A video that captured a service dog in training’s excited reaction to meeting his “favorite” Disney character Pluto has been viewed more than 20 million times on Facebook.
Ace was taken to Disneyland in Anaheim for several hours at the end of last year as part of a socialization experience, according to Sandy Steinblums, a volunteer for Guide Dogs of America who is helping with his training.
Video of the encounter, which was posted to the Disney Dorks Facebook page on Feb. 8, has been shared more than 254,000 times and received over 230,000 likes as of Saturday morning.
It was simply captioned: “So Cute!!! Service Dog in training gets to meet his favorite character Pluto!”
In the video, the dog was clearly happy to see his costumed counterpart; during the 15-second clip, he wagged his tail wildly while sniffing the Disney character as the two were face to face, even touching noses at one point.
Steinblums explained in a photo comment under the post that she was practicing the “down-stay” command with Ace, who entered his “formal” training at the end of last month.
“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,” she wrote, responding to some negative Facebook commenters.
She said Ace will receive an additional six to nine months of training with licensed trainers before he has the opportunity to graduate and be matched with a human partner.
