Pet the dog
Soft fur, warmth, and movements you cannot always predict. Meeting a dog is as much about reading the animal as about the petting itself. The visual support below shows how the child approaches calmly and knows where it is welcome to touch.
♂Pet the dog
A child kneels and pets a happy dog on the head.
About this visual support
A dog is not a toy but a living creature with a will of its own, and that makes the meeting both exciting and unpredictable. The fur tickles, the warmth surprises, and suddenly the dog turns its head. For children who take in sensory input strongly, all that information can arrive at once and become overwhelming if no one shows them how.
That is why it helps to break the petting into clear steps rather than just saying be gentle. With a visual support the child sees the order: stand still, let the dog sniff, pet calmly on the side or back, not over the head. The pictures also give a way to talk about the dog's signals, a wagging tail, ears laid back, so the child learns to read rather than guess.
One tip for animal encounters: practise with a picture of a calm dog first, at home, before meeting a real one. Then the child knows what to expect and feels steadier in the moment. With Routined you can place the petting steps next to other parts of an animal routine and try the app free for fourteen days. The images below also print well to bring along on the visit.