Blind golden retriever gets puppy ‘guide’ dog to help him after losing both his eyes

A golden retriever named Tao has been given his own guide dog puppy, Oko, to help him live his life after losing both eyes to glaucoma.

Oko the puppy – who is also a golden retriever – accompanies 10-year-old Tao out on walks, helping to keep him out of danger and navigating his way through all that he can’t see.

Their owner, Mel Jackson, has set up an Instagram account for Tao that has over 15,000 followers at time of writing.

Oko’s appearances on the feed have captured the hearts of followers just as much as Tao’s valiant efforts at adapting to life as a blind dog.

The account shows many adorable snaps of the dogs taking walks and playing, as well as snuggling up together.

The story began when Mel discovered Tao in great pain back in early 2019, leading him to be diagnosed with glaucoma at the vets and to have one eye removed. His second eye was removed eleven months later.

Talking to Somerset Live earlier this year, Mel said: "Euthanasia was never an option. He's part of our family and we have done the best we can for him.

"He is truly amazing and has learnt to deal with his sight loss so quickly.”

Mel has gone on to work on raising awareness for glaucoma in dogs, hoping to prevent other dogs from suffering the same fate as Tao did.

"People who are going to buy puppies – ask the question,” she says, pointing out the importance of finding out if dogs are susceptible to glaucoma as soon as possible, as it’s a preventable condition if diagnosed early enough.

Mel has also worked with The Kennel Club, who has used Tao's DNA “marker” to help identify other dogs who are prone to glaucoma.

In March it was announced that sniffer dogs were being trained to help detect coronavirus symptoms.

It was hoped the dogs – which are already used to sniff out cancer, Parkinson’s and low blood pressure – could be deployed to the front line in the battle against Covid-19.

Charity Medical Detection Dogs, based in Milton Keynes, worked with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Durham University on the project.

Sniffer dogs are now deployed at Helsinki airport in Finland to sniff passengers infected with Covid-19.

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