Teach walking on leash

There are times when our dogs must be kept on leash to ensure their safety, and this becomes
especially true when we have a dog that can’t see or hear. The leash becomes not only a means of
safety, but also a tool for communication. It’s important that we introduce the leash the right way, so it
becomes a useful tool for us and our dogs. We always want the leash to be a pleasant thing for our
dogs.

Begin by teaching your dog that touching her collar is a good thing. Touch her neck lightly and then
immediately feed her a treat. At first she may startle and turn to see who or what is touching her, but
with repeated exposure, she should start to look forward to the treat coming when she feels you touch
her neck. When she’s comfortable with this step, begin to focus on lightly taking hold of her collar
before you feed the treat. There’s no need to hold tightly. You don’t want to hold her in place, just curl
your fingers slightly around it and then feed a treat. She should begin to enjoy you taking hold of her
collar because it means something good is coming for her!

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Teaching Down

There are several ways to teach your dog to lie down.  Choose the one that works best with your dog.  Keep in mind that it will be most helpful to your dog if you reward while she is in the down position. 

Probably the easiest way to teach your dog to lie down is by using a food lure.  Begin with your dog in a sit position.  Lure your dog’s nose down toward the floor between her front legs.  Keep the food right by her nose but don’t let her eat it.  Move the food slowly so she follows it with her nose.  At first, just reward your dog for dipping her nose downward toward the floor.  After a repetition or two of this, you should find that your dog is following the lure downward more quickly and fluidly.  At this point, continue the lure downward to the floor and then continue to draw the treat slowly along the floor away from your dog. Watch for your dog’s front legs to step forward and her shoulders to drop down following her nose toward the floor.  At this point, reward.  Gradually lure your dog down closer to the ground.  The ultimate goal is that your dog will lie down completely onto her elbows before getting the reward. 

Sometimes your dog may need a little bit more help than just the lure.  Try to lure your dog’s nose under a low obstacle.  You can use a chair, coffee table, or even your own legs.  As your dog follows the treat under the obstacle, she will naturally lower her neck and shoulders and will often begin to crawl under the obstacle, ending in a down position. 

You can find other techniques for helping your dog to lie down in our book Through A Dark Silence if you are still having trouble. 

Once you are able to get your dog to go into a down position easily, you can begin to introduce a cue.  Give the cue right before you help your dog lie down.  Then reward while keeping your dog in the down position.  After she is finished eating, give your release cue and help her move out of position.  You can use the hand motion of the lure to the floor as a visual cue if your dog has enough vision to follow it. 

Repeat this sequence for a few sessions.  Then give the cue and pause just for a short moment to see if she starts to respond on her own without your help.  Be ready to step in and help quickly so the flow is not interrupted, and be sure to reward once she’s down.  Over time you will need to help her less and less, but continue to reward once she is down.  Don’t forget your release cue to let her know the exercise is finished.  

Teaching Sit

There are several ways to teach your dog to sit on cue.  I will talk about one of them here today.  You can refer to our book Through A Dark Silence to read about other techniques.  Choose the one that works best with your dog.  Keep in mind that it will be most helpful to your dog if you reward while she is still in the sit position. You may need to pet her while holding her in position and feeding at first until she gets the idea to stay sitting.

You may be able to lure your dog into a sit position. Hold the treat directly above your dog’s nose so she can reach up her nose easily to sniff it. The important part is to keep the treat very close to her nose without letting her get the treat. Slowly move the treat upward to stretch her nose up and back toward her shoulders. As her head stretches upward, her rear end should sink down towards the floor.


Immediately when her rear reaches the floor, pet and praise, and give a treat. If you can get the treat to her while she is still sitting, progress will be faster. Each time you lead her into a sit, it should get easier and easier as she learns that the behavior will lead to a treat.

This makes it sound very easy, but in reality, many variables can happen along the way. If your dog starts to sit but always pops back into a stand, you may need to reward just the beginning of the sit at first. As her rear starts to sink down just a little bit, pet and give the treat. Over time, you will begin to see her rear going lower and lower towards the floor. Reward these lower movements and stop rewarding the ones that aren’t so low. Eventually you will have a sit!


With active and wiggly dogs, it may be difficult to get her to stay in place as you try to lure her into the sit. You can help by positioning her with her rear towards a corner to help guide her to stand still, and put one hand gently under her chin or on her chest, while you lead her nose with the treat in the other hand.


When you can easily lure your dog into a sit position, begin to add the cue. Give the sit cue and then immediately help her with the lure to sit. Reward her while she’s in position, and then give a release cue to let her know that she can get up. With time, you can give the sit cue and then pause to see if your dog will begin to respond on her own without the lure. Be ready to help her if she is confused. But lure her less and less until she is responding on her own to the sit cue. Remember to reward in the sit position and then give the release cue so she knows she can get up.


If your dog has enough vision, the hand motion of luring her into a sit can be used as the sit cue. Just fade having food in your hand and the movement of your hand up over her head will become the signal for her to sit.

Now begin to practice the sit exercise in new places and with distractions going on - begin easy, by practicing in different rooms of the house, then the yard, then on walks, the park, etc. Be sure you practice around new people and dogs as well, all to prepare you and your dog for the CGC evaluation.

Getting a CGC with Your Blind/Deaf Dog

In this article, I will be referring to exercises required for the AKC (American Kennel Club) Canine Good Citizen evaluation. The rules and more information about this activity can be found by contacting the AKC or searching their website. This article is not meant to give you all the rules for the evaluation, but is meant as a guide to assist you with teaching your blind and deaf dog the exercises and when taking the evaluation. It’s a good idea to take a few minutes prior to the test to speak with the evaluator about any modifications that your particular dog needs to be successful. 

1. Accepting a friendly stranger. Your dog should remain by your side while a person approaches you, shakes your hand and spends a minute or two talking to you. Your dog can sniff the person, but should not be jumping on them, tangling them in the leash, or acting afraid. This one probably doesn’t require any special modifications to evaluate. You can easily practice this one when you are out for a walk, or when guests come to your home. As people stop to ask you about your dog, reinforce your dog for calm behavior. 

2. Sit politely for petting. I spoke with my evaluator ahead of time as to 

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New Project Posts! CGC with Blind/Deaf Dogs

 

I've had many requests for specifics about how to teach a blind and deaf dog various exercises, so we will begin with the Canine Good Citizen award from the AKC.  I will be posting about the various exercises required and then some tips on how to teach each one.  

Treasure and I would love for you to comment on our posts as you go along through the process, but most especially once you've earned your certificate!  It's a great accomplishment and can lead to other accomplishments (many therapy dog organizations use the CGC as part of their evaluations as well).  But most of all, it's a great way to have fun with your dog!  

I Want One!

Wow, she’s gorgeous! Is she an albino? What kind of dog is she? I didn’t know shelties came in white! Where did you get her? How can I get one? I want one! These are questions and comments I hear every day when I am out and about with my double merle shelties. People are fascinated by them.

Yes, my dogs are gorgeous, but they are also very impaired due to people’s poor decisions. My dogs are mostly white and are stunning to look at. They are always kept well groomed and their coats are fluffy and clean. I’m glad to have people interested in them because it gives me a chance to educate them that shelties are definitely NOT supposed to be all white! 

People are always drawn to the unusual. My job is to help them go away with the knowledge that double merles are not a new fad that is up and coming, like the multitude of “doodle” mixes out there now. Nor are they rare and extra valuable. They are victims of a very sad epidemic - one in which people are creating dogs with severe impairments for their own gain. Double merles do not just happen by falling out of the sky. They only happen when two dogs carrying the merle gene are bred together. Thus, double merles are totally preventable. 

Once people realize that my dogs are blind and deaf, they are shocked and saddened that someone could be so irresponsible to cause this. Sometimes they make cruel comments that my dogs would be better off dead. While I know my dogs are happy and healthy, some people assume that I am the cruel one to have kept them alive in the first place. Some try to convince me to put my dogs out of their misery. What misery?

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Dangers of Breeding Merle to Merle

I have updated some of my previous articles and added some new ones, which I will be sharing here over the next months.  Here is a great one to read again and to share to help educate others.  Happy New Year everyone!  

Dangers of Breeding Merle to Merle

©Debbie Bauer 2015 

Despite the efforts of many in educating others, there still are so many double merles showing up on the internet and in shelters needing homes. Why aren’t people listening? Why are they continuing to produce dogs with blindness, deafness, or both? And for every dog that ends up in a rescue or a shelter, or in a home, there are so many more that are being killed shortly after birth for a crime they didn’t commit. They didn’t ask to be bred this way. People made the decision to take a gamble with their lives. 

There are many breeds of dogs that carry the merle gene. Some of them are: Cocker Spaniels, Australian Shepherds, Pyrenean Shepherds, Border Collies, Cardigan Corgis, Catahoulas, Chihuahuas, Collies, Shelties, Dachshunds, Great Danes, Pomeranians, and I even recently saw pictures that people are developing merle lines of Schnauzers and Poodles! The merle gene is being introduced to more and more breeds (and mixes) due to the cool way it looks. I have to admit, I love the pattern of merle! It’s very pleasing to my eyes. Breeding merles responsibly (a merle to a non-merle dog) gives us the cool mottled look and can give us healthy and sound dogs, while breeding merle to merle often produces puppies with severe impairments.

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