Not Sure Where To Go From Here

[Kirty]

Stevie is my 5mo blind GSD foster pup. She is doing really well but I feel like I am getting out of my depth with her sometimes. If anyone can help with these questions, that would be great! I think I am going to have get some professional help very soon though.

So I have been walking Stevie a few times a week for a while now. I try to walk a slightly different way every time, and sometimes we drive somewhere to mix things up. I always walk her with Toby my 7mo Std Poodle because I think it helps her feel confident. But after a while, all she wants to do is follow Toby, play with Toby, etc and we end up in a tangle of leads. Do you think I should try walking her on her own? I want her to learn to focus on me, and to trust me to guide her.

Sometimes when walking, she will get startled and stop. The biggest cause of this is dogs barking aggressively in their yards as we walk past, which is fair enough because she can't see that they are behind a fence! I have been saying 'what's that?' in a happy tone and praising her when she keeps walking. Does that sound ok?

Also, I'm trying to keep her always next to my left leg. Is this a feasible thing to teach a blind dog?

[persephone]

You are doing so well!

walking her close is fine, IMO. would you perhaps be willing to attach a small bell (like a 'rod bell' from fishing stores) to your belt /shoe.. so she can follow the sound?

Perhaps then the bell can be used to get her doing different things ?

Also, maybe give her a bit more time to suss things out - she needs to sniff/hear/ 'get her bearings' /build up a picture of her surrouonds .. without her eyes gathering info.

I would also suggest walking the same route a few times consecutively, so she learns the way..learns how to cope with a certain texture/obstacle/noise , and thus build up confidence ...'Oh- I've been here! I know that's only ***** - no problem!"

;)

Edited January 11, 2012 by persephone

[Echo]

I like the suggestion about the bell. Just a tiny one, somewhere on your left hand side would be a good idea. She can use this to orient herself to stay on your left. I would walk her without the other dog. She needs to have confidence in you as her leader slowly built up. Too much time spent with the other dog will diminish her desire to be with you and if they always walk together, the other dog will become an emotional crutch for her and she will find it harder to cope when he is not around. As already suggested, stick to the same route for a little while. Familiarising her with things is important and her confidence will grow if she is not hit with unexpected change before she is comfortable with the first step.

Kirty, I sent you a PM about the tracking.

[Jigsaw]

I would also suggest walking her on her own. Bells are a good idea to wear on wrist or ankle. Taking her on the same route allows her to build up familiarity and then confidence. The smells will be similar but different each day as with the sounds, as well as textures underfoot be predictable for her. Do you have any voice commands for, up, down, slow, stop? These will help her understand what she has to do when you come to a step up or down or she needs to take care and slow down in a particular area. Walking her on her own with you initially allows her to listen to you. She's still very much a pup so she's going to want to play!

Black Dog sell collar and lead covers with "I'm Blind" on them if you want to identify your dog. Sometimes it helps as it will help make people aware of the disability and hopefully they will modify their approach.

Have you got the book "Living with Blind Dogs" by Caroline Levin. It's a great resource.

Some general tips here too http://www.blinddogs.net/blind_dog_tips.html

[Kirty]

Thanks for the replies. She doesn't seem to mind going on different walks and is confident except for the barking dogs.

She wears a special vest with 'I'm blind' on it. It seems to keep people away because they think she is a service dog in training! I wish more people would come and say hello to her!

I have these ideas in my head about what I want to do with her, just not sure how to achieve them. I want her to respond to different things by looking to me for reassurance, and if she gets startled I want her to feel confident and happy about it. My worst fear is that if she gets a fright she will bite someone.

[megan_]

Could you try the (wrongly named in this case" "Look at that" game, but do it with sound rather than sight. That is, dog barks, "who's that?", look at you, treat?

[persephone]

She doesn't seem to mind going on different walks

That's good, but, as with any learning, repetition and reinforcement is important .. and I am of the opinion that repeating walks for some time helps settle dogs a bit .. they are not expecting something new every minute ..they can walk and pay more attention to the handler, as they know what's around them .. and it's not important ..

As said, you are doing so well ..I am looking forward to reading of her exploits!!

[RubyBlue]

Still keen to go tracking?

Ive PM'd you....

[The Spotted Devil]

Could you try the (wrongly named in this case" "Look at that" game, but do it with sound rather than sight. That is, dog barks, "who's that?", look at you, treat?

I was thinking the same megan_

Is she food or tug oriented Kirty? Either of those could help her confidence and focus on you as well. I do like the idea of the little bell and agree with pers about "pictures" - she needs to build a mind picture so perhaps some regular walking routes could help.

[Cosmolo]

I would also practice the LAT game with recorded noises at home- that and the bell would be my first steps Kirty.

Do you have a cue that means she is about to be touched? I think this would be helpful also so that you can warn her that someone is about to make physical contact.

[Erny]

You may like to think about teaching your dog a cue to tell her to slow down. Once taught, I could imagine where this could and would be used in many instances, as it would be a way of telling her "hang on, steady up .... something's going to change".

I think you and her would also benefit from being taught a command/word to tell her to go forward. This might help you in those times you mention where she just stops dead because she is startled. If she has learnt a word from you that tells her it's ok to go forward and that this is what you want her to do, she will have something akin to guidance from you.

I've come across an article (can't remember where) that offers the suggestion of using PVC pipe to assist with walking on a lead. Simply thread your leash through it. In this way you can use the PVC pipe to guide your blind girl by the use of touch. Obviously you need the PVC pipe to be narrow enough to hold.

Using this "stiff leash" you could also teach her words to suggest which way to turn - ie left, right, etc., although if she is a big dog you might not need the stiff leash to help you in this way as much as you might if she is small.

[Erny]

Oh - and I meant to add that I'm not so sure it's a great thing to change walking route habits all the time, especially at this early stage. Like you do when you intro a blind dog to the home, you teach them where things are so they can create a 'mind map'. I'd be thinking that this would be a good thing with the outside world as well, to a degree. At least at the beginning until that mind map is set and variation to that can then perhaps be recognised by her.

I won't profess to having trained a blind dog from the beginning and through, only to giving a tip here and helping out spasmodically, so perhaps I'm not completely correct here - just putting my mind to it and thinking this would be what she needs the most at this stage (ie navigational skill developed via route consistency).