The empathy and compassion that dogs have is nothing short of incredible. They are some of the sweetest animals around, and they can always get a smile out of the shyest person. And nothing demonstrated this better than the video of a Labrador Retriever who managed to befriend a shy toddler with Down syndrome. If that wasn’t heartwarming enough, the young boy was known to be rather hesitant of physical contact.
The video was filmed in Buenos Aires by the child’s mom. It was then uploaded to YouTube. In the video, the boy’s mom explained how he normally keeps his distance. However, it was the yellow Lab, Himalaya, who was able to break through to him. The boy, Hernan, was hesitant, but eventually allowed Himalaya to gently touch his leg with a paw before allowing her to lick Hernan’s left hand.
Following that, Himalaya then sat back on her hind legs and put a paw on the boy’s shoulders, continuing the interaction until Hernan gives her a hug. While the entire video only lasted 4 minutes, it was still such a tender moment that ended up receiving more than 1.2 million views. Clearly its popularity was a testament of how much people resonated with the sweetness that is a dog connecting with a shy toddler.
Watch it below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O8lbQGq7W4
