So winter in Colorado lots of snow. Because of lots of snow my blind gsd got lost in the yard 3 times today. I was thinking some modified version of sled dog training might help him get around the yard and the house but i have 0 clue where to start. I dont ever plan to add pulling to the equation.

He does use his front foot the way a blind person uses a cane but its useless if he is way off target.

I'm not sure what you'd expect if you were to use anything like sled dog training ... the correlation completely eludes me.

I'm also really surprised that your gsd can get lost in your own yard - not ignoring its size. If he's "stone blind" I'd think that he would be able to get around as well with snow on the ground as when there isn't (okay, admitted that he's probably lost the olfactory clues he's used to). I would really expect that he'd adapt quickly which you say isn't happening.

If he's any sight at all, shades of shadows type thing, and he's depended on that to get around, then the loss of the normal "colors" - essentially being blinded by an absolute white - might cause what you're seeing. He's using his "cane" since all he sees is a white blur with none of the contrast that he's used to.

When he's "gotten lost" how far out is he? Will he come when you call or is he still unsure of where to go - which would suggest to me that he does have some very limited vision.

If you're thinking in terms of giving directions to get him to you then I'd suggest just working on that. One of my labs would lose her balls (that does not sound right) and I could give her voice directions to get to it. "Near" come toward me, "Away" go further away from me, "Left" (or pointing) and "Right" to get her to change direction. I was surprised when she was able to relate my pointing left and "Left" so I was eventually just able to tell her to go left - it'd probably be more difficult with a dog who can't see and one whom you're trying to guide around things.

Hes not completely blind all the time he can see in certain very bright situations and a little in the peripheral. He has central progressive retinal atrophy and in the last year has gotten way worse. We have tactile directions in the yard like carpet and also the bushes and gravel and concrete. When everything is under 3 feet of snow his landmarks disappear. One of his bigger issues is the steps. Its only 2 of them but its not fun watching him fall off the deck and lose the stairs.

I was thinking on direction because yes i can call him and he can locate me and the door and stuff that way but i have no way to say go left before you step on a cactus.

His training had to go almost back to as if he wasnt trained, because i never bothered with voice commands and he cant see my signals most of the time. We have been workong on guidance by tapping left shoulder to go right and right shoulder to go left. Im not sure though where i would go from there as far as for me to be able to kinda give him directions.

How about a zip line from the steps to the boundary of the yard using peanut butter splotches as a scent line? And putting a ramp for steps?

I'd build on what you're already doing. As you tap the left shoulder, say "right" and vice versa, eventually, hopefully, you'll get the th point that you don't have to be right there. Working on "back(up)" and "come" could be tougher, but if his sight is already bad (a given) and going to get worse, it'll be worth it in the long ru to really work on the voice commands.

@amymeme i have him trained not to take food unless its in his bowl or my hand. Also i had a really bad experience with a chain on 1 dog and 5 loose dogs. It wasnt an attack but 1 dog lost a leg getting tangled while playing.

@aljones now you hit the nail on the head. Right now no matter what i do he comes to me first then does what i want. So with the left and right he knows what the command is but wont do it or any command until he is right in front of me which defeats the purpose.

So how do you i guess train a dog from a distance to where they respond without being on top of you

My fence is about 40 ft wide by 210 long in an L shape they have the side of the house and part of the backyard.