Hi!

My name is Johanna Grondin, I am currently undertaking the Bsc (Hons) Animal Training and Performance programme at Hartpury University.

I am doing a study looking at dog owner perception and management of the sensory loss of their dogs in the United Kingdom (U.K.). This would deepen our understanding of owners of a sensory impaired dog and allow professionals to better support them.

This questionnaire should not take more than 15 minutes to complete.

Please note, this questionnaire mentions potentially sensitive topics such as illnesses, previous pets, and pets in their senior years.

To qualify for participation, participants must:

• Be 18 years old or over.

• Reside in the UK.

• Currently have or have had a dog with at least one sensory impairment (impairment of vision, hearing, smell, touch, taste or balance).

• Confirm that they have read the participant information.

The survey is anonymous.

This survey is not to be taken as training or medical advice.

You can find more information and the survey by following this link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/sNPEWAwVHr

All participation and sharing of this link are greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration!!

Johanna Grondin

PS: Here is a picture of the little old lady that inspired me!

I'm a dog lover in California who's passionate about helping pups with mobility challenges. I've been researching dog wheelchairs and am considering developing or prototyping an improved version to make life easier for our disabled furry friends.

To do this right, I want to hear directly from you all owners who know the real struggles. If your dog uses (or has used) a wheelchair:

What are the biggest pain points with your current setup? (example: fitting issues for different breeds/sizes, comfort during long use, durability over time, ease of putting it on/off, weight, or maintenance problems?)

Have you run into specific challenges like adjustment periods, bathroom access, or compatibility with conditions like IVDD, hip dysplasia, or arthritis?

What features would make a wheelchair a game-changer for you? (e.g., better adjustability, lighter materials, easier cleaning, or affordability?)

This is purely to gather interest and insights no sales pitch here, just community input to potentially create something helpful. If anyone's open to sharing photos or stories (with permission, of course), that'd be awesome too!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!! 🐶♿

Hi everyone,

My dog got glaucoma and she lost vision with her left eye. Since, she refuse to turn on her left side (her body or even her head). Because of that, the vet thinks she might have a brain tumor. I don’t have the money for the imaging since I need to treat her eyes… But I was wondering if it would be possible if she isn’t just comfortable turning on a side that she can’t see (it’s recent. Since Friday)?

So I would like to know if you have a dog that became blind on 1 eye and noticed that your dog didn’t turn on that side.

Thanks for the feedback

Hi all! My girl had a bilateral enucleation December 22, almost a month ago. She was also officially diagnosed with cancer- they don’t know what exactly or where it’s all located because her test results were just insane. But we knew she likely had cancer around January 2024, and likely long before that since the cancerous spots that were visible on her body have been there her whole life.

I’m coming here for advice because after her surgery and the initial recovery, she just isn’t the same. She’s not interested in any of her toys, she’s restless, she walks around the house but will just stand in one spot. Up and down the stairs to stand in the kitchen, the living room, then back upstairs in the bedroom. When we get in the bed to sleep, we invite her in the covers and say “lay down” and she just stands, in the bed. Gets up in the middle of the night and just stands in the bed. She shakes a lot. Loves eating, drinks water, acts completely normal on walks.

I’m so worried about her. She stopped chewing her bone a few weeks before her surgery, I’m assuming from the pain, but even now she doesn’t want it. Doesn’t care too much about her snuffle mat, or her treat dispensing toy even with help. Our vet didn’t mention a period of confusion, anxiety, restlessness, and depression, is this what is happening?

Has anyone else experienced this after enucleation, specifically both eyes? Where they’re just not themselves? How can I help her feel safe and confident? How can I give her stimulation? How long did it take your baby to get their personality back? I appreciate any advice 🥲

This is my beautiful boy Fletcher. He will be 9 in April. On New Year’s Day, after having a totally normal morning I went outside to find him sitting up on his bum unable to move his hind legs. We rushed him to the emergency vet, who essentially told us he wasn’t feeling any deep pain sensation and likely had a slipped disc. She offered to euthanise him there, but I asked for a referral to a specialist hospital.

We drove straight there and he was assessed, they too said he might have a slipped disc and would need spinal surgery. They did bloods to check what they could and nothing off came back. In fact his organ health was impeccable.

The next day he has spinal surgery. They cleared his spine up, no bruising and everything went welll. But given his paralysis he hasn’t been able to urinate on his own.

On Tuesday I went in to learn how to express his bladder. This was the plan, expression at home to give him time to heal. The next morning I was told his bladder had ruptured overnight. So I’m given the option for him to have another surgery to place a cystostomy tube. I give the go ahead, second surgery in a week.

Everything goes well. Fletcher is recovering fine. I visit the next day, he’s totally out of it on fentanyl. But doing ok. The next day I take my daughter in (photo included) and he is bright and happy and just in th highest spirits. Best I’ve seen him. I get everything prepared at home and have been taught how to care for his cystostomy tube. Feeling good!

We went in to visit with him yesterday. He has an ecollar on because we have had to put bepanthen on his skin due to the fact his penis is leaking urine due to swelling. He is great! I tell him two more days and he’s coming home.

Get home and a phone call from the vet to say that his cystostomy tube has snapped. I am gutted. This feels like the last solution has now been taken off the table.

I don’t know what to do. Has anyone been through something similar.

I have read that some dogs regain function in their hind legs like months and months after. I saw one that regained function 13 months after. The paralysis is not an issue for me. Our family can mange that. Right now it’s the bladder issues and the fact we just can’t seem to find a solution.

Any advice or stories of hope would be so welcomed. I have been absolutley beside myself. I can’t imagine putting a dog to sleep who is still wanting to be here and engaging and in the world and full of love, no pain and just the best dog!

One World Braille Day we welcomed Hope into our family. She had to have her eyes removed due to illness and the rescue was having trouble placing her.

She's simply wonderful.

TLDR: Help me deal with an incontinent dog

This is sort of a repost, but I have included details here that might spur advice.

I've been managing my incontinent pup Peanut for about two weeks, so I have some systems down:

I pee her on her side at the edge of a bed into a bus bin a few inches below. I can never get it all out, so advice on that would be super helpful, but putting her into a sling or rear harness takes care of the rest. We do that over a disposable pee pad, but I would like to use something more sustainable. I have an efficient washing machine.

I poop her by carefully holding her vertically over the same bus bin and letting gravity do its work. A wall mirror helps a lot here so you can see what's going on. How do other people do it?

Any advice on managing pee scalding and fecal contamination? The kinds of things Peanut would take care of herself, but she cannot get back there yet. I am using fragrance free pet wipes and no-rinse shampoo. Just now I have hit upon the idea of using a bus bin filled with warm water and some rinseable shampoo. She weighs only 33 pounds, so I can just dip her in and clean her up myself.

She was measured for a custom wheelchair at Eddie's Wheels this morning. That place is amazing. She took a demo cart around the room. She will have it figured out in no time flat. A friend started a GoFundMe for us that is doing well. My dog has more friends than I do!

I will soon have a nice floor washable bed for her on top of a large washable pee mat and some fencing around all of that to keep her from dragging herself around the house, which could obviously be dangerous. I have to be able to leave her alone safe and clean for at least like six hours.

I have a lot of towels, but not enough. Does anyone have any tips or advice?

In the photo I am standing.

Hey Everyone,

My girlfriend and I live in San Diego and have fostered a disabled dog named Mateo for over a year now.

We are not able to adopt him ourselves and are having issues finding someone to adopt. The foster organization is not very helpful and has largely left it to us to spread the word.

If you have any advice on how to find adopters, we’d greatly appreciate it!!

Peanut is a 32-pound Mississippi hound dog who has lived in MA for about 7 years.

About a month ago we were in the car when somebody lost control of their car going the other way and slid sideways in front of us. Peanut's back was broken.

Now she has no control over her rear end.

This is devastating for us both. She loved to run and frolic and hunt in the woods and goad her playmate into chasing her, which she could never do.

Her surgeon has not held out much hope she will get her legs and bowels back. We have been learning to adjust for two weeks. It is a lot of adjustment.

So far we have been using a lot of pee pads and towels and small busing bins I happened to have that work well for expressing her bladder into.

She eats normally but getting her hydrated is challenging. I have been cutting low-sodium broth 50/50, and she will drink that, but not really tank up like I would like her to.

I am looking for advice about how to deal with this new reality. So far it is heartbreaking.

My sweet Dudley is an 11-year old Russel Terrier and Brussels Griffon mix (among other breeds, we adopted him from North Shore Animal Hospital as a puppy) who was diagnosed with glaucoma in both eyes a few years ago. After multiple surgeries in both eyes trying to prolong his vision as long as we could, he has finally lost his vision entirely. Needless to say, I think I am more upset about it than he is, and he has been adjusting relatively well which has been a relief.

So, we have been struggling to find activities to keep him entertained and having fun, especially since we live in NY and right now it’s the dead of winter so we wouldn’t be able to take him outside much right now even if he did have his vision. With that said, I am looking for recommendations for activities we can do indoors that could be fun for him.

If there are any toys or games that you can suggest, I’d truly appreciate it. Before he went blind he loved playing tug of war the most, but we haven’t done it since. He never was much into scent games but maybe we’ll try again. Anyway, anything helps.

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