My two lil’ nephews are somewhat scared of dogs. They’ve been intimidated by my cousin’s humongous Labs and their somewhat aggressive Aussies in the past. Whenever I get the chance, I try to get Oz around them, so they’ll become more comfortable with big dogs. I hate to think of them, growing up being afraid of dogs. Well this weekend we had a HUGE breakthrough. Before this I’d keep Oz on a 30 ft leash and they really wouldn’t approach him. At best they might throw a toy from a distance. I still had Oz on the 30 ft leash, but this time the 4 year old, Kyle, not only approached him, but was interacting with Oz. Yeah!
First he was playing with about a 3 ft paper tube with Oz. He could play with Oz and still keep his distance somewhat, so that helped him get a lil’ comfortable. And Oz was playing so gentle with him, much more gentle than how he plays with me. Then Kyle asked if he could feed him, so Mom went and got some hot dogs and I had Oz do his tricks for him. Kyle really seemed thrilled with the fact that he could throw the treat to Oz and Oz would catch it in the air. I think he was still a lil’ wary of getting his hands near those big teeth. So the catching thing turned out to be a big plus.
After that he and Oz were like *this*... Best buds... So Kyle was leading him around the yard and carrying on a lengthy conversation with Oz about the importance of Batman.Oz followed him around, attentively listening. If he could of talked, his side of the conversation would have probably been that Lassie was way more heroic than Batman.
The icing on the cake came when Kyle was trying to teach Oz to Burp… The ultimate compliment from a 4 yr old boy... Oz didn't quite ever get the hang of it, but he found it fascinating enough to give Kyle the Collie Nose Nudge. I think they’re bonded for life now.
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