dog – maggiemarcum

More Learning From Loving our Four-legged Friends

Part Two

I wrote last time about how a little long-haired Chihuahua came into my life and changed it. He’s a little traumatized from his past, which I know nothing about. The only thing I know is he’s been abandoned three times and he can become a little attached to me and fearful that someone will take him away again. That’s OK because I have become attached to him too.

Pets bring a special joy to our lives. If we step back in to the creation story, we see that the Creator asked the created human to care for all the animals; and we are still doing it. The mystic Meister Eckhardt wrote:

Apprehend God in all things,

For God is in all things.

Every single creature is full of God

And is a book about God.

Every creature is a word of God.

If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature- even a caterpillar-

I would never have to prepare a sermon.

So full of God is every creature.

Butterflies at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

For our family, we’ve always had animals that at one point or another needed special care. Our little cat Junior developed high blood pressure which led to a swelling around his eye. In order to save his life, he had to lose an eye. It was a horrible thing to go through with him, especially since there was no way his little brain could comprehend why it happened. He went through the surgery, like a trooper, and came home for us to help him mend. I have to admit the first night bringing him home, I just wanted to cry seeing what happened to him and feeling responsible. All he wanted was to snuggle with us as he healed.

The incredible thing we can learn from our pets is they are so resilient. They take these things with stride while we humans stress over what it means to no longer have a part of our body or lack full capability- be it physical or mental. We instantly feel like we are less worthy, and we often treat others that way too. However, we may just be more lovable, like our pets. We may just need to know from others that we still matter. Junior healed completely, and went on to live a full and bouncy life until his kidneys finally gave out on him years later. Watching him suffer, lose weight, and making that decision to let him go was among the hardest things my daughter and I have ever had to go through. Through it we learned to set aside ourselves and our time to spend those final days being with him.

We had already lost a husband and a father. My daughter lost an aunt and an uncle. We had to give up other pets because of our living situations, thankfully to good homes. But death, whether it’s of a human family member that you love or a furry friend that you adore, is never fun for us. We had two other cats at the time and all they did was roam around looking for Junior. We had no way to explain to them where he was—he was gone and they would learn soon enough to carry on. Just like we learn in our loss. And yes, we still look around in our minds and hearts for those no longer with us.

When we brought home Rufus, a.k.a. Rukus, we knew there would be some challenges with him because his back legs didn’t work and they said he probably would never walk again. So we set out to make him comfortable and to feel as much like a loved dog as possible. The little Chiweenie soon put on weight and we found that he was a bouncy happy dog. He may have lost use of his legs, but he had not lost his desire to be outside or his desire to bark at other dogs and people. There were daily accidents because he couldn’t control his body, and we learned how to care for him in the way you care for an older family member whose body is failing them. I learned how to be encouraging to a little puppy who probably didn’t understand any of the words we were saying. I think of friends with Alzheimer’s or dementia who we visit, knowing that they will forget that we came, and knowing that they may not fully understand who we are and why we are there. But still we come to love on them to somehow hope that our few brief moments with them will bring them joy and bring us peace.

Rufus and his brother Olie out for a walk.

We worked with Rufus in the water moving his legs. We found out that he loved to chase after his Dino and play just like a regular dog. Eventually, we got him outside and discovered he still liked to do his business outside, if given the opportunity. And then one day he just stood up on his own and walked across the room. We were stunned. That’s how we discovered to never underestimate what God can do. Somehow, our love and encouragement had given him strength to stand up and little by little he did that. He never fully regained all his strength but we realized that when he could, qhe would stand and play and run around.

I think of people who have been injured maybe through a stroke or an accident and have lost use of their legs. How hard they have to work to come back from it. How much encouragement it takes from the people around them to spur them on. I think of the courage it takes to say, I’ll try again and again and again, hoping things get better. People look at Rufus in his wheels or as he bounces along on his back legs like a bunny, and think how sweet he is and how great it is that he is trying. And yet we can look at someone in a wheelchair almost with distain because their body has failed them. However, they are the same people that we are. They have worth and value that we can so easily disregard.

I am thankful for the advances we have made in adapting our culture to meet the needs of those with physical disabilities. How is it that we today can take care of our pets and ensure that they had the best care and the best advantage, but we have begun to roll back programs to help humans improve and have a better life. How is it that we have come to think that they are a drain on our system, when they have something to offer that is beyond our imagination.

We had a sweet little Cockerpoo, a cocker spaniel and poodle combo. Spencer had epilepsy, which meant seizures at unexpected times. Medication helped but wasn’t always affordable. And also meant lots of accidents. We learned how to help him stay calm during a seizure and how to help him recover from a seizure. We learned when they were serious enough to go to the doctor and when we could just help him through it. One of the sweetest things though was that our little cat Junior, the one who would eventually lose his eye, was the one that always came to soothe him. He would walk around him in circles when he had a seizure, and then when it was done, he would come lay beside him to comfort him.

Isn’t that what God wants us to do for each other? Come along side and just be there and bring comfort. We don’t always have to say anything, sometimes we can hold a hand and other times we just need to sit quietly until someone is ready to speak. Being present and bringing the spirit of the Divine with us is the best thing we can do for one another.

So if you have a pet at home, be at a dog, a cat, even a little guinea pig, I hope you will look at them as a gift. I hope we can learn as Humans to be responsible for loving and caring for them, and in that, learn to love and care for each other.

Make a space for those who need our love.

I hope you will learn from them how to love other humans in our lives. Everything in creation is connected. So when you see a human struggling, pray that you see them through the eyes of the Creator with love and compassion. When you see a friend in need, I pray you will let them know that you are there for them and with them. And I do hope if you don’t already have one of God‘s creations living in your home, other than a human, that you will look to a local shelter, Humane Society, or rescue organization to see who is waiting to rescue you.

Godspeed.

Learning Love from our Four-legged Friends

I swore I would never have another dog. I have been spoiled by too many sweet pets in the past. I used to say that the perfect dog would have to find me because I wasn’t going looking. I just couldn’t imagine any new animal finding a way into my heart again like the previous ones had.

And then along came Buddy.

All of my dogs have been rescues. Buddy was a special kind of rescue. He had been abandoned and stood barking on a dock, waiting for someone to hear him. We did, and when he jumped up into the car and onto my lap, I knew he was a keeper. We would find out later that this was the third time he had been abandoned, and so leaving him in the shelter was a tough thing to do. As I waited out the 10 days for him to be legally free to come home, I questioned whether I was making the right decision.

And then it became clear that God had indeed “dropped him in my lap” to love and care for him.

Bringing home a new dog with a history can be a little bit of a challenge. He is what we call a “reactive” dog. He’s a Chihuahua so that makes it even more complicated. I’ve come to understand that a reactive dog is kind of like a human who is anxious and may be suffering a little PTSD. The problem is our four-legged friends can’t really tell us what’s wrong and so unlike humans they bark and they growl and they jump around, hoping we will help them. At first it made me a little crazy, but now I understand that it’s his way of telling me: “Get me out of here- I don’t feel safe.” and it is my job to make sure he does feel safe.

Back from the groomer where he was an angel!

I’ve learned a lot about patience with him as we try different ways for him to be less reactive. He’s doing better now with other people—sometimes it’s just a slight “grrrr,” other times he loses his mind until I can snap him out of it or remove him from the situation. He’s helped me to recognize those signs in the humans around me too, and to be more patient and kind with them. Sometimes we humans need a safe space too!

The thing with Rescue Dogs is you never really know what their situation was before they came into our lives. They may have been hurt and not loved by their owners. They may have been neglected or ignored in their homes. They may have had someone who was unkind and intimidated and yelled at them. The same is true for humans. We never really know what’s going on in someone’s past until we take time get to know them. So we tend to judge based on what we think we are seeing without knowing the backstory. We become impatient and judgmental and dismissive of others while the model of Jesus calls us to be patient, understanding, and kind. We so easily forget when people don’t measure up to our “standards.”

The apostle Peter talked about kindness coming from the Lord and how we learned to be kind because of the way Jesus taught us. Jesus taught us to be patient, and to be humble around those who need our love the most. It isn’t always easy, especially when someone is reactive to a situation. But love them we must, because after all, we are loved and should be compelled to pass that love and care to others. I wonder what it would look like if we applied the same patience, kindness, and even forgiveness we show our pets to our humans?

So we added Buddy to the family of an unorthodox beagle, Olie, who is the opposite of Buddy. He was rescued from a farm where beagles were raised and mistreated. It took him a while too to trust us, and then to be able to trust others around him. In learning to trust us, he has learned to trust others. I think that’s what Jesus does right? We learned to trust God through him and then we learn to share that love and trust with others so that they can have that peace.

And then there is Rufus. We found Rufus in a shelter, emaciated and sad. His previous owner had accidentally closed the door on him and damaged his spine, so he wasn’t able to completely walk. It also meant he had a lot of accidents inside the house because he couldn’t go out or control his bladder. He was one unhappy little Chiweenie and also the most loving little fella- with a mighty bark! In Rufus we learned how to love and care for those in need. To forgive accidents or things beyond control. To be patient and kind as we care for those who can’t care for themselves. Now he is one happy puppy beginning the decline of old age. Love him we do.

There is a saying about rescues. We think we are rescuing them, when in fact they rescue us. I didn’t know I needed to have someone to come home to every night, who needed attention and who needed to get outside in God‘s creation. But God did. He knew I needed a buddy in my life as much as Buddy needed me. So here he is in his fourth home, and I hope his last. I’ve had so many fun little journeys already and I look forward to the years with him, and with Olie and Rufus, who live with their “other” parents now. Each day I learn a little bit more about myself because of them.

So if you think you need a little extra love in your life, I encourage you to seek out the Humane Society, a local shelter, or a dog or cat rescue organization. They will work to help you find just the right friend who needs you as much as you need them. I pray you will bring that joy into your home and increase your family’s love for one of God‘s little creations. I think what an honor it is to be able to look after one of God‘s creations. It’s just that simple.