Becoming a Dog-lover

Before we left Germany a month ago, Masami was literally terrified of dogs. If a dog even looked in his direction he would come running and shaking and crying, wanting to be held until the dog was out of sight. Honestly, I was a little worried about it, knowing that we would be coming in contact with more than a few dogs during our travels this summer. However, he has made a complete turnaround. Not only is he not so afraid, he is LOVING the dogs that we are seeing. We have already stayed in 5 different homes with dogs this summer. And with each new dog, Masami gets braver. Now he is chasing them, grinning and giggling. He wants to pet them and touch them, share his toys and feed them. He’ll stick his hand in their mouths and give them hugs and kisses. It is so fun to hear him squeal with delight when they give him kisses back. The only animal sound that Masami will make is a “bark.” He does it real low and from the back of his throat which actually makes him sound more like Tim-the-tool-man than anything. I’ll have to try to post a recording of it. Now the challenge is teaching him how to be gentle and kind to the dogs and that not all dogs are nice.