As a veterinarian, i commend you for having great NonVerbal Communication skills, and the patience to use them correctly.
Not everyone gets to be a dog person, a horse person, or an animal person. In fact, some people should not even be parents.
Today, dogs just naturally come up to me. We make eye contact and magically we're best friends. I just have a special place in my heart for dogs I suppose and they all see it.
Honestly, part of me was thinking "oh hell no!" I wasn't going to live next to a dog that was afraid of me and barked at me all the time. So I was a little selfish with my motives. ;-)