Blind Dog Has His Own Seeing Eye Dog, Now Life Is Possible Thanks to His Friend
There was a time when the only service animals you heard about were seeing eye dogs. Nowadays, though, there’s an entire Noah’s ark of aid critters scampering about.
Ranker chronicled how people have turned to kangaroos, monkeys, pigs, turtles and hedgehogs. Recently, a legally blind man afraid of dogs even got a miniature horse to guide him.
Yet that’s far from the oddest use of an animal. Even dogs are now getting their own seeing eye dogs.
Well, at least one dog is. WXMI reported that a spaniel named Kimchi has found a very special — and very necessary — friend.
See, Kimchi wasn’t your ordinary pooch. But we’ll get to the reasons why a little bit later.
According to the Miami Herald, Kimchi’s eventual owners already had another canine named Ginger. They’d wanted to adopt another doggie so that Ginger would have a companion.
Only Ginger didn’t like the original dog they’d chosen. In fact, she snarled and showed it her teeth.
So the couple decided they’d return home empty handed. Then something odd occurred.
“Having just about given up, we were leaving the foster [dog] when, from about 10 meters away, a short fat brown dog made his way toward us, stood up, put his paws on me, and made like he wanted to be petted or carried,” the owner said. “I then took him to Ginger who, unexpectedly, didn’t show any aggression whatsoever.”
That dog was Kimchi, and he was nearly blind. The two quickly became inseparable.
“When found, [Kimchi] was thin, mangy, almost completely blind, and very weak,” the Manila Standard reported. “If Kimchi was left on the street and not rescued, he would have died shortly because of hunger, exposure, or illness.
“Ginger acts as the service dog to the now totally-blind Kimchi, often steering him away from obstacles and danger, a guide dog for a blind dog. Their relationship is unique, the only one of its kind in the Philippines that we know of.”
Unique, indeed. Kimchi and Ginger are typically tethered close together, each one’s movements informing the other of where and when it’s safe to step. Things are different at home, though.
The owner stated, “At home, they aren’t tied to each other. Kimchi knows the general layout of our humble home, the location of the front door, stairs, water bowls, and his favorite armchair.”
If the pairing has done the two pooches a lot of good, it’s done just as much for the great Manila community. The doggies’ owners have not only gone on to adopt 20-some more pets, they’ve allowed Ginger and Kimchi to serve as support animals to the needy.
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