After going blind three years ago, this adorable, goggle-wearing husky has a new lease on life. An 11- year-old Siberian husky from Seattle named Sterling found a fur-ever friend: a 10-year-old Alaskan Malamute named Walker.
Lillian shares adorable footage of the duo tumbling in the snow and other outdoorsy photos on their Instagram page @sterlingandwalker.
Lillian and Mark McKee, the owners, were worried when Sterling seemed depressed after glaucoma took his vision. “When he was diagnosed with glaucoma, it was devastating,” said Lillian.
“We tried to fight it for a year and a half, with six treatments four times a day, but we knew it couldn’t prevent it for much longer.
“The surgery failed to save his eyesight, but it does not influence his mood negatively since Walker came into his life as an accidental service dog, she told Mercury News.
“After his first procedure, he was pretty down, but we took him to the beach with Walker and he perked up instantly,” said Lillian, who works as an analysis documenter.
“We’ve found that still doing his favorite activities like running, long walks, and trips to the beach have helped him to be his old cheery self.”
She doesn’t think Walker realizes Sterling is blind sometimes.
The inseparable duo hike, run, eat and sleep next to each other. For outings, to ensure Walker doesn’t feel left out, the McKees fashioned a pair of ski goggles with matching bandanas for the two pups.
“They both look so handsome in their bandanas and have about 100 between them,” Lillian said.
“Sterling loves meeting people, car rides, and has a few selective toys that he sometimes plays with, but other than that, is rather a distinguished gentleman,” she said.
“Walker, however, is the goofy court jester. He’ll try and steal Sterling’s special treats, playfully attack him and just be a bouncy ball of fur.”
She called Sterling her “foster fail,” of not being able to give up to be officially adopted after fostering him. Lillian adopted both furry friends from a rescue she set up for larger Northern dog breeds.
“I wasn’t planning on adopting Walker either, but when his foster couldn’t look after him anymore, he instantly became part of the family,” she said.
