# Boundary training a blind dog?



## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Okay, so we have a Cocker Spaniel Rescue coming home soon.... he's 5 years old and blind. 

Now, I have my dogs trained (for the most part, anyway) to stay out of the kitchen. I trained them to do this by telling them "kitchen" and making them back up to the line I don't want them to cross, and giving them a treat when they get there. 
I'm assuming I would just train him the same way, blind or not, right? Can I even expect him to learn this? I for the most part feel like he can do anything his seeing peers can do, I just don't know at what point do I say "he can't be expected to do that."


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I would put up a physical barrier to help him understand where the "line" is drawn of where the "kitchen" is. Blind dogs will get the "ways" of the physical house based on where things are and their sense of smell and sound to help them around. Blind dogs need some kind of physical stimulation (barrier or touch) to understand what is being asked of them, considering they cannot see what it is you are talking about.

I would definitely take advantage of clicker training because it emphasizes the sound and taste senses...considering the visual sense is gone, but is ultimately the lesser of the senses with dogs so not so much a big loss!


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Does the floor change between the kitchen and the other rooms? If so, he'll be able to feel the diffference, like in our house it goes from wood floor to vinyl. Or if there is a door frame at the entrance. These are all cues that will help him learn where the kitchen is and help him make it easier to learn to stay out of the kitchen. You can put a scent at the spot where the kitchen starts so he can tell where the kitchen is, like put a little lemon scent or orange scent cleaner or something on the floor or door jambs so he can sniff and know the difference. Maybe hang a little potpurri type thing at his level (as long as the other dogs don't eat it!) so he can scent it and tell that's where he stops. 

Just a few thoughts......I had the blind dogs but we kept them in the kitchen so it was the opposite thing for us.


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## conansmom (Feb 23, 2010)

I know this might not be relevant now, but just in case anyone else did a search I thought this would be good to read. IMO the best thing to do with blind dogs is scent discrimination.

When Dogs Can't See

It's somewhere in that article. I had better info on it but can't find it. I'll keep looking!


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