Blind Couple Marries After Their Guide Dogs Fall in Love

Some couples worry about whether their pets will fight after moving in together, but for Claire Johnson and Mark Gaffey, it was their seeing-eye dogs who fell in love first.

Claire, 50, and Mark, 51, first met in March 2012 after their golden retrievers Venice and Rodd met at a two-week guide dog training course. The two dogs were smitten with each other, and trainers said they were the “love and romance of the course.”

The two owners found out they lived only a mile and a half away from each other, but had never met. Not wanting to break up their dogs’ relationship, they decided to keep meeting for playdates after the course ended. Soon, their love for each other grew just as strong as their dogs’ love that brought them together. Mark said, “I love Claire’s personality and her laugh is infectious. We’ve never had an argument, we just seem to click.”

Mark proposed last year on Valentine’s Day. Earlier this week, on March 22, the pair married at Barlaston’s Upper House Hotel in Stoke-on-Trent, a city in Staffordshire, England. Venice and Rodd guided them down the aisle and even acted as ring-bearers.

Claire thanks her dog for helping her find her new husband: “Much like our two guide dogs, we really are best friends and soul mates.”