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Housetraining a blind dog
This is our foster Cupid, a 15 week old Chiweenie and last week we got the confirmation that she is blind. She and her 2 siblings came to us pee pad trained 3 weeks ago. Both her siblings got adopted and now we want to train her to go outside, which she already does when she is outside playing. This morning I took her outside and she peed and pooped. I am watching her and when I see her circling the pee pad, I take her outside. Any tips on how she could signal us that she needs to go? I have the potty bells but since she is sniffing and running into things all the time, I think she would ring them accidentally a lot. Is a schedule our best bet? She might get adopted soon since her new picture yesterday brought a lot of interested but I also want to help the adopter.
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3 Replies
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Janina, Cupid is SO CUTE!! How wonderful that you are investing in her (and her sibs’ journey!) Lucky dogs.
I’ve not worked with blind dogs much, and never for housetraining, but my thought always goes to SCENT, first. That’s their primary sense. So, what if you could put a scent/target behavior on a talk button? For example, a wee drop of peppermint oil (my dogs like mint). You could bring her to it, let her sniff, touch the button til it says “outside” and then take her out. The button could be in a place where it’s not in her direct pathway – but near the door. You can teach her to target the button with her schnoz or paw, whichever seems most likely for her to prefer.
What do you think?
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I think they would be a great tool to pass on to the adopters since she will be in a new environment. I haven’t trained with a button before but I will get one today. I hope she is strong enough to push it since she is less than 5#. I do have oils. Would you suggest adding a drop to the pee pad as well to make the connection?
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Personally I would not put a drop on the pee pad. The scent would be simply to help her locate the button, in my mind.
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