So Strauss and I took one of our many trips to Petsmart today, and the place was packed with people.
There was a little girl, perhaps nomore than 2 years old (she was a TINY little thing!) and she was pulling at her dad's pant leg going "Puppy! Puppy!" ...the "puppy" in question was my 91lb Shepherd, who stands 5'6" when he's up on his hind legs.
Now, I'm not a child lover by any stretch of the imagination, BUT, I do encourage little kids (especially younguns like this one) not to be afraid of big dogs, especially breeds like mine that have a bad reputation, so I asked her "Would you like to pet the puppy?" And she looked at her dad with this big smile and he said "Go on."
I put Mouse in a down and she came up to him, and she did the typical "I wanna touch it but don't wanna get too close!" hand sweep across his side, and when I let him back up, he turned around and slurped her right in the face! Well you couldn't have heard a more delighted squeal come from the little half pint! She was absolutely enamored!
About this time another family came about, and the mother commented on how beautiful my dog was. Even better than that, her children (ages 4-7) each asked me
individually if they could pet my dog. I happily said yes, and I thanked the parents for teaching their children such good dog manners. I must admit, I was more than impressed with the fact that one child didn't ask for the whole collective, but each asked me on their own.
Strauss was loving it. Keeled right over on his back and put his head in a little girl's lap ^_^ I may not like small children, but I gotta say, Strauss sure is a great dog for kids to teach them how to behave around a dog.
S Konzert vom Drachenberg, kid tested, mother approved [
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