While they may not be blind or deaf, dogs with extreme fear certainly have special needs. The biggest of those needs is patience. Yes, loving your terrified dog is important, but, paradoxically, the more you try to show your dog how much you love them, and how safe they are in your home, the worse the situation could become. What your dog really needs is space and patience to enable them to get comfortable in their own time.

That’s not to say that you do absolutely nothing. It just means that you let your dog set the pace.

A slow start
I met my dog Hazel when I started my second stint at TEARS. Her little came in from a foster home and I was warned that all three puppies were fearful. That didn’t even begin to describe them. As soon as I got near their enclosure, they tried to melt into each other and into the kennel wall.

So I stopped. I took some steps back until they oozed back into their original huddle, I sat down and I started telling them nursery rhymes. It took several days (and my entire repertoire of rhymes and fairy tales) before I could get to the gate and even more before I could go in.

Hazel’s brothers came out of their shells and were adopted relatively quickly, but Hazel was far more challenging. I started fostering her to get her out of the shelter environment. After that it was inevitable that I would adopt this terrified, virtually feral, unadoptable little girl.

A lesson in patience
She was at home for three days before she decided it was safe to sit near me; it took another three days before she initiated physical contact.

My husband was another matter entirely. She barked at him when he came home, when he left the room, when he entered the room, when he moved too quickly, when he did anything at all. Thankfully my husband is a patient man because she barked at him like this for four months. It was another three months before she initiated physical contact.

We danced with progress as I worked on the different aspects of her fear. Two steps forward – three steps back. Three steps forward – one step back. She bonded with me and she bonded strongly with one of my dogs, who also treated her with utmost patience. She played with Hazel gently and Hazel stuck to her like a magnet on walks. Hazel even decided that she wanted to go with her to training classes.

From keeping her distance and barking at anyone who even looked in her direction, Hazel now trains in the class with other dogs and people. It took about 18 months to reach that point. Since then, progress has been rapid. She takes treats from people; she can be close to other dogs. She does agility courses that include the A-frame and tunnels. She even works with her favourite person who always gives her treats.

Rewards you can’t imagine
Not once did we put any pressure on her. She did everything in her own time. And I’m so glad we did it that way because we got to know her quirky personality. We uncovered her brilliant sense of humour, and the delight she gets when she plays like a lunatic and makes me laugh.

Will she ever completely get over her fear?

Nope.

But that’s ok because we can manage her environment so that she’s not blasted out of her comfort zone and into terror. We work slowly with new events and stimuli that make her anxious. Sometimes we progress and sometimes we just have to let it go and work around it. For instance, she doesn’t like undercover parking, so I just hunt for shade and shop like the Flash so that people don’t think I’ve left her in the car to overheat.

She’s a work in progress, but who isn’t?
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I took on a challenge when I brought her home but she’s been a great teacher and has turned into the cutest little munchkin that ever was.

I started teaching Rosalie tricks almost as soon as we brought her home. Some people may ask why? What is the point? And I answer:

Because it is heaps of fun!

Yes, it also builds confidence and teaches dogs to problem-solve and improves their attention and focus. But trick training is also a great way to stimulate your dog mentally and can meet enrichment needs if you can’t go walking regularly. But when you get right down to it, it’s one of the best ways to have fun with your dog.

How to teach your dog tricks: What you need
I find clicker training to be the best way to teach your dog new tricks. I’m not going to go into how clicker training works, but please take a look at Karen Pryor’s website for more information. She revolutionised the dog training industry when she introduced the clicker as a way to exactly mark the behaviour you’re looking for. Clicker training can be used to train virtually every species, from salamanders to budding gymnasts.

So get yourself a clicker and treats. If you’re training at home, you can use your dog’s kibble (pellets) as a training reward. You’ll need higher value treats, however, if you want to take your training to a distracting environment, like the park or training class. I started off using high value treats with Rosalie from the start. Fortunately, she is so food motivated that she will work for kibble in most circumstances. Her favourite is Eukanuba Schnauzer pellets; they magically get her attention when she gets distracted during training.

You might have to experiment to see what floats your dog’s boat. I’ve worked with a dog who only responded to peanut butter toast and I’ve heard tell of a Rottweiler who worked for apple.

Think about how many treats you’ll need and then double it. The better you pay behaviour, the quicker your dog will learn.

You also need a quiet place with few distractions. This could be your lounge (with all the furniture pushed back), your garage, or your garden. You don’t need acres of space to begin with, just enough room for you and your dog to comfortably turn around in both directions.

How to teach your dog tricks: Start with the basics
Set yourself and your dog up for success by starting with basic dog tricks. The most basic trick that I absolutely love to teach is a hand target. It’s a great way to introduce your dog to learning and it demands very little from you. All you need is your hand and some treats. The idea is for your dog to touch your hand with their nose. It has practical applications (you can use it for recall), but I like it because once your dog twigs, their faces light up and they can’t wait to play the game.

The hand target can be used to teach several other tricks, including how to spin in a circle next to you, go around your body, go between your legs, and it can even help your dog learn how to weave.

Even blind dogs can learn to target your hand. You can introduce them to the concept with something that makes a gentle noise, like a tinkling cat toy on the end of a wooden skewer. Rosalie didn’t like the tinkle so close to her face, so she learnt the good old fashioned way.

I like to teach a paw target next. A basic paw target can be used as the foundation for a lot of cute dog tricks, for example, high five, shake, wave, and how to cross their paws.

The step up from simple dog tricks
With the foundations laid, you can move to more advanced tricks. Weave is a fun trick to learn and once you’ve trained the basic figure-8, you can walk forward and backward, travel left and right, change direction mid-sequence, and invent your own moves.

Once you’ve got a couple of weaves under your belt, you can enter dog sports, like progress tests, which are a good launching pad for dog dancing (musical freestyle).

Add in some twists and spins and you can try your hand at Rally-FrEe, which combines trick training with obedience (heel work and sits and downs). The great thing about Rally is that you don’t have to choreograph a routine or wear a costume. You get a preset course which you can practice before you film your final entry.

All three of these dog sports have levels that go all the way from beginner to advanced and championship. And, importantly for those of us with special needs dogs, there are handy dandy and alternate categories that are simpler and which have lower qualifying scores.

YouTube is your best friend if you’re stuck for dog trick ideas or need someone to go through the tricks step-by-step. You can learn useful dog tricks which have great practical applications and can improve your dog’s life skills and manners. And you can learn some truly amazing dog tricks, including how to work more than one dog at the same time.

All of the tricks can be taught to blind and deaf dogs. You might need to tweak the methods somewhat, but there is no reason your pup can’t bring home a championship trophy or two.

Here are few of my favourite YouTube channels for dog trick videos:

• Dog Training by Kikopup
• Rally Freestyle Elements
• Zac George’s Dog Training Evolution
• Donna Hill
• Eileen and Dogs

And here is Rosalie’s most recent Rally-FrEe entry. It’s not perfect, but it is good (if I say so myself), especially considering the noisy building in the background and the fact that there are no treats.

​Life skills for dogs with all their senses mostly include manners around other dogs and people and some emergency skills, such an emergency stop, rock solid recall, and an even more rock solid leave it. Blind and deaf dogs need these skills too, but they also need a bunch of other skills to flourish at home and out and about.

If you have a dog born blind or deaf, you need to include these life lessons with all the other necessary socialisation to ensure you get a well-adjusted adult dog. If, on the other hand, you have a dog going deaf or blind, either as a result of old age or a medical condition, it’s important to start teaching these skills as soon as possible.

Training during this transition phase helps your dog better cope with the loss of their sight or hearing. Instead of being confused by their changing senses, they have learnt coping mechanisms that enable them to continue with their normal activities, including walks, games, and play.

Life skills your dog needs
The first thing your special needs dog needs to learn is how to pay attention to you. They need to do this when you ask for it, and when you don’t ask for it. This is helpful when you’re walking your dogs, as they come back to check in with you every now and then. The more they do this, the easier it will be to get them out of trouble and keep them safe.

A good recall (come when called) is also essential. How to train a blind dog to come when called is obviously going to be very different to how to train a deaf dog the same behaviour.

Blind dogs need a verbal cue, but they also need to learn how to orientate towards you so they zero in on you if they’ve wandered off on an off-lead walk. A great way to teach this is to play hide and seek.

Deaf dogs need a physical cue. Sign language is fantastic for this. Many people use formal sign language, South African sign language, for example. But you can use any hand signals that make sense to you. Just remember that when you’re teaching dogs sign language you and everyone in your family needs to use signs consistently, otherwise your deaf dog is going to get very confused.

When working with a blind dog, you need to include a careful cue to let them know they’re coming up to something best avoided, like a rock, a hole, and a pole. Careful can tell them to slow down when they’re running full tilt and when to jog left or right.

Teaching step up and step down is also valuable when you’re out walking a blind dog. This is helpful for curbs and stairs, as well as navigating rocky paths out in the mountains.

Helpful accessories for blind and deaf dogs

• Tags: The tags on your dog’s collar should tell people about your dog’s condition; for example, “I am blind” or “I am deaf”.
• Customised collar: You can get a customised collar with your dog’s name and your phone number stitched on. These are great in case the tag falls off. You could also include your dog’s condition.
• Bandana: A bright bandana on your dog’s collar or harness that says, “I am blind” or “I am deaf” alerts people to your dog’s particular disability.
• Vest: You can wear a bright vest that says, “My dog is blind” or “My dog is deaf”. This is helpful because some people see the bandana and want to come closer to see what it says.
• Microchip: All dogs should be microchipped and special needs dogs are no exception. The tag should tell people that your dog is microchipped.
• Harness: All dogs should be walked on harnesses for health and safety reasons. Harnesses are particularly important for blind and deaf dogs because they can’t always read your body language so tugs on the collar for sudden stops and changes in direction can come as an unpleasant surprise.

Teaching a deaf dog or blind dog life skills is one of the biggest favours you can do for them. Like all teaching and training, however, it takes time. Sandy will do all the foundation work for you. After a brief handover to bring you up to speed, your only responsibility is to have fun with your dog.

Contact Sandy to book an appointment and begin your dog’s life skills lessons.