My 10 year old pup is going blind. We’ve been in the same house for most of her life and she’s doing ok, but I’m worried it’s going to get more difficult for her. She’s not the smartest, but she can sit, lie down, and shake on command. I’ve read several articles about scent training but would like to get tips from someone who has done it. I’m thinking of using 4 different scents for bed, toys, stairs, and food/water - i know she can smell the food, but i want to make sure she can find the water bowl when she’s outside. Is that too many?
One article recommended marking a path on the floor/ground so she knows where there’s a clear route. Another suggested marking furniture/obstacles so she knows where to avoid.
If you have any experience with this and can offer tips, i would appreciate it. Also, if you want to share any happy stories about your VI pets, i would love to hear them. It’s heartbreaking to see her misjudge the doorway or bonk into things.
I’ve helped with it in school if that counts. The dogs trained were medical dogs, trained to help point things out like certain cancers, certain mental conditions, etc. some of which people had no idea going in could be detected. At least one was blind due to being albino, he had to be separate because we had dogs being trained to detect blindness, but things worked out if the cues were distinct enough.
Thank you for sharing! That’s really cool that you got to do that! Did you end up going into that field?
It’s connected enough to my field of choice that I could probably be seen as having potential in such a job, but no, I did not go for anything which involved me preparing for that.
That’s very interesting! Could you tell us more about this? Was this a specific college program or something? What do you mean by, “if the cues were distinct enough?”
Depending on what is being trained, it’s normal in training to exaggeratingly mark (to the dog) what they’re seeking out during training, so that the intended effect can be grounded. Think the potty training seats kids put on their toilets, but not exactly like that. It’s a middle/high school thing, I’ve never been to college.