I HAVE A 6YR OLD POM/MIX WHO HAS BEEN BLIND FOR ABOUT A YR.SHE HAS SARDS,SHE KNOWS HOW TO SIT & KNOWS WHAT THE WORD NO MEANSSHE REALLY HAS NOT HAD ANY TRAINING,WOULD I BE ABLE TO USE THE CLICKER FOR HER TO GET HER TO COME WHEN CALLED,ALSO LEASH TRAINING,SHE DOES PULL ON LEASH A LITTLE,I HAVE READ ARTICLES ON THE PRONG COLLARS,I'M NOTSURE IF I WANT TO USE THOSE,I READ THE ARTICLES ON THE CLICKER & THOUGHT THAT MITE BE BETTER.
SUE5147
try it!
It's quite possible that you'll find clicker training increases the confidence of your dog, if she's slowed down at all since losing her sight. Even if that's not an issue, proper clicker training will absolutely help her to improve known behaviors and to learn new ones. You can certainly teach good leash manners without a prong collar -- I've done it even with my much larger dogs!
Do you prefer written or video instructions? Your basic training for a blind dog won't vary too much from what's out there for sighted dogs, except that you'll use more verbal and tactile cues than hand signals. :-) Check out the video help here or get one of the excellent DVDs, or if you prefer a book, we can offer lots of suggestions.
I've worked with variously handicapped dogs and students in my training; you'll do just fine!
This site is more of a blog collection than a forum, so it's sometimes not the best place to get questions answered. If you'd like regular interactive questions and answers, feel free to join us on the ClickerSolutions list. Info is available at www.ClickerSolutions.com. :-)
Laura &