How to train a Deaf and Blind Puppy

Con't on deaf and blind puppy's.

I hope you have been able to follow my attempt to explain how the Merle gene works and what it is.... lets discuss the outcome of a homozygous merle puppy.

The health problems vary from mild to severe affecting hearing and or vision. Some puppies are born deaf, others blind and in the worst case scenario, both blind and deaf.

At Doglando, we are teaching Mango to learn through two of his other senses, and those are: Touch and Smell.

For example, when we take Mango out to do his business he has already developed a substrate preference for grass. He knows very well how grass feels under his paw pads, and knows that is where he needs to go potty. He is awesome at it. Of course he can not see how big or wide the grass area is but, he immediately jumps back onto the grass if he goes to far and hits the side walk or the road. Mango is a very very smart puppy.

After he is done doing his business, he immediately runs off the grass and uses his nose to smell for us. He has become very familiar with the sequence of events after pottying, as he now looks for us for his reward.

During his first week at Doglando, Mango was becoming familiar with our Doglando home, and his foster home (with Astrid). He displayed caution in his actions; for example if he bumped into a log, he thought that was a dead end and turned around. Now, on his third week with us, Mango has learnt "not all obstacles mean for a dead end." He has learnt to use his sense of touch to see if it may be something he can climb over or go under..... it is amazing.

We could introduce a vibration collar to training him, and may still do that. I just felt that we should wait and allow for him to learn the world at his pace and as he knows how before we start to interfere... and he is doing a darn good job at it.

Clearly, Mango loves the sense of another dog near him or a person. If we are in the same room as him, he tracks us down and lies down in between our feet. If we move, he moves. Feeling like he is not alone is very important for his comfort because he can not hear or see us.

If you are interested in meeting Mango, email us at info@doglando.com