03/04/2025
Let’s celebrate a beautiful moment & community win together!
Earlier this week a woman and her young son were walking towards us while we were sitting in the park downtown.
I could see them approaching and I immediately began to stress. I was worried they’d approach without asking and I’d be left trying to scramble away and gain distance for my dog who is uncomfortable around kids.
But, that didn’t happen.
What happened became a cherished moment for me as a dog mom and a proud moment as a trainer.
This wonderful Mom was escorting and coaching her son on how to interact with unknown dogs. They stopped approaching at a far enough distance that the dogs couldn’t reach them if they had hit the ends of their leashes.
She then instructed her son on how to politely ask permission to say hi to the dogs and continued to talk him through how to gently and calmly interact with them.
Because my number 1 concern is the safety of others and comfortability of my dogs, I responded that they weren’t super comfortable with kids and that saying hi wasn’t appropriate for them, but that I was so thankful for them being so respectful and kind enough to ask.
They stayed at their appropriate distance. They didn’t respond negatively. The young boy asked me if Arlo was a Vizsla and told me how he also had a Vizsla once too.
By then, the dogs were calm and comfortable enough for Arlo to say hello to the boy.
I instructed the young boy that his name was Arlo and he could invite him over to say hello 👋 by saying “Hi, Arlo!” and that if Arlo wants to say hi he will come to him at which point Arlo would love to be pet on his shoulder or his rear with scratches.
The boy listened and did exactly that. And Arlo loved every second of it.
And then, Winston became curious enough to approach the Mom and a few seconds later, scooted over and sat next to her son 🥹 which is his way of politely asking for attention and petting.
I’m so grateful to this woman and her wonderful son for providing a positive and healthy experience with kids for my boys who rarely get this opportunity. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart ♥️
