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| They're checking out Jester's mom walking towards us. |
Jester is mild mannered, calm, sweet and gentle. He typically just comes into the room, lies down and accepts petting as it comes. Norman, on the other hand, is more animated. With the teenagers we sit on the floor so he tends to do a lot of licking, sitting on laps and flopping over for belly rubs.
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| I don't have many photos of the actual day so I'm going to post some old ones that are somewhat relative:) |
This time Norman was especially pleased with himself and was wiggling all over the place on his back. He stretched out so far that he was kicking Jester in the face, but Jester did not mind at all.
And the next thing you know, Jester started rolling around on the floor too! He is normally very docile so it made everyone laugh to see the two of them acting identically goofy. After only about a minute, at the exact same time, they both deflated and laid perfectly still 'til the end of our session with the teens which was half an hour. They were surrounded by about 5 teens each and got petted all over the whole time. And Norman laid his head in a girl's lap while she stroked his head and ears.
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| Norman's calm guy pose |
Norman and Jester are the perfect combo because Jester is so still, relaxed and doesn't lick. While Norman is more eager (but not spazzy) and embraces physical contact if invited and of course, he gives lots of kisses. So people have the option of which type of dog they wanted to interact with...or both of course!
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| They were both so wiped after the visit, I could not get them to look at the camera! |
The dogs are not supposed to meet but being in such close quarters, they do sneak in a couple sniffs here and there and Norman often dishes out a couple kisses to his new compadre, but overall they are both way more interested in the people. We don't really have to put any effort into getting them to leave each other alone. They were super at ease with each other even when they first met. Neither minds if there are tails wagging in the others face and or if they step on each others toes, both literally and figuratively. They sometimes do a pretty cute thing where Jester looks down on Norman when Norman is on his back and then Norman sticks his tongue out to lick Jester's nose.
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| This is pretty much when they first met, waiting for Jester's mom to re-park her car. Norman is yawning:) |
Our first visit was with another Golden Retriever who is quite similar to Jester. Once their schedules are both free, we will have all three dogs together for the visit! Norman and his Goldens...haha. Norman certainly gets a lot of attention for being the odd man out, not to mention the new guy in town and the designated tongue dispenser.
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| Golden Retrievers are so cute! |
Related Posts:
Norman's 1st Therapy Visit!
Norman's 2nd Therapy Visit: Just Don't Ask Us to Do Tricks
Norman is Now a Certified Therapy Dog!
I love the teaming up of Norman with the Goldens who are so often thought of as being "the perfect therapy dogs" and so good with people. His presence really drives home that dogs of all breeds are individuals with their own personalities. So proud of Norman!
ReplyDeleteI agree! So far all the staff, patients & other volunteers have been hugely supportive & often comment that it is great to have a pit bull in the group to spread a positive image:) Our specific therapy dog group was started by a group of Rottweiler owners who were sick of their breed being looked down on.
DeleteI'm glad the visits are going well. That rolling is just too cute and it might be contagious because Boomer and Dottie do it too!
ReplyDeleteI think so!
DeleteOmg that's awesome! How wonderful that he's a therapy dog and that helps to dispell the myths about pitbulls as well, two for one. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDelete