Gentle giant

My grandma came over today and I was kind of nervous about it honestly. Shes 78 and shes never been a dog person really, and I knew shed heard stuff about pitbulls. My mom had already warned me that grandma was 'concerned' about my choice of dog. Great.

So she comes in and Duke does his thing—tail wagging, whole body wiggling, wants to say hi to the new person immediately. I had him sit and wait like weve been practicing but hes clearly excited. Grandma stands there kind of frozen, clutching her purse, and says 'hes very... big.'

And like, fair. He is big. But also hes sitting there with his tongue out doing his pittie smile and I wanted to be like grandma look at his FACE hes not scary. But I just said 'he's friendly, he just wants to say hi.'

I let her get settled on the couch and kept Duke with me for a bit. Gave her time to adjust. Made her some tea, got her comfortable. But heres the thing about Duke—he knows. I swear he could tell she was nervous because he was calmer than usual. He just lay down by my feet and chilled. No jumping, no pushy behavior. Just relaxed. He kept glancing over at her but didnt move. Good boy.

After like twenty minutes grandma goes 'he can come say hello if he wants.' So I let him go over and he walked up to her really slowly—I have never seen him approach anyone slowly, this dog has one speed and its full enthusiasm—but he walked up slow, sniffed her hand, and then just... put his head on her knee. Thats it. Didnt jump, didnt lick, just rested his big blocky head on her knee and looked up at her.

I swear I saw her melt a little. She started petting his head and went 'oh he IS soft' like she was surprised. Asked me what kind of shampoo I use on him. I told her just the regular dog shampoo from the pet store and she seemed almost disappointed it wasnt something fancier.

By the time she left she was hand feeding him treats and calling him 'good boy' and 'sweet thing.' She asked me to send her pictures. Actually she asked me to send her pictures DAILY. Of the dog she was nervous about three hours ago.

This is the same dog people cross the street to avoid. I wish they could see him like this. Just a big baby who wants to be loved. All he wanted was to put his head on her knee and be told hes a good boy.

My mom called later and was like 'what did you do to grandma she wont stop talking about Duke.' Nothing! I did nothing! He did it all himself. Just sat there being sweet and let her come to him on her own terms. Dogs are smarter than we give them credit for I think.

Anyway grandma is now a Duke fan. She texted me when she got home asking how hes doing. Wants to know when shes coming back over. This is the woman who was 'concerned' three hours ago.

He's got that effect on people I guess. Once they meet him.