Here’s how a viral dog nativity scene came together
By Neal Riley
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WOBURN, Massachusetts (WBZ) — It’s a doggone miracle: A dog trainer in Massachusetts managed to create the perfect “dog nativity scene” that’s bringing a smile to pet lovers on social media this holiday season.
Lori Lodato owns A Better Companion Dog Training in Woburn. She tells WBZ-TV that her some of her clients had seen versions of of dog nativity scenes online, and urged Lodato to put one of her own together.
“It was really just for my customers and for me, and just something fun and happy,” Lodato said. “And it turned into a very big thing on Instagram.”
More than 300,000 people have watched the video of nine, well-behaved dogs posing in front of a manger. They’re all dressed in costume as biblical characters, including baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the three wise men.
“What an amazing idea & even more amazing is that the dogs all sat still for the video!” one fan commented.
Lodato used more than two decades of experience as a dog trainer and many dress reherasals to get the pooches to cooperate. She said the most important thing is that the dogs had fun during the process – and there were plenty of treats on hand to entice them.
“They’re waiting for their cookies,” Lodato explained. “We do a lot of positive reinforcement with them. They were all awesome. They totally came through and they were comfortable. Like I said, that’s most important.”
Lodato credits her “squad of dog people” for helping to bring the dog nativity photoshoot to life from her Woburn backyard, including her wife Leah Lodato and fellow local dog trainers @thisdoglady and @pennypipertherapydoodles. Lori Lodato said she started planning the outfits herself for the dogs back in October.
“This crew is all right with wearing an outfit,” she said. “Especially Monty and Tucker, two of the wise men. They’re all about it. They love a good outfit.”
The labor of love paid off, and Lodato said she’s happily surprised at how fast it spread beyond the Boston-area dog lover community.
“I do a lot of serious dog training. So this gives me a relief from the usual,” she said.
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