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BLIND DOG HAS HER OWN GUIDE DOG

Canine duo find loving home!

Two stray dogs named Samson and Delilah, one blind and the other her devoted seeing-eye companion, have captured the hearts of everyone in a California neighborhood where they've finally found a loving home.

June Malecek first spotted the pair, a tiny Lhasa apso mixed-breed female and a German shepherd-chow cross, ambling down Wyandotte Street in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles.  Neither had a collar or ID tag.

As they walked, the large dog kept nudging his little friend toward the curb to make sure she didn?t wander into traffic.

"You could tell they'd been walking for a while," says Malecek.  "Their tongues were hanging out and the big one seemed really weary."

Malecek set a bowl of water out for them, then marveled as the shepherd used his snout to guide the female to the bowl so she could drink first.

Malecek then called neighbor Barbara Fiero, and animal lover who works in a pet cemetery and owns a dog, five cats, 13 birds and a tank full of fish.  Speaking in a soft, low voice, Fiero lured the two dogs to the safety of her fenced-in yard and gave them their names.

A few days later, a trip to the vet revealed that Delilah is only 3 years old, much younger than she looks because of a hard life on the road.  She was also infested with ear mites.

And although she had cataracts, they didn?t cause her blindness.

The poor pooch had dry eyes, which could have been cured with drops.  only neglect, Fiero says sadly. She was never treated, so she went blind.

But this story of Samson and Delilah has a happy ending, unlike the biblical tale.  The pair have settled

comfortably into a plastic igloo dog house that once belonged to Fiero?s Lhasa apso Sparky, who now lives in the house to avoid territorial disputes.

Delilahs hearing is improving steadily with drops to kill the mites, and Fiero has been deluged with well wishers letters, phone calls and donations.

Samson and Delilah are becoming part of the family, says the kind-hearted Good Samaritan.

You know how it is with animals, you get attached to them.

;Working at a pet cemetery, I always see animals after they've died.  It's nice to see a couple of dogs up and around.

;And they're some couple!!

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