Isaac is a blind Siberian husky and Isabella, a terrier mix, has taken on the role of his protector as his Seeing Eye dog.
Before you dive into the day's drudgery, here's a sweet tale about two dogs, Isaac and Isabella.
He's a happy-faced Siberian husky. She's a feisty terrier mix roughly half his size.
They are inseparable.
As it happens, Isaac is blind and Isabella has taken on the role of his protector – indeed, she is his "Seeing Eye" dog.
According to a video report from CBS News, the San Bernardino, Calif., strays were close to being put down when a non-profit animal foundation stepped in and rescued the pair.
"They're a bonded pair," insisted Fred Kaplan of the STAND Foundation in Hermosa Beach, Calif. "They tend to want to walk together and stay close to one another all the time. If there's any separation … Isabella gets very concerned and is always backtracking to make sure he is always aware of her presence."
Vets believe that Isaac suffers from glaucoma and the video shows a euthanasia authorization form, presumably meant for the dogs. Instead, they are currently staying at Hermosa Animal Hospital where they seem to be sharing the same cage.
The foundation hopes that the dogs find a new, safe home – one that, needless to say, will protect them both.
This is just the latest example of a dog watching over a sight-impaired dog. But things did not go so smoothly for Great Danes Lily and Maddison in 2011. Ultimately, Lily, the blind dog, needed to be separated from her buddy and "rehomed" when her new environment proved too overwhelming.
Unfortunate, yes. Remember, though: These companion dogs have not been formally trained as official Seeing Eye dogs. They are looking after their fellow canines as a form of kinship and as an instinctual response to another's suffering.
As Kaplan says of Isaac and Isabella, "It's a great example of why animals are so special. They do have feelings, they do understand their environment and circumstances and they're just not robots."
Duh, robots don't drool. Still, it's worth taking cue from Isaac and Isabella; theirs is a dog-help-dog world.
Amy Verner