Recently Adopted Senior Blind Deaf Shih Tzu

windle

Hello,

I just joined the forum about 5 minutes ago, but I have been looking around for a site that has a rescue dog section and was happy to see that you had one.

I work at a shelter and a little, old, shaved down shih tzu was there one day when I went in to work. I quickly realized he was blind and deaf, I read his medical sheet and found out he had been extremely matted when he came in, his nails were overgrown, and he had dry eye which had been neglected.

Over the next few days while I worked with him I bonded with him a lot and long story short....he came home with me.

I named him Mister Theodore Winston, Theodore or Theo for short. Theodores teeth were awful and I got him a dental asap, he had 11 teeth pulled and now his teeth are beautiful and his mouth no longer smells like decaying teeth.

I am having issues however figuring out how to teach him where his water bowl is. I know a lot of people say when it comes to blind dogs you just have to let them figure it all out, however, I think he should have water all the time and would rather not wait for him to just figure that out. I have tried standing him next to it and placing water on my hands and letting him lick it off. But he has yet to kind of figure out where it is on his own.

I am also having trouble finding information about training a blind AND deaf dog. A lot of the things I am finding that information is usually either for one or the other. I am by no means trying to make him do anything fancy because I think as old as he is and with being blind and deaf that I realize even most of the basic training is out of our league now. I think my main things I would love for him to be able to do are sit and come. So I'm just wondering if anyone has some tips on that?

Also, maybe some tips on helping him feel more comfortable in a new place. He tends to seem a bit more anxious when we are outside of our house. Some people say to wear perfume on your ankles to help blind dogs follow you and know you're there. I'm just wondering if anyone has any other ideas as far as that all goes?

I have attached a picture of Theo just for everyone's viewing pleasure

Thanks for any information you guys can provide.

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alfi

First of all welcome to the forum! I wont really be much helpful to you as I don't know much to tell you...I will make some search though and try to help you out!

Theo is soooo lucky to have you!! You cannot find people like you who are eager to love and work with a dog like Theo nowdays. I wish you the best! I have a big smile right now for what you did for him!

Well as far as I can tell not having slippery floors is one of the things you need to do so he can walk around more calm. Another thing is "play" with different surfaces for different places and ofcourse smells will be one of your best tools to work. What I mean is that you can have different carpets for different rooms or even in the same room so he can feel the difference in his paws and learn where to walk. You can buy aromatic canddles with different smells and put them in rooms or places like near his bed so he can figure out where things like bed or bowls are from smells. That's all I can tell now...I'll make a search on it and write back.

I hope I helped a little

alfi

You might want to read this story of a blind and deaf dog owner
Living with a deaf (and blind) dog: Keller's amazing story

alfi

I also found this link that might be a help...although it is a little weird you may want to try it.
Blind Dog Hoop Harness

alfi

Ok here is a site with almost everything about deaf and blind dogs! I think it will be a big help!

Paws to Adopt

MySoulmateEmmy

for the water issue maybe you can keep the bowl in one place so he knows where the bowl is and keep the food dish right next to the bowl so it can associate smell of food with being next to h2o. make sure you place dishes where he can't bump into things when getting to it. and maybe find something that makes a vibration to put near everything you want to emphasize to Theo as well as/or a smell that you can put near the things you want him to know about, so he can investigate on his own to figure out where things are.

he looks cute and i'm glad you formed a bond with him welcome to dog forum!

i'm sure others have ideas for you as well.

~MSE

Criosphynx

hit up an australian shepard rescue...they deal with blind/deaf dogs all.the.time.

here's som inspiration while your at it...
YouTube - Basil's Tricks!


thank you for taking him on.

Mikey

Welcome!! I have a rabbit who is blind and deaf-I found joining specific groups (disabled rabbit group) was a god send.

The other group suggestions are great: I would also try this one DisabledDogs : This Group is for Disabled Dogs

Is the food dish right beside the water dish? I would try that-because if he gets to his food he can get to the water.

Also maybe try flavoring the water to give it an aroma-try adding apple juice or milk (provided he tolerates dairy) so that he can smell his way to the bowl.

I'd say-give up on furniture rearranging-you want to keep things the same so he can find his way around.

A vibrating collar is a good idea-so you can have some 'hey' or 'come' or whatever command
Maybe leash signals would work too...so you have the dog on the leash, then pull up (gently not a correction or leash jerk of course) and that means sit. So to teach that-pull up gently, put the dog in a sit and treat.
And come could be cued to the collar vibrate.
You could probably teach shake a paw by touching the paw as the cue.

I know big time training is out, but I'm sure you could teach some tricks-and tbh I think that would be really benefiical for the dog to learn. Tricks give them some control over their environment (like-I do this, I get this) and in his case that may be really good for his self confidence

My parent's dog is deaf and my bunny is blind and deaf-so I don't grab them out of the blue (the dog-can see of course but if she's looking away I don't touch)-I stomp on the floor and then touch. They've both adjusted and when I stomp (or you can blow your breath on him) they know I'm there and it's not a shock when I touch

windle

Thanks for all the great tips and information so far!

Many people seem to be suggesting that I place Theodore's food by his water, however I have a 70lb Rottweiler/Basset Mix as well. If there is food out...it's gone. So I have been crating Theo at meal time and I put his water bowl next to the food then . If he were fed free choice he'd do a lot better but he is a very selective/slow eater so I cannot leave it out or my other dog will surely eat it.

I don't ever move the big water dish I have for the both of them but I supposed I could try to put it so it's closer to where he usually hangs out and maybe that'd help him.

I never just pick him up either I will usually tap or lightly touch his back before picking him up or even just petting him so he knows I am there.

The video of the dog doing all those tricks is amazing, very cool. I know a few dog trainers and will be talking to them on Friday to see if any of them have tips as well. I would love to teach him all kinds of tricks but realistically I think Theo may only pick up on the mere basics. The main reasons I want to train him is just so he doesn't need to be so scared when he can't find me. If I put him on the ground and don't touch him or move for awhile he begins to kind of groan then eventually just barks until I touch him again.

I am going to start sifting through all the links you guys suggested thank you so much!

Sheltiemama

I have nothing to add but I wanted to say Welcome and what a wonderful thing you have done for Theo!