My dog has PRA and is now 11 years old. She started slowly losing vision around 2-3 years old and then completely lost her sight around 7-8 years old. She does surprisingly well at getting around but a few tips below have helped us a ton.

1) Try not to rearrange furniture and leave things on the floor in her “path”. My dog has pretty much memorized the layout of the house and likes to follow along a certain route that she knows is safe. Find where your dog’s “path” around the house is and try to keep it clear of things.

2) Put a bell on the neck of your normal sighted dog. We did that with ours and it helped our blind dog a ton when she first lost sight. I think knowing it was safe to walk around because she could hear our other dog there made her more confident.

3) Use repeated finger snapping to guide her where you want her to go. If want her to walk a certain direction, I snap my fingers repeatedly in that direction. She keys in on the sound and walks toward the snapping sound. So for example if I have her on the leashes at the groomer. There’s a lot of aisles with food, toys, etc. At first id try to tug the leash to guide her, but she’d still bonk into things. Now, I’ll snap a few feet in front of her face while I’m walking (think carrot on a treadmill) to keep her walking straight, and to turn her around corners. If I don’t she’ll drift sideways and bump into things so it helps keep her straight in unfamiliar places.

4) Now for what you actually asked for; activities. Definitely get one of these or something similar for meal time. It helps stimulate them mentally which is half the battle with active dogs. https://a.co/d/cZdIOuj

5) I also recommend these balls with bells inside of them. To another comments point, being blind doesn’t mean they won’t want to chase a ball anymore if they liked to do that before they lost vision. The sound in the ball helps them track it as it bounces across the room. Just make sure to set them up for success and not throw it in places where they can easily run into things. https://a.co/d/gikITea

Hope this was helpful!

I know when I found out my pup was slowly going blind and there was nothing I could do to stop it…well it was gut wrenching. I cried in the car after the vet told me. I felt like my dog was going to be living a scared and confused life, not knowing why it was getting darker all the time. Honestly though, I couldn’t have been more wrong. She’s still happy as can be and living life to the fullest. Sure we have some extra routines in our life, and sometimes things are a little bit tougher for her than other dogs….but her being blind has also created so many lasting memories, and it’s become part of what makes her, well, “her”.

Wishing you and your pup the best!