"I petted Grumpy"

We have two little Shih Tzu dogs; Jasper 5, and Pippin, 10 years old.  Every morning and evening we take them out for a walk around the neighborhood.  They both look like little puppies and are a big hit with the young neighborhood children.  It is not unusual for a small child to come running up the street from two or three houses away crying “Puppy! Puppy! Can I pet your puppy”?  Of course we always say yes, and the children squeal with delight as they kneel down in the road and begin to play and talk to the dogs.

Pippin, the older of the two, is sometimes just a little bit grumpy and does not want to be petted at the moment, so he holds back and lets out just a little “grrrrr”.  We tell the kids “Pippin is feeling a little bit grumpy today, so you had better not try to pet him”.  The kids respect that and lavish all of their affections on Jasper.

One day we were approached by a small seven year old boy, while his brother sat back in the yard playing with his toys.  The boy came up and started petting Jasper, when Pippin decided that he could use a little affection also.  The Pip came up to the boy and started to nuzzle him so that the boy would pet him also, which he did. As the boy played with both dogs his eyes grew bright and a large smile crept across his face.  When he finally finished playing with them he ran back to his brother yelling “I petted Grumpy, I petted Grumpy”.

Yes, acts of kindness are easy to give, even a grumpy old dog can let loose now and then to brighten the day of a small child.