Watch How Golden Retriever Interacts With Foster Kittens—’Most Patient Boy’

Owners are encouraged to expose their pets to different sounds, people and experiences, especially as babies, to get them desensitized and one foster mom decided to bring in her senior dog for help.

Athena Palmer, known on TikTok user @rescuesandremodels, recently welcomed home a foster family of a mama cat and her eight kittens after she gave birth in an animal shelter. The kittens were only a day old when she brought them home, she told Newsweek via TikTok. Since then, she’s been slowly exposing them to “scary things” to help acclimate them before they eventually get adopted out locally in Rapid City, South Dakota.

During one of those scary, yet beneficial, situations, Palmer introduced the kittens to her 10-year-old golden retriever, Lincoln.

“My dogs have always watched them from a distance through the baby gate since they were brought home at one day old,” she said. “The first time I let my golden in the room they were four weeks and this video was taken at about 5 weeks.”

In the October 17 TikTok clip, Lincoln calmly sat while the tiny kitties thought about who the giant fur baby was staring at them. He didn’t force his way to say hello. Instead, he was the “most patient boy” as some kittens puffed up their bodies with nerves.

However, one brave kitten tested him out and sat beside Lincoln. Kishu went even as far as using his paws to touch Lincoln’s nose. And when he realized Lincoln meant no harm, he curled up in between the dog’s front legs. The start of a beautiful friendship.

While the kittens are still young, Palmer said there have been a few people to reach out with interest in adopting them. She doesn’t believe they will be ready for adoption until about 12 weeks old. In the meantime, she’ll keep exposing them to different “scary things,” such as the vacuum, to prepare them for their lives in their forever homes.

TikTok viewers couldn’t get enough of the tiny fur babies and their courage to say hello to Lincoln. As of Tuesday, the clip amassed over 3.3 million views and 439,300 likes.

“I love when kittens puff up like yes you are so big and strong you little cutie,” commented one person.

Another wrote: “It’s like Kishu is saying, ‘We are the same color!'”

Someone else said: “Without a doubt, they are gonna sleep on and around that sweet baby dog.”

Along with people falling head-over-heels for the kittens, others also praised Palmer for taking in the kittens: “You are doing wonderful things for these kittens’ development and it’s so lovely to see.”

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