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By Lucy Notarantonio
Senior Reporter
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A deaf and blind dog checking to see if his owner is still on the walk has melted the internet's heart.
Over 275,000 people have watched the viral clip posted by TikTok user @echobadlistener on November 27.
The adorable video, captioned "I'm obsessed with him," has racked up over 54,000 likes.
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Morty, the McNab border collie mix dog, can be seen halting and using his nose to sniff out his owner Samantha Linsky, 29, to check she is still accompanying him and his furry friends on a walk.
Speaking to Newsweek, the social worker from Cincinnati, Ohio, explained Morty's condition.
She said: "Morty is now 2 years old, but he was born deaf and blind. His condition is referred to as double merle. This gene causes pets to have marbled coats and blue eyes.
"If two dogs with the gene are bred together, the puppies have a 25 percent chance of being deaf-blind or both. Unfortunately, people still do it to try and breed prettier puppies to get more money for them. Double Merle dogs are often killed or abandoned once the breeder discovers the disability."
Blindness in Dogs
The reason behind the double impairments is unknown but "many dogs adjust to blindness or a loss of vision rather quickly," according to Pet Place.
The informative animal website run by vets points out dogs rely on their sense of smell when they lose their hearing too.
There may be many reasons behind a dog losing its vision and hearing, such as age and disease. Some of the most common causes have been pointed out by Hill's Pet Nutrition.
- Cataracts—a cloudy patch that gets bigger with age making vision misty before leading to blindness.
- Glaucoma—an eye disease caused by a pressure increase within the eye.
- Progressive retinal atrophy—a group of degenerative diseases that affect these photoreceptor cells. With this disease, the cells deteriorate over time and lead to blindness.
- Suddenly acquired retinal degeneration (SARDS)—a condition that causes rapid and irreversible blindness due to changes within the retina.
Tips for Living With Blind and Deaf Dogs
Pet Place encourages people with disabled dogs to take note of the following tips to give their dogs a happy and healthy life:
- Be patient as their limited senses may mean the dog navigates more slowly
- Be consistent with your dog by placing food and water in the same space, keeping their bed in the same location, and reducing furniture changes
- Maintain a good routine by walking and feeding them at the same time daily
- Use baby gates in the house and barriers around pools
- Don't burn candles on low tables incase your dog knocks them over.
Over 80 people have commented at the time of writing, many of them referring to the video as "precious" and "sweet."
One user said: "So cute keeping track of his person."
"Sweet pure soul," said another.
Another TikToker wrote: "I'm not crying u are."
"He's gorgeous and so adorable that he checks for you! Very lovable!" said another.
A blind rescue dog won Newsweek's "Pet of The Week" in September.
Update 12/01/22, 10:11 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the contributor and original content.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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