Blind Great Dane Has Her Own Seeing Eye Guide Dog – A Story of True Friendship [PHOTOS]
Great Danes really are great.
Lily is a Great Dane, and she has no eyes. Lily's best friend, Maddison, is also a Great Dane - and she is Lily's seeing-eye guide dog.
As a puppy, Lily suffered from a condition called entropion which caused her eye lashes to grow into her eyeballs, severely damaging them. Unfortunately, the only option for Lily was to have her eyes surgically removed. Maddison did not skip a beat, and began leading her dog friend around showing her the way - and has been doing so for the last 6 years. Needless to say, the two are inseparable.
When the previous owner of the two dogs was no longer able to care for them, they were handed over to Dogs Trust; the largest dog welfare charity in the UK, in July of this year. Finding a home for the pair was proving to be very difficult and as of late October, Dog Trust had still not found a suitable home for Lily and Maddison.
Louise Campbell, Manager of Dogs Trust says,
It’s very sad as members of the public walk straight by their kennel, often put off by the idea of having two large dogs and of course one without eyes can be a bit shocking!..."
But after putting out a public call for volunteers interested in re-homing Lily and Maddison, over 2,000 people offered to take the two Danes, but it was Anne and Len Williams whose offer was accepted by the trust. Taking home two large dogs did not bother Anne and her husband. Anne told the Daily Mail,
We've always had two dogs together, I like them to have company and so taking on two of them wasn't a daunting prospect, we've also got a lovely big garden so it's the perfect setting for two huge dogs.
Lily and her best friend Maddison are now living happily ever after with the Williams family just outside Liverpool UK in Crewe, Cheshire.
If Lily and Maddison's amazing story doesn't define love, then I don't know what does.
As an owner of two Great Danes myself, this story confirms what I already knew to be true - Great Danes are truly amazing animals, gentle giants indeed.
Watch this video for more pictures of Lily and Maddison and to learn more about how they interact: