Living With Blind Dogs: A Resource Book and Training Guide for the Owners of Blind and Low-Vision Dogs, Second Edition - Softcover

Caroline D. Levin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0967225345 ISBN 13: 9780967225340

Publisher: Lantern Publications, 2003

Synopsis

"Living With Blind Dogs," now in its second edition, is the original and definitive resource book on this topic. It embodies helpful hints from hundreds of blind-dog owners, as well as years of ophthalmic nursing, veterinary, and dog training experiences. Both the veterinary community and dog owners alike continue to praise this text, in which Levin successfully answers the common question: "What do I do now?"

This revised edition contains all the topics covered in the first edition, such as: Dealing with feelings of loss and grief, how dogs react to blindness, conditions that cause blindness and how they progress, genetics, pack issues, training concepts, new skills, helpful hints to negotiate the house, yard, and community, toys, games, and suppliers/resources.

This revised edition also includes numerous new sections and chapters: Dogs both blind and deaf, dogs blind from birth, white canes and other devices, circling behaviors, changes in barking patterns, dealing with cats, giving eye drops, traveling and camping with a blind dog, adding another dog to the pack, dry eye syndrome, VKH, and new findings on PRA and SARD.

About this title

From the Publisher:

With a unique combination of professional experiences, Caroline Levin has created the first-ever resource book for the owners of blind and low-vision dogs. Both the veterinary community and dog-owners alike are hailing the arrival of "Living With Blind Dogs". In it, Levin successfully answers the question most commonly asked by devastated pet-lovers: "What do I do now?"

Levin came to write this book, when after a decade in human ophthalmic nursing she left that field to manage an ophthalmic veterinary clinic. Here, she was able to meld her knowledge of ophthalmology with her love of dogs, developing badly needed educational materials for clients. Levin took the opportunity to meet many blind dogs and talk with their owners.

Caroline Levin is also an award-winning dog trainer. She has an in-depth understanding of canine behavior and the methods used to successfully train dogs. She shows her dogs in obedience competitions and the new sport of musical canine freestyle.

From the Author:

At the veterinary clinic where I worked, we cared for and cured many canine eye problems. There were, however, times when a dog would be diagnosed as irreversibly blind. This was an emotional moment for the dog’s owner and tears were often shed.

Time and time again, dog owners wondered how they were going to deal with this problem. It became clear that while there was nothing more that could be done to help the dog’s eyesight, there was much more that could be done to help the dog — and his owner!

I realized that both of these individuals needed help adjusting to blindness. The dog needed to learn new skills in order to maintain a good quality of life. And the owner needed help to become a teacher and a cheerleader. He was going to have to help his dog learn these new skills.

As you and your dog make this transition, you may find yourself playing several roles. Sometimes you will be the caregiver to your dog; and sometimes you will require care and teaching yourself. This is why I wrote the book.

My first goal was to help people deal with the sorrow they felt when their dog was diagnosed as blind. My second goal was to provide dog owners with an understanding of the physical conditions that cause blindness. And lastly, I wanted to provide blind dogs with new skills that would allow them to enjoy the fullest, richest life possible.

Since first writing Living With Blind Dogs, I’ve completed several other books about canine diseases and their contributing factors. The knowledge I have gained has influenced and advanced my original work on these pages.

Caroline D. Levin RN

About this edition

• Publisher: Lantern Publications
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0967225345
• ISBN 13: 9780967225340
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 188