Earlier this evening Deonna and I took the dogs to the Dog Park near White Rock Lake. Normally we take them down there on Saturday mornings, but with Hurricane Ike scheduled to hit land any minute now, we figured it might be a little rainy around here this weekend.
(Just skip to the last paragraph if you want to get to the real story...)
At the White Rock Dog Park, I have made two unique observations. First, rarely does a visit to the park not involve my wife and I hearing vulgar profanities. These words range anywhere for the common "S"'s to the disturbing "f"'s. Secondly, Deonna and I have noticed how pets—in this case, primarily dogs—have peculiar ways of resembling their owner(s). This is noticed in possible weight problems, excessive hairiness or drooling, and even below-normal IQ.
Now, with this relation between owner and pet, there comes a fascinating parallel to disciplinary practices. Our two dogs, Wycliffe and Naphtali, are very submissive to most of the other dogs at the park; Deonna has assured me that this is because of the way that we frequently (and properly) discipline them. A great many dogs go around biting and pushing other dogs to the ground... quite frankly, this pisses me off. If one of my dogs was truly bothering another dog, I would have the decency to spank them, or pull them away and make sure it didn't happen repeatedly. But you always get some git out there who sees their dog biting or oppressing another, and there they are, "hey Spoofy, you need to settle down okay?"
First, the dogs don't understand English, only vocal tone, meaning that if a dog is needing discipline, the owner's voice should have the effect to startle and scare the dog when in the "disciplinary" tone. When my little girl Naphtali needs a good spanking, say she has grabbed some food off the table or chewed up my shoe, she has been know to pee herself simply in response to my "disciplinary" tone of voice. Secondly, 'Ol Spoofy tends to really understand a good slap to the haunch—at least he would if ever received one.
Well, despite my venting from above, I do have some heartfelt words to share about dogs. Tonight at the park, there were these two dogs that continued to claw at, and nip and bite at my dog, Wycliffe. Wycliffe is a boxer, and though he's a pretty good sized dog, he is a little timid, and as mentioned above, he can be overly submissive to other dogs. But these dogs were really messing with him, and I am sure they were causing him some pain by biting at his neck. There was a moment, completely unexpected, when God really struck my heart. I felt like a dad. I felt like how I want to feel when I am one day a dad. I sat down in a chair to take a rest, and immediately (I don't know how he got to me so fast) Wycliffe ran to me and jumped up onto my lap. He got as close to my body as he could... because he knew that I would protect him from these other jerk dogs. It was really amazing. His little black eyes looked up to mine, and I put my arms around him to make him feel safe. Just yesterday I spanking him hard... I disciplined him and punished him because he had done something that he wasn't supposed to do. But then at the dog park, he was clinging to me because I was his protection, and he knew that I loved him... even though I have disciplined him and his sister so many times. And the whole situation made me think about the Lord, our wonderful Father in Heaven—how He is always there to rebuke and correct us when we screw up, but He is a strong tower of security and love. That is what I want to be one day for my children—a father that they rightly fear, but want nothing other than to be in my arms when they are in trouble, or pain, or sadness.
"May I hear about your loyal love
in the morning,
for I trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
because I long for you.
Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord!
I run to you for protection.
Teach me to do what pleases you,
for you are my God.
May your kind presence
lead me into level land."
Psalm 143:8–10
