A blind golden retriever and his ‘seeing eye’ dog have captured hearts around the world after their humans shared some touching pictures to social media, earlier this week.
[jwplayer TVbs9RlS]
On Instagram, Adam and Chelsea Stripe introduced the pair to the world. They explained 11-year-old Charlie had glaucoma which “led to his double enucleation (both eyes removed).”
“Now, Maverick is here to help Charlie around and Charlie is trying to teach Maverick manners.”
Glaucoma is an eye disease where vision is lost because of damage to the optic nerve.
Despite Charlie being a little cold towards Maverick at first, the Stripes said the two are the best of pals now. They told USA Today that Maverick will walk closely with Charlie to make sure he gets around okay.
“When Maverick and Charlie play, it’s definitely great to watch because Charlie turns into such a puppy,” Chelsea said. “It’s sweet to see them get along and enjoy each other.”
Wait for it.
“When they would play, Maverick would realise 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.”
And, cue the tears.
Do swipe through these next few pictures if you feel like crying.
There are a handful of crying gifs in this thread which just about sums up our feelings for Charlie and Maverick.
This is Charlie and Maverick. Charlie had his eyes removed due to glaucoma, but then Maverick came along as his little helper. Now they’re doing amazing. Both 14/10 pic.twitter.com/qjkhYLihEO
— WeRateDogs (@dog_rates) March 18, 2019
Since creating their Instagram earlier this week, Charlie and Maverick have amassed more than 70,000 followers and have been swamped with messages of love and support.
Last week, Thomas Panek made history when he became the first blind runner to complete the 2019 United Airlines New York City Half Marathon assisted by guide dogs. His team consisted of good boys Westley, Waffle, and Gus.
The good working boys took it in turns to run alongside Panek. According to Guiding Eyes, the dogs ran three-to-five miles each.
