My dog was diagnosed with diabetes in September. Shortly after that came the cataracts.
It isn’t too bad, she easily navigates the house and since we walk in the dark most days anyway, she just follows at my heels.
But, whoever owned her before me taught her that, first thing when we get home, we throw the ball, she goes and gets it, and then she pees.
But now she has trouble spotting the ball.
So, last week the rain is just hammering down. I throw the ball. She can’t spot it. She won’t pee until she finds the ball.
I walk down and show her the ball. This is not good enough. *She *must find it. I throw it again, make sure to nearly bean her in the head with it. It drops down near her, she finds it, cops a squat and comes wiggling back to me, all happy.
What the heck. I’m soaked anyway, and my shoes are covered in mud. I might as well play ball - with my poor little blind dog.
We see an eye specialist on the 18th. Who would have ever dreamt that I’d spend 2K on a dog?
She’s lucky I love her.
I’m lucky she loves me too - she really *is *a good girl.
I’ve fostered several blind dogs! Including two with diabetic cataracts. PM me if you want further info.
Rule number one, two, three, four, five…etc: Do not consider your dog “a poor dog” or pitiful in any way. That mindset is doing her a disservice right off the bat.
A quick check shows lots of toys that make noise or flash with contact. Maybe there’s some doo-dad that can be switched on and then inserted into the ball. That way it’ll make noise the whole time. I’ll bet there are plenty of small, noisy toys crowding the shelves at Toys R Us.
Good luck with the cataract surgery-- my friend’s dog was like a pup again after hers.
Your dog still has its most powerful sense of smell and you could use this to help the dog find the ball. As an example, if you feed your dog dry food, you could store the ball in with the food and it will pick up the odor making it easier to locate after thrown.
Finally, try not to rearrange your furniture and you dog will continue to be secure while moving around the house.
The dry food thing is a good idea. As far as other types of balls: She will only retrieve a tennis ball. She shows total disdain for anything else and even looks offended when I give her a ball that doesn’t have the same feel as a tennis ball.
