Blind Golden Retriever Gets His Own Seeing Eye Dog and It's a Pawsitively Perfect Match
You’ve heard of humans having seeing eye dogs, but what about dogs having seeing eye dogs?
Meet Charlie: an 11-year-old golden retriever. In 2016, Charlie’s owners Adam and Chelsea Stipe had to get his left eye removed after suffering from glaucoma.
A year later, the pup was forced to remove his other eye, causing him to go completely blind, Today reported.
But now, the adorable golden has a new pal to help him navigate the world — a 4-month-old puppy named Maverick.
The North Carolina couple brought Maverick home in January, and though the two didn’t initially get along, they’ve since become close buds — with Charlie relying on the puppy for nearly everything, from walking, playing, eating, and even using him as a pillow!
“They’re both pretty crazy and special,” Chelsea, who recently welcomed a new baby, told Today. “They’re definitely our entertainment.”
Puppy pillow #dogsofinstagram #goldensofinstagram #doggos #bestfriends #goodboys #charlieandmav
A post shared by Charlie And Maverick (@charlieandmav) on Mar 20, 2019 at 5:45pm PDT
“When Maverick and Charlie play, it’s definitely great to watch because Charlie turns into such a puppy,” she added to the outlet. “It’s sweet to see them get along and enjoy each other.”
As the dogs began to get comfortable with each other, the owners told NBC Philadelphia that Maverick began to pick up on Charlie’s patterns and routines.
“When they would play, Maverick would realize that Charlie would lose the toy sometimes, so [Maverick] would pick it up and put it back in front of him to re-engage playtime,” Chelsea said to the outlet.
Synchronized snacking #dogsofinstagram #goldensofinstagram #doggos #snackums #bestfriends
A post shared by Charlie And Maverick (@charlieandmav) on Mar 20, 2019 at 9:50am PDT
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Since introducing Maverick into their home, the Stipes have created an Instagram account to document the pups’ new life at home together.
In the first post that introduced the pups, Chelsea and Adam joked that “Maverick is here to help Charlie around and Charlie is trying to teach Maverick manners. 🤣 definitely a work in progress.”
It was accompanied by an adorable shot of the dogs standing side-by-side, looking up at the camera.
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The rest of the posts show the dogs playing tug-o-war, napping together, and even posing with their new sibling.
Within the first four days of the account’s creation, Charlie and Maverick have gone viral and accumulated more than 52,000 followers — something that Chelsea said was completely unexpected.
“We have definitely been overwhelmed with the response, but it’s such a good thing,” Chelsea told Today. “We love how positive the community is and how happy [the dogs] are making everyone.”
