One day, Jess Martin was volunteering at the Cheshire Fire and Rescue service when she came across Amos.
Amos is a Staffordshire bull terrier who has struggled to find a loving family due to being born blind.
Jess decided to adopt him and give him a forever home but was wary of how Toby, her nine-year-old border terrier would take to his new brother.
Much to her surprise, the duo quickly became best friends, formed a special bond and now Toby is Amos’ unofficial guide dog.
He helps protect Amos from other dogs when can’t protect himself, and even gives him a little nudge when he can’t find his water bowl.
“I thought it would be very difficult to find an owner and while Amos was on medical care for four months, we decided to foster him in February last year but after a while we realised we would never give him back.”
“At the beginning, Toby growled at him a few times and then ignored him – Amos came from a kennel so doesn’t know how to socialise with other dogs.”
“After a couple of days, I saw that Amos couldn’t find his water bowl and Toby nudged him and helped him out.”
Ms Martin continued: “When we went out on walks Amos was very scared, especially of the noises and Toby quickly picked up that he needed help – so every time Amos was stopping, Toby would go and lie next to him till he would be ready.”
“They have developed a nice communication between them, and they know each other’s boundaries.”
“Amos’s main problem is that other dogs don’t like him when they approach him, obviously because he cannot communicate the same way, so he doesn’t have other friends.”
“But Toby is always there to protect him – we call him his bodyguard.”
