Dogs will eat almost anything. Marj once unloaded Maddie from the car after a walk only to find that Maddie had brought home a rotten rat corpse with her. Marj can comment on how long it took her to get the smell out of her car!
Our first dog, Barney, was a purebred black Lab. He wouldn't eat raw chicken or beef if we offered it to him but if something had been decaying for weeks and weeks, he thought it was a delicacy. One winter Steve caught him gnawing on a frozen squirrel corpse. Being a well-bred hunting dog (in the genetic, not the etiquette sense), he invariably tracked down the corpse, no matter how far Steve flung it away.
Even burying it couldn't rid us of Barney's disgustingly odious 'chew' toy. Finally I poked a hole in the ice and shoved it into the pond. A few days later, the kids and I were out skating when I noticed Barney poking at the ice. Sure enough, he had gnawed/dug his way through and was hauling the squirrel out for another round of lab-lovin'!
Tasha isn't quite as persistent, though I've shared previously how it's a very bad sign when she leaves the path. This means she's scented something disgusting in the brush and is off to dine on it.
Sometimes it's just too easy for her, like yesterday. Sitting right in the middle of the path was a huge pile of horse manure. Usually I take a big stick and sweep it off the path (so I don't have to keep stepping around it) but I just wasn't inclined. Sure enough, Tasha came lumbering along behind me, stopped, and opened her mouth to dine.
"NO!" I yelled with violent disgust.
Even a couple years ago, she would have grabbed a mouthful and dashed away where she could eat in peace. But she just gave me a mournful look and walked around the clump.
On the way back, she was ahead of me on the path. That's her usual strategy for getting away with something she knows is wrong. I was about to holler and scream (she's almost stone-deaf...I've got to be ridiculous about it) when I saw her sidestep the horse poop and just keep going.
Wow, I thought. If only I could learn to obey my Master's voice so quickly.
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I saw her sidestep the horse poop and just keep going.
Wow, I thought. If only I could learn to obey my Master's voice so quickly.
I'm right with ya, Kathy. But I had a thought. Tasha is OLD ... translated, MATURE. When we are old (mature) in our faith, we'll be able to side step the horse poop, too.
And God smiles.
Yes! Tasha's avoidance represented a turning from temptation. Ordinarily she'd at least step over it, give me a look, and move on. That she went into automatic was instructive to me.
Of course, that doesn't mean she won't indulge on today's walk.
Tasha is such a beautiful dog. I'm sure she'd do anything to please her master if only she could understand.
Understanding...yeah, that's what I wail at God sometimes. If I only could understand.
Who am I foolin'? I want what I want. At least Tasha hangs her head guiltily when she gets caught.
And so much of the stuff that I think I want so badly -- that I fight God over--whine and plead about--really is nothing more than poop.
Alas, my dog is just the same! I can always tell when she has devoured something unseamly, it upsets her stomach and then she doesn't want to eat for a day.
I wish I was only so lucky when I do something the Lord doesn't want me to do...LOL..I might be Twiggy by now. But I'm probably more on the order of Odie...oblivious! *sigh* ...until he chastises me!
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