of stairs to navigate, so that's not much of an issue. She does well in the house, and really didn't take too long to adjust, but just goes slow. When going outside we just stay ahead of her. I get right up next to her when approaching our 2 steps, and just tell her to step down, or up when returning. She does well, but has stepped off of our low deck a couple of times, without injury. Think your short leash idea is a good one at least until she is able to adapt. It won't take her too long, most likely. Good luck, you're doing right by her!
hawkhill
Explorer
Jun 10, 2013
There is an excellent book called Living with Blind Dogs by Caroline Levin. It is out of print now, but Amazon has several copies available. This book was suggested to me by my vet when my dog went blind. It goes thru how to train your dog to go up and down steps on command. Be patient. It does get better. I considered putting my dog down at first as it would break my heart when my dog walked into a bush or wall. It upsets us more than it seems to upset the dog. My dog did adjust to the point he got confident enough to lope beside me and even play a soft and easy version of catch in an open area. He learned to listen for the sound of the ball hitting the,ground and locate it that way. Dogs are really quite remarkable. Good luck
Chuck_Gail
Explorer
Jun 10, 2013
Most decent pet stores will have a harness she can wear with a handle on top. It works great. You and she will adapt to it within minutes I'll bet. It is similar to seeing eye dog harness, but cheaper and handle is parallel to the dog.

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Blind Dog

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