Life can be tough for animals with vision problems, but it’s much easier to have a loyal friend nearby. We’ve seen many stories about dogs that have a heartwarming friendship born of them, with their own “eye-seeing” companions that help them roam.
However, one family was surprised when they recently realized that visually impaired dogs and their companions had much more in common than they had expected.
Jane Salazar of Red Bank, Tennessee and her husband adopted a dog named Diego. Curious, they did a DNA test from the Embark Company on their dogs because they didn’t know what kind of dogs they were.
The test revealed breeds of dogs (Pitbull and Australian Cattle Dog), but also some unfortunate medical news. A 2-year-old dog has two copies of the bad eye gene, which causes the dog to lose sight.
Jane is determined to do her best to help Diego as much as possible. And she’s best off finding a friend for her dog.
“I did a little research and also confirmed that one of the best things you can do for a dog who is loosing sight, is to give him a companion to fully connect with before he loses sight.” Jane said. Newsweek. “Then I started looking for someone else.”
She went to a local shelter to adopt a colleague and a dog came out of there: Dixie, who looks a lot like Diego.
Jane adopted Dixie and after she brought her home, she beat both dogs as she wished.
Then Jane bought another Embark DNA test for Dixie. And she showed another twist. Diego and Dixie are siblings!
The DNA results have tested “partners” that are likely to be related . Diego appeared in Dixie’s results and said they share 55% of their DNA.
“It was very shocking,” Jane told Newsweek.
These dogs don’t belong to the same litter, but they probably have the same parents. Jane suspects that they are a product of breeding farms and that irresponsible inbreeding could lead to health problems. In addition to Diego’s vision problems, Dixie will likely have disc problems in the future.
But this is a surprising coincidence. These two are not only relatives, but also siblings who are reunited by chance.
Despite being very closely related, Diego and Dixie are “completely different” when it comes to personalities.
“He is passive and she is dominant. Her desire for food is crazy, and his desire is much less.
But as far as differences go, they are still brother and sister at heart, and Dixie continues to be a great companion to Diego. When the day comes when he loses his sight, she will be by his side.
What an amazing coincidence! So glad to know that Diego has a Seeing Eye companion with whom he has a special bond with!