Blind, spins in circles and barks. Appears to be very very smart. Spins into drunkeness if allowed.
So first step have put in very small crate, to stop ability to spin.

Supoosed to be 6 yrs old, has never had teeth cleaned, mouth is a MESS. Needs blood work done before all of regular stuff can be done. This lil yorkie baby, still has puppy coat...

Her one eye is totally gone and recessed back some, the other one is sriveled up and both have to be cleaned daily as they are somewhat messyThats the health stuff..

I have never had a blind dog, but this is not a strech for me. I have all the worlds misfits here at my house. Lord knows, it took me one year, to collect these wonderful disabled dogs.
Each, with their own individual issues/issues.
I have been giving her verbal commands, as to what I am going to do, next, when I get ready to touch her. She follows my voice really well, so ...what is next about that spinning?

Any good suggestions? Someone mentioned that sensory intergration, she satisfys self by spinning...I do believe the lady who had her, may have ignored her some.
She did spin and bark a lot,,,but I have figured out ways to help correct that..she is not near as bad as the first few days.
After she had been with me a few days, I could see quickly, why the lady was going to dump her in the pound. Fortunatly for both of us, she ended up with a trainer..just walking baby steps, but a trainer, none the less.

So for this one, what other ways, would you recommend to stop the spinning. I do try to work with her, to move in a straight line, when possible...we have played chase the voice, out in the front yard.

 Quote: denise rinker

I have all the worlds misfits here at my house. Lord knows, it took me one year, to collect these wonderful disabled dogs.
Each, with their own individual issues/issues.

I guess there really are angels in this world

Denise, I have zip experience with blind dogs; same experience level with Yorkies...of course, I won't let that stop me from throwing out some ideas<g>.

I'd guess the spinning is awfully self-reinforcing. One way to burn off energy and frustration.

How about toys that make noise she can follow? The rubber balls with bells inside, that kind of thing. Given her size, I'm also thinking of the toys they have for cats, which are about the right size...those little balls with noisemakers inside that will roll across the floor so easily making a nice little racket. (Perhaps they have toy dog sized noise-making toys already and you won't have to consider cat toys<g>...don't know, have never looked for tiny toys).

I would assume you're going to do marker training with this girl...since you're still in the early bonding stages, I'd work a lot on naming her body parts, continuing what you're already doing as far as letting her know you're coming and what you're going to do...tell her what each body part is (left foot, right foot, ear, nose, butt, tail, etc.), then you can add in "I'm gonna clean your ears...." etc. You can do the naming parts several times a day. I'll bet any attention, especially positive attention, is like manna to this girl.

I'd make sure you're grooming and/or massaging her every day. I'd be surprised if you aren't already<g>...such a great way to enhance the bonding.

Those things don't address the spinning directly, but I'm thinking the more you can do to engage her brain and give her some positive energy outlets, the better.

Preventing the unwanted behavior is high on the list, and if you have some positive things she can do instead of spinning, especially if there is some pattern to when she spins and you can direct her energy elsewhere before she starts, that would be great. (Putting her in a smaller crate that doesn't allow this behavior was a great idea.)

I sure hope others have better ideas for you<g>.

I hope you'll keep us informed about her progress...

leih

Leih,
Thank you for the information ,,,very good ideas of toys with sound. I have tried a few lil toys, but she has no idea of how to play. She has had to have several butt baths, so we have started bonding thru that also.
I think you are right, the spinning is a way to burn off energy and attention seeking at same time. She has slowed down some..

Manna from heaven is right,,,,she loves the attention and seems to be very happy.

I try to take her in the yard to play, and she does pretty good, she walks some in a circle, but a wider circle. I have been trying to get her to follow me in a straight line or as straight as she can walk.
You would be amazed at how quickly she is learning. One of my non dog friends told me she should be pts. I told them NO, she is happy, smart and eating well, why would I pts her, just because she has gone blind.
People sometimes get to me, prefering the easy way out.

I like the idea of teaching her her body parts,,,,I will start on that today. Again, thank you for the suggestions

Denise,
is she on a leash in the house?

In my mind that may help. If you can stop her even before she gets worked up enough to spin, it may discourage the behaviour.

Is there anything that sets her off or is it just random times that she spins? Sounds like she maybe didn't have much to do (exercise wise) and has self-taught herself this game in order to burn excess energy.
If you keep her on a short leash in the house and tethered to you for now you should be able to see signs that she's about to go into "spinning top" mode and re-direct her onto something else.
I would think even just calling her name and taking a couple steps before she sets herself off would divert her attention onto you and stop her thinking about spinning

Not to be the harbinger of bad news. I knew a dog once, that was blind and a spinner. He was a Chinese crested. He could only walk in left circles, sometimes bigger and somtimes smaller. He was born that way and had other problems as well. Most of it neurological. Sadly, his other problems made his life a living h*** (painful, severe skin problems, joint/bone issues etc) and he only lived to be 9 months old.

However, since you say your dog is otherwise happy and healthy, I would not consider putting her down. But you might need to consider that her spinning could be congenital/neurological and if that is the case, she simply cannot help it and you won't be able to train her out of it. You could train her to do many other things though, and I definitely agree with giving her things to chase that make noise. I have two orbee balls that are mint scented, you could train her to find those by smell.

Wendy, didnt think about tethering her,,,I did some yesterday and did give chance for a few stops. Angela, you may be right...She is at vet now, getting checked for liver shunt,,,,we think that may be cause of blindness. Poor lil baby,,,she is doing ok though. Connie, I will look into the scent games...sounds like a good idea...thank you for the ideas,,,,she has slowed down some...just getting some attention helps. She is so sweet...she really tries so hard to get to where she wants and needs to be. I am also looking into getting her a halo.

 Quote: Denise Rinker

I will look into the scent games...sounds like a good idea...thank you for the ideas,,,,she has slowed down some...just getting some attention helps. She is so sweet...she really tries so hard to get to where she wants and needs to be.

I never thought of turning the essential oils into games! GREAT IDEA!

I used them (I used lemon and vanilla) to guide him to his dishes and bed and away from furniture legs.

Hi, I am glad to hear you are taking her to the vet, a neurological disorder came to my thoughts right away, I am living with one and the inability to walk straight sometimes is just one of several problems I deal with. Another thing that could cause this may pertain to her ears, as the inner ear affects balance. We had a blind Dog years ago, as long as we didn't move furniture,etc. things went fine and people didn't believe he was actually blind. I think the clicker is a God send and use one with my disability Dog, it really picks up the pace as far as learning. There was something we did with our blind Dog that seemed to help as far as adjusting to a dark world. We would loop a soft sling around his back end (it was just a torn piece of rolled up Tee-Shirt), that was then held with the lead to his collar. We would take turns calling him as he was gently guided around and encouraged by a bit of food from the walker.When he made it to who ever was calling, ecstatic praise and the food reward was given. It wasn't long before he was capable of getting around alone just fine, as long as he was in familiar surroundings. When he wasn't, we finally just used a harness and he would follow on his outings.Sassy was adopted from a shelter in Illinois,it wasn't long after we got him that distemper reared it's ugly head. The Vet. held very slim hopes for his survival, he pulled through after a long battle,but was left blind. We were told to put him to sleep by many. But this was not ever considered by us. He already proved he was a heck of a fighter, and his blindness didn't affect his ability to love or enjoy life one bit. He lived to be 17, passing away after someone forgot to put the lounge chair back in it's place by the pool. I hope everything comes out O.K., and that this has helped. You all will be in my thoughts and prayers,please keep us posted. Susie

If it's a neurological chemical problem you can often get some help from medicines used to treat OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) in humans.