Proximity aids for a Blind Greyhound.

[vincent800]

Our rescue Grey, AMF Set Off, (currently Argo) was received in 2019, knowing he has PRA and would eventually become blind. My question, has anyone used any device that will help him avoid contact with most objects, walls, edge of doors etc.. He does remarkably well, using stairs, the yard, the household. Still he may get a bit off course and his world has suddenly changed at that point. When available I hook a finger in his collar and talk to him, assisting him to avoid potential contact that he doesnt need to experience. 

Any thoughts, experience would be appreciated. His Ophthalmologist is not to keen on products currently available.

Thanks.

VI 

[macoduck]

This might work: https://www.optivizor.com/

Or perhaps a harness with an extended front "bumper". Enter "blind dog harness bumper" on Google and you'll see several manufacturers.

https://www.amazon.com/Accesories-Protection-Harness-Guiding-Anti-Collision/dp/B0CJCV4HKW/ref=sr_1_7?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WaxM4t6laoDkGiW_SeUwg2acUozsa6InWTQBvypNJ0NgKr860bhitf2PmBNLWRtZzOBFN-yFHLFa-R6W6bOjO_c9DQNuDzAV_nTrQpUAqDLE4WgopEUBMusRVuCC0yqCoPGUtNHM3u5ni0WfvLFOEQJv_8h0tapAnfuhYtuAjOlMT2nc1jKePvEKZSte2sJg1UMe5xGiKPe7DyBqPF_Ju3WFU581Qvu9ISfPdV6RmIpb8DoXBCeCGtuufLxSBgX4AcKvbs8l5mEh_KTzrhhItIt4ClB2Ktimvbqe5q67Gu4.cel1Vge5FuCcwSFtn7s3hDtnbub1I2vVBV6sRGfzhck&dib_tag=se&keywords=Blind%2BDog%2BBumper&qid=1710100215&sr=8-7&th=1

[LBass]

I looked at a number of those items when I got now 6 y/o Nate, also with PRA.  I adopted Nate when he was 1.5 years old and his sight was pretty much gone at that point.  So many of the options looked clunky and I couldn't imagine them working well or being tolerated well by the dog.  Nate has a great sense of location in familiar locals--home and yard.  When we travel, I lead him around the hotel room and he's OK after that.  Always in unfamiliar locations he's on a leash, of course.  Any time he's leashed, Nate just plows ahead with enthusiasm and he clearly views it as the responsibility of the human on the end of leash to make sure he doesn't run into anyone or anything or step off curbs, steps, etc.

Every now and then at home he'll become disoriented.  When that happens, I'll see him carefully, hesitantly moving around, kind of groping.  At those times, I go to him and lead him to one of the super familiar "gounding" areas like one of his beds, the door into the yard, his crate.  That seems to resolve the problem and he's oriented again to the map he has in his head.  When something new is added in the yard, I walk him to the item and he seems to add it to his mental map--he really amazes me.

I'd really worried that he might run into things and damage his eyes but honestly that's never happened.  He did once bonk his nose on a corner and get a small cut on his muzzle, but he's never actually hurt himself. 

[greysmom]

I have also seen a suggestion to put specific scents around the area so the dog can more easily sense where they are - specific scents for furniture, doors, outdoor obstacles.  Just do your research because a LOT of essential oils can be harmful to animals.  I think it's also necessary to have a "safe space" for your dog to be able to go to to re-orient himself when he gets overwhelmed - a crate or bed in a quiet spot he knows he will be safe in.

There are "halo" devices that are attached to dog's heads that have spokes that poke out from a hat-like device, but this seems unnecessary to me.  Dogs can smell way better than we can and should be able to sense when objects are in their way before such a device would be helpful.

[macoduck]

vincent800, I have a friend who used scents to help her blind dog stay oriented in her multi dog house. I'll ask her what she used.

[rsieg]

There was a thread a few months back on blind hound assistance, there may (or may not) be something useful there, so FWIW I'm adding the link below.

https://forum.greytalk.com/topic/329173-blind-greyhound-doesn’t-have-slow-gear…-how-to-keep-him-safe/#comment-6212572

 

[phall]

My boy, Lucas, is now completely blind with PRA and also cataracts.  When I brought him home 7.5 years ago, he had just begun to lose some of his sight. He now has my house and my dog yard completely mapped.  As long as I don't move furniture or place things where they don't belong, he does well.  I haven't used anything special around the house to guide him as he seems fine without anything like that.  However, like you noticed with Argo, once in a while there are some times that Lucas gets disoriented on where he is.  When that happens, I go to him and gently guide him to where it seems he wants to go.  He has gotten used to me doing this for him and most times, he'll stand where he is and wait for me to come to him.  If I'm across the room and in the middle of something, if I talk to him from where I am, it gives him a bit of confidence to figure out his situation.

When we go for walks, I have a harness for him that works great and I highly recommend.  It's a K-9 Julius harness that you can get with velcro patches that say Blind Dog.  The harness has a top handle that works great in helping to direct your dog when he needs it, and the patches let people you may meet know your dog is blind and therefore approach carefully.  https://usa.juliusk9.com/products/julius-k9-idc-powerharness.  Chewy.com also carries these harnesses.  For the velcro patches, I think K-9 Julius only has patches that say "I'm Blind".  I had those originally, but people I met often thought I was blind, not my dog.    So I got the "Blind Dog" patches from Amazon and they work great.  They come in different sizes, so you just need to get the correct size patch.

Good luck - it's a journey, but so rewarding.