Giving the best quality of life and tapping the entire potential of my deaf and blind Aussie puppy.

Question
I need some tips about touch training and some general ideas about how people communicate expertly with blind/deaf puppies. We seem to be doing fine so far. Three pats on right shoulder for good boy. one little poke on left for no, not that. One touch on chin for follow me. A halogen flashlight for me location. Loud claps for here I am, come. I still don't think I'm doing the best by him, and he deserves the very best. Thanks you for any help you may offer. Sincerely, K PS (I've always trained deaf dogs and owned through rescue blind or crippled dogs, but never one with both limitations. Thanks Again.

Answer
While I have had old dogs who are blind and deaf, I've never had one that was young enough to require training. With these old dogs, I wave my hand in front of their nose for them to catch my scent so that I don't startle them when I pick them up.

Clicker training is one of the best motivational ways to train a hearing dog.
http://www.clickertraining.com/basics This can be modified to visual signs for a deaf dog.

For the blind/deaf dog, someone has now come up with a vibrating collar to cue the dog when it has done a desired behavior and to tell it that a reward is coming. This is NOT a shock collar.
http://www.deafdogs.org/training/vibratrain.php

Here is a forum for the owners of blind/deaf dogs: http://www.digitaldog.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=17