Adding Scents to Help a Blind Dog?

When looking for advice about living with a blind dog, many sources recommend putting artificial scents in different rooms and on different surfaces for the dog to follow and recognize.

In theory, this sounds wonderfully helpful, but I've actually found that it can be very confusing for the dogs, as well as inconvenient for the human to continually reapply the scents to keep them fresh.

It is common knowledge that a dog's nose is one of its super powers!

It's been described that while we may walk into the kitchen and smell spaghetti sauce cooking, our dog can smell each of the ingredients used to make the sauce individually!

In observing my own blind dogs, they can easily tell the difference in the natural scents around them.  

The leash I use for every day walks smells different than the longer leash I use for letting them run in the fields, and smells different from the leash used for therapy visits.  The nail clippers smell different than the brush or the undercoat rake, even though they are all stored together in the grooming box.  How do I know they smell differently?  I know from my dog's reaction to each of those items - the reaction is different to each by smell alone.

My dogs easily know the difference between the rooms of the house, and even in different areas of each room.  I don't ever add any artificial scents to help them.  Each surface and object in my home has its own scent - a door smells different than a window.  A couch smells different than a rocking chair.  My dog can tell the difference between the smells of his toys and has his favorites, even among ones that are the same texture and shape!  

Has your dog ever had one favorite tennis ball among several?  Perhaps you've experienced this very thing in your home whether your dog can see or not!  Or what about the dog that chooses its very favorite stick and can pick it out of a pile of other sticks anywhere?  It's the same idea!  Our dog's noses are amazing!  

When we add artificial scents within the home, they are normally scents that are strong enough for us to smell readily. This means they are very powerful smells to our dogs - remember that their sense of smell is so much more sensitive than ours!

If I use a scented cleaner in my house, my dogs often sneeze or even go the other way.  My blind dogs don't like to walk on floors that have been cleaned with scented cleaners - even if it's a floor they walk on regularly.   The smell is just too strong for them. 

I think this is why people think that adding scents is helpful.  They add strong smelling scents to objects and obstacles in their home and the dog avoids them, so they think the dog is learning that the lemon scent means a doorway is there, and the pine scent means a piece of furniture is there - but really all the dog wants to do is avoid the strong smell.

It's much nicer to the dog to help him learn from the natural scent of the obstacles in the home so he can learn to navigate on his own.  It's also healthier, as some of the scents used may be full of chemicals that we and our dogs are then inhaling. 

If you've had any experience with nosework or scent work with dogs, you will also know that scent travels!  Think of the spaghetti sauce - you can smell it when you walk into the house, even though the kitchen may be several rooms away!  Right?

When you add a scent to the doorway, it doesn't just stay right there on the wood of the doorway.  It moves and spreads and drifts around on the air currents in your home, moving even several rooms away.  Sometimes scent also will collect in corners or in enclosed spaces, such as under tables or chairs.  Talk about confusing to the dog! 

It's not necessary to add artificial scents to help your blind dog navigate through an environment.  I have lived with blind dogs for a long time, and I have helped many, many clients with blind dogs.  I see it time and time again - dogs are amazing!  They can figure it out without us adding scents to everything. 

Your dog already is learning (or has learned if he's lived in your home for awhile) to associate the natural smells of the various rooms, objects, and obstacles with finding his way around your home.  He recognizes the smell of your couch, your bathroom, his bed, his toys, the path to the doors.  

If your dog is newly blind or is blind living in a new environment, take the time to help lead him around and let him explore while keeping him safe.  Help him learn to navigate his way around common pathways such as to the door to go outside, to his bed, to his toy box and to your favorite cuddling spot on the couch.

He will learn quickly.  And as you watch your dog finding his way around, take a moment to be amazed by the power of his nose!  His super power!

For online articles and resources relating to blind and/or deaf dogs, go check out www.yourinnerdog.com

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A Holistic Perspective to Canine Wellness and Training

As a holistic dog trainer and animal wellness coach, my work centers on the importance of finding a balance in our relationship with the animals in our care.  There are many aspects to consider, and each one affects the others.  Here is an excerpt from my online course, Foundations for Canine Wellness in celebration of National Pet Wellness Month!  

"What is wellness? Wellness is defined as “the state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal.” (from Google) In this course, wellness is closely married with well-being, which is defined as “the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy.” (also from Google)

As a holistic dog trainer, I look at all parts of the picture and how they fit together. Holistic is defined as “the comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.” (Google again)

This means that we recognize that all the parts come together to directly affect the whole. There are many parts, or aspects, of our dog's life that come together to affect his/her entire life - health, happiness, fitness, nutrition, exercise, sleep, enrichment, training, environment, and so on. Each of these parts comes together to create the whole of the dog's life.

When we look at these aspects holistically, we can begin to see that there are many parts that make up the whole of our dog – physical, emotional, mental, social, behavioral, and instinctual.

As we go through this and upcoming wellness courses, we will consider all aspects of the dog’s life. We will look at health, environment, stress, training, behavior, and more. Our dog’s well-being and wellness depend widely on the choices we make on his/her behalf. Our dog relies on us to make these choices for it in most circumstances.

From a holistic training perspective, behavior is affected by many variables that are not often taken into consideration. Many trainers assume that behavior is a stand-alone issue and that training alone will change behavior. But when the concerning behavior has a deeper cause, this can create frustration as training is not able to completely clear up those concerns.

In fact, many trainers resort to forcing dogs to change their behavior out of frustration, but these are only temporary fixes, then requiring more force at a later date to keep the behavior under control. Forceful training also leads to other concerning behaviors developing that weren't there to begin with, and can lead to a decline in a dog’s well-being and quality of life.

The holistic view of training and behavior is that there is a cause behind that behavior. When we can deal with the true cause of the behavior, usually the behavior changes on its own and it is a permanent change. This is because whatever was causing the behavior is no longer there.

Changing even one aspect of a dog’s life can have a lasting impact on all the other aspects, including behavior. This is because all aspects work together interchangeably to create the whole picture that is your dog! This is the holistic perspective!"

For the month of October, the Foundations for Canine Wellness online class is being offered at a significant discount.  The class is On-Demand, so may be started at any time.  

How Do I Get My Deaf Dog's Attention?

When people ask me how they can get their deaf dog's attention, they often mean how can they get its attention right now in this moment.  Usually this is because the dog is doing something they want it to stop, or they need the dog to come to them. 

There are various ways to get a deaf dog's attention in the moment.  By far, the most foolproof one is to actually go to where the dog is to get its attention.  By going to the dog, we can now position ourselves in a way the dog will easily see us, or we can touch the dog - either is going to alert the dog to the idea that we want its attention.  

I often notice people trying and trying to get their deaf dog (or any dog for that matter) to pay attention without success, and instead of going to the dog, they just continue to try on and on.  Meanwhile the dog is getting into trouble, and sometimes into a dangerous situation.  If what you're doing is not working - it's always best to step in and go to the dog to manage the situation quickly. 

Sometimes we may be in a situation where the dog will be able to feel a vibration through the floor.  Be aware, however, that some dogs will not really pay attention to this unless they've been taught that the vibration has some significance.  Also, surfaces carry and distribute vibrations in various ways.  In my experience, wooden decks carry vibration very well, while harder surfaces such as concrete really aren't that good at conducting vibration.  

Some dogs may respond to the vibration of a loud clap or noise.  Again, this usually works best if the dog is taught what that vibration means ahead of time.  

Flashing a light when the environment is darkened can be a great way to get a deaf dog's attention.  Many of us who live with deaf dogs have learned that flashing the porch light when the dog is in the yard at night is a suitable way to let it know to come back into the house.  Similarly, if this can also work in a darkened room of the house.

Waving an arm in a large arc that takes up a lot of space can get a deaf dog's attention too, if you can catch their eye.

An important part about getting a deaf dog's attention is to take the time to teach the dog that these things mean you'd like it to look at you for more information.  This doesn't have to take very long, and it's not complicated.  In fact, the more of these signals that you teach, the easier it will be in various circumstances to get your dog's attention quickly.  

Let's take the example of teaching a dog to pay attention to a large wave of your arm.  Begin close to your dog and with your dog already paying a bit of attention to you.  At first you need to create an association so your dog understands that an arm waving in the air is a wonderful thing to see!  So having your dog's attention when you start is the best way to create this association.  Have plenty of tasty treats handy. 

Associate the wave with a good thing - the treat!  The sequence is to wave first - make it as big as you can - and then feed a treat.  Make the treats extra special and you will see your dog making this association very quickly!  A large wave - a great treat.  This is the sequence.  Do it many times.  Then take a break and go do something else.  Probably your dog will follow and watch you closely for a bit.  That's normal. 

Do many mini sessions during the day and in different rooms of the house, or in the front yard, or the back yard.  You can even practice on walks - take your treats with you.  Right now, you want there to be a great treat every time you wave your arm so the association your dog is creating will be very strong.

After you've practiced this for several days in different environments, you can begin to throw a random wave into your day here and there.  Make sure you have that tasty treat but hide it for a bit beforehand in a pocket or a container hidden around the house.  When your dog is nearby but is not paying a lot of attention to you, wave that big wave.  When your dog notices, it should quickly pay attention to you - at which point you can reward with the treat and lots of praise or even a game!

Paying attention to you should always be a super fun thing for your dog to do!  Be sure to make it worth your dog's while to pay attention to you when you ask!  

With more practice, you should be able to give the wave signal from farther away or at more random times during the day.  If you have created a strong association by rewarding often with things your dog loves, your dog should be learning to watch for that wave out of the corner of its eye, in the hopes of seeing that you want its attention and getting something great in return!  

You can teach other attention-getting signals with the same process.  Use the signal you want to teach followed by things your dog loves!  Create the association.  Start off close to your dog and make it easy, then gradually start incorporating it into your daily life.  

Once you know the association is strong, you can begin to randomize the rewards you give.  Sometimes play a game, or give some petting if that's something your dog likes, or go for a ride in the car - just make sure it's something your dog really likes.  Getting your dog's attention for things that aren't pleasant will create avoidance instead of alert attention. 

Now you've created easy ways to get your dog's attention so you can call it to come to you, or give it a different cue signal, or just redirect its behavior.

But ... there is one more key ingredient to getting and keeping your deaf dog's attention.  And, we'll talk about that tomorrow!  

Teaching a Name Sign to a Deaf Dog

A name sign is a sign that is a shortcut instead of finger spelling out an entire name with sign language.  It's a bit like a nickname!  It is a shortened sign to make signing a name faster and easier.  Deaf dogs can learn many different signs, and all of my dogs also learn a sign for their names.

Teaching a name sign is a great way to let your dog know you want to engage with him.  If you have multiple dogs in your home, using name signs can be very handy so the dogs know which dog you are referring to.  I use name signs to ask my dogs to take turns, or to allow one dog to come through a doorway but not a different dog.  I can ask my dogs to do different things by differentiating which one I'm addressing.

How do you decide on a name sign?  Perhaps your dog has a certain character trait you want to highlight, or an endearing nickname that already has a sign that you can use.  I tend to use the first letter of the dog's name in its name sign and choose different ways to use that hand shape.  

Vegas (pictured) has a name sign that is a V (index and middle fingers spread as a V with other fingers folded into my hand) and I shake it back and forth slightly in the air.  Owen has an O hand shape (all fingers curled and touching my thumb to create a circle) and instead of shaking back and forth, his drops slightly downward in the air. 

To teach Vegas to pay attention to this new sign, I use his name sign whenever we are doing things he likes!  Name sign, then treat!  Name sign, then his meal!  Name sign while we are playing his favorite games!  Name sign when I put his leash on to go outside!  He will learn by association that the sign refers to him and that something good will happen.

I don't use a name sign if I am going to do something my dog is not fond of - bathing, going to the vet, etc.  I will just go get my dog.  I always want only positive things associated with my dog's name sign.  I always want my dogs eager to engage with me and come running when they notice their name sign! 

  

How to Choose Signs for Deaf Dogs

Is there a secret to choosing signs for deaf dogs?  Sometimes people ask me how I choose which signs to use for my dogs, and new adopters of deaf dogs are normally very concerned with choosing the right signs.

The truth is, that any signal you use consistently will come to have significant meaning to you and your dog.  If I pat the top of my head every time I take my dog outside, my dog will very quickly begin to know that patting the top of my head signals a walk!  There is no magic formula for choosing which signs to use.  

There is not a formal sign language for use with dogs.  People living with deaf dogs use an assortment of signs for their dogs.  There is no right or wrong answer as to which ones should be used. 

It's important to have consistency with the signs you choose for a deaf dog.  Make sure that you and your family members remember which signs mean what, and that you are making the signs in the same way so your dog won't get confused.  

You may choose to use a formal type of human sign language with your dog.  You can do searches online to help you find signs for various cues and words you want to teach your dog.  Many sites have videos to show you how to do each sign, so you can watch and practice until you feel comfortable.  Here is one that lets you type in a word and do a search for the sign that means that word or phrase.  https://www.signingsavvy.com/

You may choose to use widely accepted hand signals that are used for dog obedience exercises.  You can do a search for dog obedience hand signals to find these.  Or you can even do searches for signs to use with deaf dogs and find many sites with examples.  Don't let yourself be confused, though, as signs may be different from site to site.  This is because as long as you are consistent with the signs you choose, your dog won't care which ones you use.

I have chosen a number of signs to use from various sources, and some I have made up myself.  My deaf dogs know some made up signs, some dog obedience signs, and some actual sign language cues.  You can see some examples of the signs I use on the Uniquely Paws-Able site in the Library where there are sample videos of me working with my dogs in various capacities.  You can find that page here:  https://uniquely-paws-able.teachable.com/p/library-free 

Treasure's Legacy

It's taken me a week to even attempt to write this post.  My heart and my mind have struggled to find words that would even come close to describing the relationship I had with my dearest Treasure for the past eight years.  I'm not sure I will ever find the right words.

I've been blessed to share my life with a dog that has touched so many from all around the world.  I am sure I do not even know how far her legacy has reached.  She has followers and fans all over the world.  She has helped countless dogs to find new homes and to be able to stay in their homes.  She has changed lives that I may never even be aware of.  

And so, I want to share with each of you the magic and the legacy of Treasure.  I will share with you over time and many posts, about who she was and who she continues to be.  You will laugh with us and cry with us.  I hope you will come along and celebrate Treasure's life with us.

This all happened very suddenly.  One day Treasure had a heart attack, and although she appeared to recover, she was quickly diagnosed with heart and kidney failure.  What does one do with a diagnosis like that?  

I did what we all would do - I focused on how to make it all better for my precious girl.  We worked with the veterinary team to do all we could to reduce Treasure's symptoms.  I knew that her time (at age 12) was limited, but I didn't know whether I would have her for another hour, or another couple of years.  My initial fear caused me to try to focus on packing every minute full of things to do with her - a bucket list so to speak.

I quickly realized, though, that focusing on a bucket list was causing me to focus on Treasure's death.  The death that I knew was going to come one day.  I didn't want to focus on her death, so I decided instead to write a Celebration List.  Together we created a list of all the little things that we loved to do together every day.  And then I focused on celebrating all of those moments with Treasure every day, for however long we had left together.  

This shifted my focus from the fear of wondering when I was going to lose her to gratitude for every moment we had together.  This shift allowed me to have some wonderful last days with my friend full of love and remembering and celebrating each memory we had created together.

Treasure is the reason I started this blog.  When I adopted her, so many people misunderstood her as a blind and deaf dog.  They expected her to be miserable and helpless.  I wanted to show and inspire everyone that she wasn't like that at all.  I knew that if so many people thought this way, surely there were many more.  This limited thinking would surely prevent blind and deaf dogs from being adopted, so we set out to change hearts and minds.

The White Dog Blog has become a go-to resource for all things related to double merles and blind/deaf dogs.  This is all thanks to Treasure coming into my life.  We expanded the blog and wrote a book about teaching and living with dogs that are both blind and deaf, and it continues to be the only one of its kind.  Again, this would not have happened without Treasure's inspiration. 

Treasure paved the way for many blind/deaf dogs to be adopted, and to show just what they are capable of!  She loved to learn new things!  She loved nosework and learning tricks.  She was the first blind and deaf dog to earn trick dog titles!  

What an amazing therapy and READ program dog she was!  She was a superb cuddler and when people held her, she surrounded them with a gentle and radiant love, which they felt and commented on every time.  Her patience with children allowed her to teach them that it wasn't scary to be different ... or to be friends with someone who is different.

I cannot even begin to count the stories of lives she has touched and changed for the better.  Many of those stories are shared here in this blog.  I hope if you are a more recent follower of the blog that you will go back and visit some of the older posts to see some of these stories. 

My dear Treasure passed away a week ago, after blessing me with an amazing week full of special Celebration memories.  She is greatly missed.  As she left me, she surrounded me with that gentle and radiant love, which continues to sustain me and bring me comfort. 

Over the Moon!

I am over-the-moon proud of my boy Vinny this month!  He and I were away from home for three weeks this month, visiting new places, doing new things, and he took it all in stride.  We had a blast!  It was, of course, so hard to leave the other dogs for that long.  Both Vinny and I missed them so much!  And this was the first long trip that I did not bring Treasure on since she came to live with me 8 years ago.  It was hard to leave her behind.  It is hard for my heart to accept that she is retired now and would rather stay closer to home. 

We stayed at two different hotels and a friend's home while we traveled, so there were many new environments for Vinny to adjust to.  With each new space, he threw himself into exploring.  It is fascinating to watch him mapping out a new space.  He walks the same path many times, and then from different directions and he expands upon that path each time, adding a bit more to the map each time he makes a pass through.  He bumps into some things, but then quickly remembers where they are.  He learns a map of the outside too - from each new door to the elevator, to the door, to the potty area outside, or up and down steps, and he learns the map back to his door at the hotel.  

I was honored to assist once again at a TTouch training with Linda Tellington-Jones.  This was Vinny's first time.  He had fun meeting new friends, moving through the Playground of Higher Learning, and even doing an interview!  You can see his resting space in the background of the picture.  

Elements of the Playground of Higher Learning, such as the labyrinth above, are meant to help a dog learn to move in balance, starting and stopping mindfully.  Moving through the Playground with its person gives both of them a focus, and can change behavior drastically and permanently by allowing both to experience new awareness.  

When we weren't in class, Vinny and I enjoyed getting to know my roommate's new puppy Star.  What a cutie!  The two dogs had way too much fun together, while Rose and I always seemed exhausted trying to keep them occupied and exercised while on the road away from home!  

And, of course, all the excitement makes for sweet dreams!  I'm so very proud of the partner Vinny has become in such a short time already.  Treasure certainly taught him everything she knows and prepared him so well to step into his role as ambassador, educator, and friend.  I couldn't wish for anything more!  I do think we are both happy to be home for a little while, though!