Hugs and Kisses - The "Undressing Ritual"

One of the many rituals I've had with my Service Dogs has been the "undressing ritual". This is when I remove my sdogs gear after working and basically say Thank You for helping me.

JoJo, my first sdog, would jump up (the one and only time she was allowed to jump up), put her paws on my shoulders and give me a hug. Willie's ritual is to rub on my legs like a cat. He makes happy grunting noises while he's doing it. Snort snort!

Frankie has the same "hug" ritual as JoJo had. I actually had Rick teach it to him because I think the "undressing ritual" is an important bonding behavior for them. It's something that no other dog gets to do with the human and it gives them that special thing only they get to do.


Unfortunately, being the kind of wacko he is, Frankie has started to test the boundaries of this ritual. Yesterday, he jumped up onto my neighbor's daughter Catherine. He did it very gently, as he's been taught. But he towered over her... his lanky legs made him almost 4 inches taller than her.

Good thing the Catherine loved it. She even got a face-to-face smooch!


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