Blind Golden Retriever Is Mistaken For A Guide Dog But It's Him Who Has A ‘Guide Human’

"He has a good, happy life. He trusts his mum completely."

Stephanie

• Published in Animal Stories
• June 4, 2020

Tao is a beautiful golden retriever who looks just like any other guide dog. But actually, he isn't like any other dog.

Tao is blind, and this dog relies on a 'guide human' to help him get through his daily activities. My, my, how the tables have turned.

However, Tao wasn't born blind. Back in February last year, he was suffering excruciating pain. "If you can imagine a migraine and times it by a hundred – that was the pain he was in," the dog's owner Melanie Jackson, said.

It was discovered that the beautiful pup was suffering from glaucoma, which causes a build-up of fluid in the eye, unable to drain. After two lengthy surgeries, Tao sadly had to have both of his eyes removed.

The dog's second surgery was just eight weeks ago, but the 10-year-old golden retriever is improving quickly. He's even been let off his lead recently, much to his dog delight!

"You just know when the dog is not his normal self," Melanie said.

"We had a normal morning. Everything was absolutely fine… by the night, he was in the most pain I have ever seen so we took him to the vets. He was scratching his face. I said, ‘You are going to think I’m mad – but Tao has lost his sight.’"

"The pressure was so high in his eye. We didn’t have any other choice but to have the eye removed. Then, after a thorough examination, I was made aware that he had it in his second eye. So we monitored it every day, but then he started going in and out of blindness. It wasn’t fair. He was in a lot of pain," Melanie explained.

At one point, euthanasia was being discussed. However, Tao is a fighter, and he had other plans.

Tao managed to keep his remaining eye for another 11 months using eye drops. It was only when Melanie realized his vision was getting increasingly worse, she decided it was time for him to have it removed.

Since then, Tao has been adapting to his new situation and thriving! Melanie says he uses commands to navigate through his surroundings and is managing like a champ.

"He is amazing. He’s so well trained, he listens to every command."

"He can go off-lead and waits if you are by a road. If people are coming he gets close to me and if there’s other dogs off their lead he will be aware of that. He does everything that we have always done," Melanie says.

"But because he’s a golden retriever and wears a sleeve on his lead saying ‘Blind K9’ people assume I must be the one that’s blind. They say, ‘He must be good for you’. I say, ‘No, I’m his guide human!’"

Tao uses sensory mats to find his way around the house and to know whether he is going in or out.

"He has a good, happy life. He trusts his mum completely."

Stephanie