Sometimes when we meet our heroes we tend to forget ourselves. And the same applies to the adorable service dog in training who met his hero – Pluto.
Ace was out in Disneyland as part of socialization training with Guide Dogs of America, when he ran into Pluto. Needless to say, the excited puppy nearly lost himself, but then he incredibly remembered his training and went into a down/stay position. It was a proud moment for his handler.
His caregiver, Sandy Steinblums, posted to Facebook, “It was his first time to Disneyland and it was a good training experience for him. And, he did well. This puppy is one I raised (as a volunteer) for Guide Dogs of America – he is training to be a guide dog for the blind. We went to Disneyland for a few hours as a socialization experience – what you didn’t see AFTER the 14-15 seconds video where he settled in a DOWN was his DOWN/STAY for a few minutes while Pluto tried to break his stay.”
As she further explained, “Ace entered his ‘formal’ guide dog training at the end of January. My ‘job’ as a volunteer was to socialize and provide him with obedience training. This was a training outing and I was too far back to do a proper correction, but golly-be….he responded anyway. Yep! That is my boy and I am proud of him and love the Disney characters for being so kind and helpful! It will be 6-9 months of extensive training with licensed trainers before Ace has the opportunity to graduate as a guide dog and has the right match in a human partner.”
And nowhere seems like a better training spot for a service dog than the so-called happiest place on Earth. Anyone who’s been to Disneyland knows that it’s quite a chaotic place – the perfect area for a service dog in training to get some serious real-world experience. And given how well Ace did during his exposure training, there is no doubt that he’ll make a wonderful service dog.
Watch his precious reaction below:
