Let's just say that Yaojie is not a dog lover. We knew this may be an issue --there are not a lot of dogs in China. In fact, we saw only 2 small dogs and a cat the whole time we were there. Random sword dancing in the park: Yes. Dog walking in the park: Not so much. And, never leaving the orphanage, Yaojie certainly would not have had occasion to see the few dogs there are. Our agency even told us not to include pets in any of the photos we sent to China (on a side note, they also told us not to send any nude photos either. I assure you that had I sent nude photos of myself to China, then our dogs would be the least of Yaojie's worries!). Long story short: Our boy is terrified (and I mean screaming-and-trembling-in-his-Nikes (OK, Garanimals)- terrified. And, because of my volunteer work with the Humane Society, we have 3: Malarkey, our tri-colored menace; Grady, who has a deep-seeded paranoia of the floor, the ceiling and everything in between; and Baron, our 17 year old slowsky of a beagle. We are introducing our new son to his 4 legged siblings slowly. We brought the beagles hom from Eric's parents' last week and Malarkey is still at Eric's sister's --AKA Club Med for Dogs. We first showed Yaojie the dogs from afar. "GO!!! NO!!!" was his response. ("Go" means 'dog' in Chinese, which means that all the times I said that to my pups, I wasn't being antisocial, but rather... multicultural). Actually, Yaojie's reaction was more of a visceral yelp "GOOOOOO!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!" He screamed this in such a manner that had Eric offended that Yaojie was telling him to get lost and me making a mental note that our boy might just have the pipes for opera. Later that day, I took Yao to PetSmart and let him choose several types of treats for the dogs. He did not get the same pleasure out of PetSmart that Josh and Cara do --not an animal lover yet, this one! When we arrived home, Yaojie was excited about giving the beagles their treats. he didn't want to hand feed them, so, through pantomime, I suggested he throw them from the balcony. He ran out onto the balcony, screaming "GOOOO!!" in his guttural bark, and then threw the entire bag of treats over the balcony, much to the delight of Grady and Baron. It was one of my favorite Yaojie moments --his bellowing and the tossing of the treats. A week later, his fear remains. He did pet Baron from the safe haven of my arms, but this fear is very real and something we will work on every day.
Today at the park, we were having a picnic lunch and another family was sharing the other end of the picnic table. Unbeknownst to Yaojie, their standard poodle was laying under the table at his feet --and when he did notice, I was taken aback by his ability to launch himself vertically into the air. Yaojie may never be a dog lover, and that's OK. But we will help him to allay his fears. But the trip to PetSmart was not a total loss. I will play back the memory of him throwing those treats when I think back to the days of falling in love with Yaojie and hopefully he will look back at a time when his mother patiently helped him to face his fears, the way mothers do. And if nothing else, I did learn not to let Yaojie hold the bulk dog treats in the car, because no amount of pantomime can convince a perpetually hungry 5 year old that those little "cookies' are not for human consumption.
Today at the park, we were having a picnic lunch and another family was sharing the other end of the picnic table. Unbeknownst to Yaojie, their standard poodle was laying under the table at his feet --and when he did notice, I was taken aback by his ability to launch himself vertically into the air. Yaojie may never be a dog lover, and that's OK. But we will help him to allay his fears. But the trip to PetSmart was not a total loss. I will play back the memory of him throwing those treats when I think back to the days of falling in love with Yaojie and hopefully he will look back at a time when his mother patiently helped him to face his fears, the way mothers do. And if nothing else, I did learn not to let Yaojie hold the bulk dog treats in the car, because no amount of pantomime can convince a perpetually hungry 5 year old that those little "cookies' are not for human consumption.
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