Early Obedience Training for a Blind or Vision-Impaired Puppy

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How do you recognise other people? Without getting bogged down in the complex neurological process that allows the brain to form, store and retrieve memories, it might be best to put it simply—you recognise someone because you remember their face. You're able to remember their face because you can see their face. It's different for your dog. Dogs generally recognise you from your physical outline (your silhouette), the sound of your voice, and your smell. A dog's vision is not quite as precise as you might think, and it's for this very reason that training a blind or vision-impaired puppy isn't going to be as difficult as you might think.

Puppy Training

You can do it yourself, but this doesn't mean you should. Sign your dog up for a puppy behaviour training class, and make it clear that your pooch is blind or vision-impaired. Your dog won't need all that many special considerations, but it means that the trainer will be ready to show you a few specific training methods that will help your puppy to grow up to become a confident, well-adjusted and well-behaved adult dog. 

Social Skills

A puppy training class is also going to build your dog's social skills, and this is extremely important. Your dog's lack of vision shouldn't exclude them from this process, but you should keep a watchful eye over them as they interact with their classmates. All these new dogs might be especially intimidating for your pup since they can't see their new friends, and you might need to step in if the rough and tumble becomes a bit too rough.

Clear Commands

Playtime and socialising aside, your dog is there to learn. The instructor will show you how to teach your dog commands, paying attention to the fact that these commands need to be clear, concise and well-articulated. Your dog is relying on the sound of your voice to know what's expected of them at any given moment, and there can't be any mixed messages. About the first thing that your dog needs to learn is their own name, allowing them to know they're being identified with their name, which will then be followed by the appropriate command.

Non-Verbal Audio Cues

As your dog's obedience training progresses, any shortcomings to their learning will become obvious. If they're having trouble with vocal commands, you might have better results with non-verbal, audio cues. This can involve training your puppy using a clicker, or other easily identifiable sounds, such as a whistle. Think of working dogs (such as sheepdogs or cattle dogs) who can understand a wide range of commands issued by different whistle tones, with each tone representing a different command. 

Vision isn't necessary for obedience, but specific training will be needed to accommodate your puppy's lack of vision. Start to look into puppy behaviour training classes to learn more.

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28 December 2020

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