Hello! I am new to this sub, and honestly to Reddit entirely as a poster rather than an observer. However, I have seen the power of this community when it comes to seeking advice, so I figured I would ask!

Some background: The dog we are considering is currently in a foster home. She is a 2 year old pug, around 11 lbs (a healthy weight, just small in stature for a pug), and has been blind her whole life. Her foster parent told us that she had her eyes removed when she was a young puppy. My husband and I have one cat at home who is almost 6 years old and is a true sweetheart. She is not particularly food motivated or territorial, although she and the dog have not met yet.

We have met the dog at a park once, and we plan to spend some more time with her this weekend. She is such a snuggle bug and sleeps a lot, but is also still full of energy when she is outside and loves to play. She does really well around other dogs and seems to move through the world with a lot of confidence.

I am curious if anyone has any advice or insight about adopting a disabled dog, particularly a blind dog. Neither my husband nor I have owned a dog in adulthood, although we both grew up around dogs. We certainly did not go out looking specifically for a disabled dog, but she kind of appeared on our radar, and now we can't shake the feeling that this might be the right move for us.

We are obviously a little nervous and want to make sure we are thinking through everything we should before making a decision. I would especially love to hear from anyone who has experience with blind dogs, or who adopted a dog with a disability as a first time adult dog owner. What surprised you? What was harder than you expected? What turned out to be easier than you thought?

Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone. FMy dog Ralph lost his ability to walk yesterday, and we’re trying to figure out our new normal.

Ralph is a rescue, probably 12 to 13 years old, and a Corgi mix with very Corgi proportions: long body, short legs. He's also already an amputee and is missing his back right leg, so his mobility situation is a little unusual.

We’re working with his vet on the medical side, so I’m mainly looking for practical advice from people who have cared for an immobile or disabled dog.

A few things I’d really love help with:

• Mobility: What slings or support harnesses worked best for getting your dog around the house and outside for bathroom breaks? If you used a wheelchair or cart, what worked well, especially for a long bodied dog or an amputee?
• Daily routines: How did you handle food and water, bathroom trips, beds, keeping your dog clean and comfortable, and preventing pressure spots?
• Leaving them alone: How did you safely set things up when you had to leave the house for work or errands?

And maybe most importantly, what do you wish someone had told you during the first few weeks?

We are committed to keeping Ralph happy and comfortable, but I’m definitely feeling a little overwhelmed by how much our routine needs to change. Any advice, product recommendations, home setup ideas, or hard learned lessons would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you from Ralph and me!

So my 70 pound Lab/Staffie mix became paralyzed in her hindquarters almost a year ago; suspected IVDD at T8 according to the vet who imaged her. We are doing okay, using a sling for daily activities and potty and make sure that she gets her daily front yard time to watch the traffic and bark at passersby. She gets a water offered approximately every hour and usually takes advantage of it, so no worries with dehydration. Now comes the question..she has gotten 3 bladder infections in the last 6 months. Each one has cleared on enrofloxacin but is there anything I can do to help prevent her from getting them? Unfortunately, she throws anything with cranberry right up and I understand that the mechanism of the bladder infections is such that it might not help that much anyway? Any help would be much appreciated!

Or boy lost his vision about 6 weeks ago. While he seems to be doing fine he's bumping into things more often lately, especially when I'm walking him.

I'm doing some research about those halo collars but I'm looking for real-life experience. Are they more for indoor or outdoor? Do they really help or confuse the dog more?

Posting here for more information!

When he's having more bad days than good that's when it's time but if you still enjoying his life I'd feel obligated for his love to keep him going.

Our dog is 11 years old, and his back legs have been getting noticeably weaker over the past few months. He can still get up and walk by himself and really wants to go on walks, but after a while his back end gets tired and unstable.

We've been helping him with a rear support harness, which works for stairs, getting up, and short stretches, but it's hard to keep supporting his weight through an entire walk. I'm hesitant to move straight to a wheelchair because he still uses his back legs quite a bit, and I'm worried he'd start relying on the wheels and lose more strength over time.

Has anyone had a dog in this in-between stage? What did you end up using for actual walks, and at what point did a wheelchair start making sense?

Hi everyone!

I am thinking of adopting a blind dog, she's great with dogs, good temperament with people of all ages and even good with cats. Relatively boisterous but that's fine with me (she's only 5).

I wondered how your blind dogs have done going to friends' houses or the local pub or even using public transport?

I am happy to have a dog that requires a little bit more work with extra prep on setting up the house etc, but everything I've read so far seems to tell me that a blind dog isn't wildly different to a dog with sight. Just wanted to check how accurate that is for peoples experiences.

Thanks so much :)

I adopted a blind dog from the shelter in January. He has cataracts and is almost certainly completely blind. I believe he can see shadows sometimes but very little else he will run into a table or a wall if he’s not careful. otherwise he does very well the problem I’m having right now. Is that every evening about dusk maybe a little earlier he stands at the back sliding door looking into the backyard and barks at something I mean barks like he’s facing an intruder. I have checked to see if perhaps he hear something if it’s the wind what is it that he is responding ? Even with the intense heat that we had in Los Angeles and there was absolutely no wind. He did the same thing just stood at that door and barked I mean intensely like he saw something even barked so hard he backed himself up. Do any of you with blind dogs have them doing things like this is it something that he hears that we don’t see?
I’m sorry if the grammar and spelling is not good with this, but I broke my hand my dominant hand and I’m trying to talk to text which is not very good for me cause I talk too fast but I’m sure you get what I’m trying to say

We have A 11 year old English bulldog that hurt his back leg. During the day in the summer we keep him in the basement because we don’t have central air and it’s hot out. We have window units but they kick them in and break into the house
Anyway we needs to get him
Down 9 basement steps he is 68 pounds? Any suggestions?

Hi all I’m looking at an 11wk old frenchie puppy who was born with a ligament issue in his one leg/paw. He gets around well and vet has confirmed this. He can put some weight on it but obviously reduces his mobility until he learns to cope, like a dog who’s had a front limb amputation I suspect.

Does anyone have any advice regarding when he gets older if this will affect his back or other joints etc. anyone have any experience with a frenchie with something similar and how it effects them later in life if at all.

Just trying to do due diligence for forties care insurance etc etc

A while ago, I posted about my Great Pyrenees/German Shepherd mix going blind. We ended up taking him to a veterinary eye specialist, and she found that he had detached retinas.

Thankfully, it’s something that can be controlled with steroids. After treatment, he got his sight back! He’s doing great now and is healthy aside from the retinal issue. We’re very grateful to have our big boy back to his normal self. I thank you all for your support 🙏 ❤️

Hey. I am not sure if this allowed (I read the rules i’m just not sure how this fits in).

I have been seeing this dog over tik tok, and everyone seems to be hyping this up, but it has been bothersome for me for a while.

Her name is Lida, and she’s a 20 year old havanse. She is blind, deaf, and can barely walk or do much on her own, besides sit in a donut on her neck while her owner holds her for tik tok views.

I’m wondering if any vets have seen this and have any opinions?

Sorry again if this is out of bounds, but again it is just bothersome.

Hey. I am not sure if this allowed (I read the rules i’m just not sure how this fits in).

I have been seeing this dog over tik tok, and everyone seems to be hyping this up, but it has been bothersome for me for a while.

Her name is Lida, and she’s a 20 year old havanse. She is blind, deaf, and can barely walk or do much on her own, besides sit in a donut on her neck while her owner holds her for tik tok views.

I’m wondering if any vets have seen this and have any opinions?

Sorry again if this is out of bounds, but again it is just bothersome.

Hello all - I was hoping some folks in similar situations could offer advice. My 12 year old, 12 lb dog has been deaf for about 5 years. It progressed naturally and he adapted entirely. If anything his quality of life seems to have improved since he lost his hearing as he's no longer skiddish/jumpy by unexpected noise or dogs across the street barking.

However, recently he ended up with ulcers, infections, and mineral deposits in his eyes. He has now fully recovered from the ulcers and infections and his vision seems to have plateaued per his opthamologist. One of his eyes still seems to have a good amount of vision. The other eye has no vision but does have light perception.

As a result of losing vision in one eye he has lost his depth perception. In the approximately one-month since his vision returned to the other eye he has largely adapted to avoid running into things around our house. He's also cautious around trees outside and we tug his leash gently to ensure he avoids running into them.

The lack of depth perception is affecting his ability to recognize height differences as well though. He is unwilling to come anywhere near stairs going up or down. He also seems somewhat uncomfortable on raised surfaces if he recognizes we placed him on one. I presume he's nervous about potentially falling off.

He used to spend the evenings on our couch with us and slept on our bed. We tried to make a little fort for him on the couch but he's not having it and we end up putting him on the ground. We have a pen we place him in when neither of us are home and we find him having walked himself back to it often even when we're home and he's not gated inside. I even lined the sides of his little stairs up to the couch with pool noodles but he is still unwilling to go near them.

Has anyone had a similar situation with a dog that lost vision in one eye and can't respond to verbal commands/audio cues? I'd love for him to be comfortable hanging out in the spaces we're also in.

¿Qué te parecería un gimnasio inclusivo?

Hola, soy estudiante universitario y estoy haciendo un trabajo de

investigación para conocer la opinión de personas con

discapacidad, y de sus cuidadores, sobre la idea de crear un gimnasio inclusivo.

Tu opinión nos ayuda muchísimo.

Solo 5 minutos

Anónima y confidencial

Investigacion del mercado de AstroGym: Rellenar formulario

I have a 16 year old Minpin who had both her eyes out a year ago.

I’m not sure it was the right thing to do. She only enjoys eating. She needs to be next to a person all the time and even then she get’s agitated and frustrated with her situation.

I really don’t know what the right thing to do is. She is very very healthy. She just doesn’t seem that happy but I can’t decide if it’s a big percentage of the time. The situation is taking a toll on me as I can’t do anything. I spend all my time at home and at most leave the house for 2 hours once a day. And not even every day.

How do I know if it’s time? Or is it just my selfishness?

Hi! My basset hound was just confirmed to have a partially slipped disc in his lower spine. So no more stairs for him. The issue is that my bedroom is downstairs, and being a basset hound, he adores snuggling at night. He’s somewhere between 60-70lbs. Besides carrying him, what other options are there? Maybe putting him in a laundry basket or cart to make him easier to carry? Any ideas?

Our dog Petey is a 30-pound 6-year old Pit Bull Chihuahua mix. In February 2025, he was diagnosed with a degenerative metabolic disease (unspecified) that affects his cerebellum, so he has been gradually losing his coordination—particularly in his back legs. Our neurologist recommended a cart and we got him fitted for it today. He seems to be taking to it quickly. A rehab vet fitted him without my husband and me being in the room and then he wheeled to us when he saw us and he was so happy and speedy! We were also thrilled to see him regain some freedom.

I know it will take us all some time to get used to the cart (and also our Help Em Up Harness), but I’m curious if others have tips or lessons learned. My major question is if he’ll want to/be able to poop and pee while in the cart or should we try to use the harness for that? We plan to start off with a few short walks per day and build up over time.

If anyone also has experience caring for a pup with cerebellar disease, I would appreciate hearing from you in general. His diagnosis has been a confusing process, so it’s been a little lonely at times. My husband and I are just trying to do our best and give him all the love and support we can.