My niece loves—but has never touched—my dog
They still have a relationship.
The first time my niece saw our heeler on this summer’s visit, she shouted “Auntie’s Scout!”
When I pointed to the ear tattoo on my inner wrist, she named it “Scout!” When I drew a mediocre cattle dog in sidewalk chalk, she cheered “Scout!”
When Scout chased a puller ring in the front yard she chirped “fast Scout”—then “all done Scout” when my dog disappeared around the corner. When I showed off a few of our heeler’s tricks, she started repeating our terminal reward marker (yes!) and the names of a few commands (touch, front). When Sean, Scout, and I aren’t at my parents’ house with everyone else, Olive still labels illustrations of dogs with pointy ears in her books as “Scout”.
My niece loves Scout. She’s just never touched her.
