Golden Retriever puppy becomes guide for older dog [photos]

Tao, a 12-year-old golden retriever who had his eyes surgically removed due to glaucoma, and Oko, his trusty helper, recently went viral after it was revealed that the latter is acting as a guide dog to the former.

Meet Tao, the golden retriever who was diagnosed with glaucoma

Melanie Jackson, the owner of Tao, recounted how it all went while speaking to Bored Panda.

She says that Tao got diagnosed with glaucoma, an eye disease where the eye can’t effectively drain its fluids last year.

“The disease progressed unexpectedly and rapidly. One morning, Tao seemed to be doing just fine, but in the evening, he started shaking his head (dogs do that when they feel pain), and just a few hours later, he went blind in one eye and had the eye removed. In January, his other eye gave out and had to be removed as well.”

He recovered quickly. Just three days later, he was walking up the staircase all by himself and was able to walk off-leash. The dog seemed happy. But something was missing. Tao needed someone to play with him and keep him company, especially since he’d lost his sight.

“Tao’s health is really good now. He’s in no pain, and to say he’s nearly 12, he acts like a much younger dog! He does everything he used to do apart from jumping up hay bales and jumping over hedges – we walk around and he still trains most days,” Melanie told Bored Panda.

Oko (a name that was chosen because it means ‘eye’) was just about 8 weeks old when Melanie got him, but the dog duo clicked immediately and have become inseparable ever since.

“Oko inadvertently has become a guide dog to another dog. Tao follows Oko around when they’re walking, and they also sleep together.”

Melanie is also simultaneously training Tao to follow Oko so he won’t get into trouble.

“Oko is being trained by me – if not, he would lead Tao into mischief as he is a typical inquisitive puppy. Tao is being trained to follow Oko’s scent and Oko to listen and respond to my commands to ‘stop, wait, go right, go left.’”

Raising a cause

Oko is now about 17 weeks old, and seemingly, he has gotten used to his new role. Melanie has also raised a cause for glaucoma awareness in dogs. She has worked with The Kennel Club, who have used Tao’s DNA to help identify other dogs’ proneness to glaucoma. It can be prevented if diagnosed early enough. Ever since the news, the internet just fell in love with this newly-formed pair, and they have a solid 40k followers to show for it on Instagram.