Time for a new puppy

For several months now, I’ve had a yearning I couldn’t shake. I wanted to get a puppy.

It’s only been two years since my last puppy, mind you. Only two years since the potty training, the incessant chewing, the nibbling on my toes (which gave me cellulitis), and the gnawed corners on my dining room bench.

But perhaps it’s because my oldest dog is getting slower . . . or because I’m getting slower . . . or because our family has been going through some stuff that has been really tough. I was still practical–I didn’t want another mastiff, because it’s expensive to raise a dog that big, and my strength isn’t what it used to be. And I wanted to help support a rescue and take one of their dogs.

But I confessed to my husband that maybe my primary reason was that we all needed a little bit of unbridled joy in our lives. That’s what a puppy is.

Toby–the one looking at the camera.

So I started searching. I wanted a puppy so I could train him properly. I need a dog that’s super-friendly, because we run an airbnb, and I can’t have a dog that would be suspicious of strangers. So I found a Labrador retriever mix, and we filled out the adoption papers. As I’m writing this, we are about thirty hours away from picking up Toby, and I can’t wait. Neither can the grandkids.

I read a book a few years ago that made me rethink the animal kingdom–DOMINION: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy, by Matthew Scully. I realized that man was created to have a benevolent dominion over the animals. Yes, God intends for us to eat them (remember, he made Adam and Eve clothing from animals), but we are not to cause them to suffer. We are not to hunt them purely for pleasure. We are to treat them as we want God (who has dominion over US), to treat us.

In my volunteer work with animals, I’ve met so many wonderful and compassionate people–they pour out their lives for dogs and cats. When so many pets are being mistreated, that is a wonderful thing. Yet we must keep a biblical perspective. We were created to serve God, animals were created to serve us. But how many people would say that we must protect eagle’s eggs and unborn puppies and yet abort a child?

I’m not trying to be political–I am simply pointing out the inconsistency I see.

God created the universe, and each of us has a place in it. But we are not in charge. We are not the top of the pyramid. Our society seems to be forgetting that.

Do you have pets? How many and what kind? Please leave any comments below–I love hearing from you!

Look what our new puppy turned out to be! He’s going to be a big boy!