Blind 11-year-old Golden Retriever Has His Own Seeing-eye Dog for a Companion

Charlie (left), the blind golden retriever, with his helper puppy, Maverick (right), by his side

An 11-year-old golden retriever who lost his eyes to glaucoma found his very own service animal in his puppy companion.

‘Two best buds living life to the fullest,’ according to their shared Instagram account, Charlie, the blind older dog, has been receiving aid from the energetic Maverick, a 4-month-old puppy.

Chelsea and Adam Stipe, the owners of the two canines from Mooresville, North Carolina, has had Charlie since he himself was a puppy, when he lose his left eye due to the degenerative disease back in 2016, according to NBC Philadelphia.

‘For us it was a no-brainer,’ Chelsea Stipe said after Charlie needed to have his other eye removed in 2017. ‘Empty our retirement plan to care for this dog because he makes us happy.’

Charlie (left), the blind golden retriever, with his helper puppy, Maverick (right), by his side

Chelsea Stipe holding Maverick who was added to the Stipe family on New Year’s Day

Not long after, Chelsea said she wanted to get another puppy while she was pregnant so that their child would have a dog of their own to grow up with.

Maverick joined the family on New Year’s Day of this year, but needed some time to win over the older member of the household. When the puppy did, he noticed his new friend had some differences to accommodate.

According to Chelsea, Maverick would notice that Charlie would lose track of the toy during play time, so the helpful puppy would place it back in front of him to continue the fun.

‘They almost turn into little sled dogs where they’ll walk together,’ Chelsea also said of how the golden retrievers would support each other during outings.

Adam Stipe holding the youngest members of the family. Chelsea said that she wanted get another puppy during her pregnancy so her child could grow up with a dog

On walks, the younger pup sticks close to the 11-year-old Charlie

During playtime, Charlie will lose the toy at times, but Maverick is there to make sure the older canine gets it back to keep playing

The duo’s heartwarming story went viral after Chelsea sent it to the social media account WeRateDogs, a humorous account that pretends to grade dogs on a scale of one to 10, but ends up rating them higher than 10.

‘This is Charlie and Maverick. Charlie had his eyes removed due to glaucoma, but then Maverick came along as his little helper,’ the post featured on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram reads. ‘Now they’re doing amazing. Both 14/10.’

With the post becoming wildly popular, WeRateDogs suggested that the four-legged friends get their own social media presence, and the Stipes made the Instagram account charlieandmav garnering almost 45,000 followers so far.

‘Everything has just been so positive and loving and I’ve even had people reaching out about their dogs who had glaucoma,’ Chelsea said.

Charlie wasn’t keen on the addition of a new member of the family, but Maverick eventually grew on him

Charlie using his young friend as a makeshift ‘Puppy pillow’

SOURCE: Daily Mail, by Michael Nam