Smallest Puppy Becomes Biggest Helper to His Blind Dog Companion
It is estimated that there are nearly 10,000 guide dogs working in the United States alone, and these dogs have extremely important jobs! It's probably safe to say that all, if not nearly all, of those dogs are working for humans with a variety of support needs.
But today we're learning about a dog who needed a support system and got it in the most adorable package pawsible. Tao is a gorgeous, sweet Golden Retriever who went blind in both eyes, and Oko is a Golden Retriever puppy whose job became being Tao's helper.
The sweet story of adversity (and overcoming it) and the companionship between a graceful dog and a silly puppy is too precious not to share.
Tao is 13 years old and totally blind. He is a very sweet Golden Retriever.
Oko is also a Golden Retriever. How cute are they?
Melanie Jackson is Tao's proud pup parent. She says that Tao was diagnosed with glaucoma, an eye disease where the eye can’t effectively drain its fluids.
According to research: "Glaucoma occurs in about 1.7% of the dogs in North America. The frequency of breed-predisposed glaucoma in both eyes in purebred dogs is the highest of any animal species, except humans."
In retrospect, Melanie said that she never imagined the eye disease could progress as quickly as it did in Tao's case. When he was diagnosed, he seemed to be doing just fine, but one evening he began shaking his head. This is something dogs do when they experience pain.
Merely a few hours after Tao began shaking his head, he went blind in one eye, and the eye had to be removed in February of 2019. Not long after that, in January of 2020, the other eye also gave out and was removed.
However, going totally blind didn't hold Tao back for long at all! Melanie says that he recovered quickly; he even started walking up the staircase all by himself and was able to walk off-leash just three days after losing both of his eyes.
It wasn't long after that that Melanie felt something was missing for Tao. She believed he needed a companion to play with and keep him occupied!
To make that a reality, Melanie took matters into her own hands.
In an interview with Bored Panda, Melanie said Tao doesn't really act his age.
"Tao’s health is really good now. He’s in no pain."
and
"He does everything he used to do apart from jumping up hay bales and jumping over hedges—we walk around 8 miles a day, and he still trains most days."
In came Oko. At 8 weeks old, the Golden Retriever puppy came to live with Melanie and Tao.
We all know Golden Retriever puppies are worth gushing over; they're truly some of the cutest puppies on the planet.
Oko may have only been 8 weeks old when he met Tao, but the pair bonded very quickly.
The two became inseparable right from the start, and Melanie began training him personally to be Tao's guide dog. She said:
"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.'"
Tao follows Oko everywhere, and the adorable dog duo even sleeps together.
By the time Oko was 17 weeks old, he was already excelling in his guide dog duties for Tao.
Melanie also used this opportunity to raise awareness for glaucoma!
By working with The Kennel Club, Melanie has ensured that Tao's DNA has been used to help identify other dogs' predisposition to glaucoma! This is great because blindness can be prevented if glaucoma is diagnosed early enough.
Melanie gushed in her interview about her dogs.
"Tao is a 100% mommy’s boy—he is always close by, and he is like my little shadow. He loves to please, and his favorite thing is scent work—he still scents out balls in the hedges and fields and loves finding his toys when I hide them either in the garden or in the house."
And of Oko:
"Oko was bred by a fantastic breeder from Cornwall—we had always planned to have another pup after Tao lost his brother Otis to cancer 3 years ago, but due to his sight loss and the training I needed to do with Tao, we had to focus on him until the time was right."
"Tao is an amazing dog and is loved by everyone we meet—he is known locally, and people often ask if they can have a selfie with him."
Tao and Oko seem like peculiar names, and people sometimes ask about them on social media.
Melanie says that Tao got his name from a license plate they saw on their way to get him... and Oko? "It means 'eye' in Polish (and some other languages)."
Melanie says that blindness never stopped Tao from being happy and that he "loves life and still does almost everything he used to."
Oko is not officially a service dog, but it's official enough for their family and Tao's needs.
Tao's nickname is Mr. Winky because for 11 months he had one eye and a seemingly permanent wink.
Tao and Oko love playing together and snuggling.
Oko is just over a year old now, but he was the smallest puppy when their journey began!
Today, Tao has over 55,000 followers on Instagram.
Tao, Oko, and Melanie spread a lot of joy to dog lovers around the world.
We wish them the absolute best!
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