Rebekah, the Dog Lover?

When Renee and Rebekah were toddlers, my sister brought over her newly acquired puppy, Lucky, to visit us. He was such a cute little guy, but, as puppies are known to do, he got a little over zealous and nipped Renee. She wasn't really hurt..just startled.


Now, even though it was RENEE that got nipped, Rebekah started exhibiting a fear of dogs...any dog. Every time one came near her, she would set a world record for speed as she climbed on top of the tallest human and sat on their head screaming bloody murder.

Knowing she had this aversion to dogs, I was more than a little bit apprehensive about sending her to our friends' house for the week that we were gone knowing that they have a beautiful, but BIG dog named Simba. Our friends graciously offered to keep their dog outside or away from Rebekah.

After the first day at their house, we called to see how everyone was doing, and they did admit that Rebekah was shrieking whenever Simba even looked in her direction. Soon afterward, though, they said she was still staying clear of Simba, but she at least had stopped screaming. By the end of the week, a miracle had occured! Rebekah was not afraid of Simba; in fact, she was even PETTING him and letting him eat treats from her hand! I was skeptical, but seeing is believing...and here is the proof:

Rebekah, Simba and Renee

Simba and Katelyn got along famously. Katelyn loved the opportunity to walk him every night.