Dogs

Who can make a dog? Really, aren't they the most awesome creatures? Think about it. There are all kinds of animals that serve a purpose in the grand design of life but what about the dear old dog? A dog isn't vital to the food chain (well, at least not in most countries), he doesn't build anything or dam up a river or catch small rodents for the most part. My terrier Trudie caught a squirrel once but I think the squirrel was on his cell phone texting or otherwise distracted because that just doesn't happen as a rule. Most dogs I know of have no purposeful daily function. They're like really great little kids that don't talk, misbehave only occasionally and are hairy.

Not too long ago I used to consider my beloved aunt and uncle and think them a little misguided. Their children were grown and they had these two dogs and a home and this huge bus in which they would travel the country. They treated their little dachshunds as if they were children. They verbally expressed their love to the dogs in embarrassingly ridiculous language. One of their beloved weenie dogs was somehow injured, paralyzed I think, and they had an intricate little wheelchair-like cart for him. They would harness him into this when they took him for a walk. It was like a little doggie rickshaw but instead of carrying paying customers it carried his hind quarters. I remember squelching laughter the first time I saw this. Are you serious? It's a dog for crying out loud.

Then I married into a dog family. I came from cats. Mom always had cats and they were kind of cool. They were aloof and complex. They didn't really require much attention and always seemed to be up to something sinister. I liked to bother them until they flipped on their backs and did that hind leg kick-scratching thing. I always came away a little bloody but that didn't stop me from doing it. A little masochistic now that I think about it.

But then I married into dogs. Immediately I spotted that same devoted parental behaviour I saw in my aunt and uncle. One time my mother-in-law's dachshund (oddly enough another weenie dog) wandered off and there was full scale panic until she returned home. Another time my wife's schnauzer developed what turned out to be a harmless fatty tumor and it brought her to tears. What's up? I remember thinking. It's a dog for crying out loud.

The trick is you can't look into their eyes. Once you start looking, really looking deep into their eyes, you're hooked. My wife had Mattie the schnauzer a couple years before I came into the picture. I remember petting the dog one time and she looked up at me with those big brown eyes that said, "I tolerated you for awhile but now that I see you're going to hang around I guess I'll let you love me". Before she looked away I was hooked.

Now I live alone again.... except for Trudie. I really hope I'm not weird. I hope I don't dote on her like my aunt and uncle did their dogs but I'm afraid I do. I know she's just a dog and I don't ever want to become one of those mentally unbalanced souls that can't relate to humans because they shower all of their waking attention and affection on an animal. I don't want to cross that line. What amazes me and fills me with inspiration though is a Creator who can fashion a creature whose sole purpose seems to be to make me happy. I've never seen such excitement register in such a little hairy body as Trudie's when I come home from work! She is devoted to me completely. She may not be able to kick-scratch but she lives to fetch and play Frisbee! When I lay back in my recliner and she cuddles up in my lap I drift off to sleep and all is right with the world.

Just don't look long into their eyes. You will be hooked.