Converting Mom to Become a Dog Lover

Trying to convince someone to love a dog when they really don't want to is almost like trying to convince yourself that yogurt and ham taste delicious. You can eat yogurt and ham, but you know darn well neither is a treat. The best thing I can suggest is to let it happen naturally. Dogs are not unlike people on the dating scene. They like a challenge. A person playing hard to get often makes a dog want to love them even more, at least in a family setting. I've seen it plenty of times, but most closely with my mom and Golden Retriever, Susie.

In our book, Follow the Dog Home , I write about how my mother didn't want any more dogs after we lost our Cairn Terrier, Danielle. It's not that she disliked dogs, she just didn't love them as much as we did.





Walsh brothers with Susie, Golden Retriever 1988, Meadowbrook, PA

We kind of got Susie without Mom's blessing and Susie sometimes bore the brunt of Mom's cold shoulder because of it. But Mom eventually came around because Susie just wouldn't be denied. She just killed my mother with kindness. In Mom's final moments in her battle with cancer, Susie was at her best. She never left Mom's side and often lifted Mom's paralyzed arm back onto the bed when it tumbled out. Nobody taught Susie this. She just got it. And I'm pretty sure if you have a similar situation, it'll work itself out. Just give it time. Do you have a similar story to share? Include it below and post a picture if you have one.