My Dog, A Gift From God

I adopted my dog a few years ago.

At first I though I was never going to really like her. She smelled, and had no idea of what obedience is. She was overweight, and just plain inactive almost to the point of doubling for a door-stop.

At first I gave her dog food, dry. It did not seem to satisfy her, so I started giving her canned, and she did respond somewhat.

Not yet happy with her eating habits, I started cooking some for her. She loves lentils. Now I give her dry food in a bowl for when she want it and I give her what I cook for her plus table scraps, and she is like a puppy though the shelter told me she was over ten years old.

She has a tendency to train me when I try to train her. I wind up doing what she wants most of the time.

Now she tries to obey, but much of the time she just is not certain of what to do, and I have come to love her more and more even because of this fault (perceived as such by an observer.)

I know she really loves me, and I really love her, so even when she makes big blunder, I just love her more and she seems to understand that she does not totally understand.

Her love for me is teching me how to love God even more. She is a gift of love from our FAther, imperfect as she is, and I have come to love spoiling her, faults and all. Praise God, amen. j

I love dogs too! we have more than one...

Glad you have a wonderful canine for a friend...mine are like furry friends too!

When I brought her home, walked her home the first day, she came into the house and literally fell on to her side. I thought she had died. She was just out of shape and exhausted. I had no way of knowing this or I would never have walked her so far. She did this falling over thing a couple of more time until I got her to eating well, and after I changed her diet she began to slowly lose weight, not planned, and now she jumps about foutr times her height or more. She could not even wag her tail or scratch. When she laid down her legs stuch straight out the upper legs not even tuoching the floor. At first I gave her two beds, one in the living room and one in the room where I have my pc, and she used both. Now she has two "houses" in the place of the beds, though the beds are inside each. Though she has white hairs on her noce over her black areas, she really is puppy-like now,, and it is true, I love doing what I said I would not do, and that is spoiling her. She is outrageously obvious about her wants and I cannot say no to her except for allowing her to eat foods that will make her fat again. It turns out, I just found out last week, she is a Jack Russell Terrier, black and white, and everything I found out about her, Ihad already learned......the HARD WAY:..lol She is wonderful.

This may weird some of you out, but at first with my dog, Ella, I wondered just how I could possibly care for a mutt like she was. Then it occurred to me, "If I cannot love this helpless creature, how can I expect God to love me."

From that instant I realized I love the pup, but also just howmuch God loves us. She was so imperfect, so disobedient, and so sneaky, but I could sense she had totally bonded with me. She was going through her period of training me. She was not really training me, I don't thing so anyway, she was just feeling her way around my own imperfections and quirks. Whatever she did, she sure has me in the palm of her paw now.

I figure if we can love our furred friends so, it must be teven better with the love our Father has for us. He bears with our imperfections when He knows we are devoted to Him, just as I truly love my little Ella because I know she is devoted to me....spoiled as she is.

The older I am, ther more I see just how much our Father has spoiled me. I seem to have so much more than I could ever merit. His attention is always on me.....just as it is with you I am sure. Praise God for His love for us all, and showing us in any way that suits Him just how we are to love one another, faults and all.....

You remind me of my cat and I. My cat amory and I are like one. When I am sick he comes and takes care of me, if I get worse he wakes up my mom and gets her. He griefs with me and hes happy with me When I was little I would dress him up and drive him around in a buggy and he never minded it or jumped out when I went against walls and all with it. Hes already 14 now (hes in the picture on my profile where he fell asleep on my bible). Animals are very special. They dont care about your faults. They accept people the way they are and they always again remind me how God loves us. They dont care if you got a bad hair day. And theyre always ready and there to comfort you.

I had a dog in my teens which adopted us! He use to come and play in my garden
then one day we found out his owner had been sent to prison, so the dog just came and
stayed!

He was a lassie type border collie cross Labrador so he was just a big bundle of fur and fun.

He was maybe 18 months old when he adopted us but even at that age he had lots of tricks
up his sleeve (well paws).

When hungry he use to go grab his food bowl march up to you and drop it on your feet!
He loved tomatoes, he soon realised that if he bit into them they splattered everywhere, so
he would hold them in his front paws and nibble at them.

I use to play loads of hide and seek games with him, I would hide somewhere in the house and
call him, then he ran around looking for me. His reward was a doggie treat.

If there was any goodies out, like a cream cake or birthday cake etc, he would gaze at
it longingly, he never jumped up and got it but he would make you feel so guilty that you
felt compelled to give him some. He soon found out who would cave in the quickest!

He hated the word vet! If you said that word he would sulk and give you disgusting looks. Lol

He also responded to other certain words like dinner, walkies, food, bed etc. It could so bad
that we had to spell these words out but I swear he learnt how to spell!

Here he is on my bed, we tried to get him to use a basket but he always sneaked onto
my bed! Often he would take himself to bed when he felt like it.

oh yes, it seems as though God sends us certain 'pets' to succor and heal a lot of times,
not to mention how much joy and time that they take up to fill our personal issues or losses
and such...but we must always remember, that what we feel for them is 'affection',
and not the True Love of God as He has made so special for only us...

for those of us who have been blessed with those special 'critters', and go through their
life and death, it can never compare to the death and departure of our Loved Ones,
it is specifically different and we must recognize this - as something different and unique,
a real 'gift' from our Father...

I have grief for some of my past cats three of them were taken away because he had to move died or experienced trauma with us mostly in a horrible way the first one snowy God told us to move to Christchurch South Island we gave him to a neighbour but he got hit by a car and God put me through a very difficult experience My cat tommy (tommy for tom cat a ginger cat) we couldn't find him as a 14 year old I was adventurous at the time had this thing about climbing under the house with our junk I even got my friends to do it haha! Some times God gets us to do things for a future purpose when I went looking for my cat under the house who had been missing I found and saw him in the corner it broke my heart it was very physically painful for him and like others have said I knew he loved me and it was very hard for him to see me crawl to him (narrow space under the house) and I picked him up because he was dying and couldnt move it really brike my heart it still does and carried him crawling because I was under the house so I couldn't stand up he was like groaning in pain it was painful God was hurt, I was, my cat his love and bond for my family and yeah brought to the kitchen floor to my parents he couldn't stand he had had I think a blocked bladder? From memory ? The toxins were poisoning him unfortunately we feed our cats only milk I'm pretty sure that's how he died but our Father only knows so I learnt not to give cats only milk.... They need water. I don't like mentioning this my last cat its traumatic memories and wasn't fun for Silver I'm real glad thankful my last cat was a tabby haha he was the only grey one of a black lot I always wanted a tabby and finally got one yay! Umm when the Earthquakes in Christchurch happened it frightened all the animals such as ppls pets he silva my tabby sweetheart kept running away after the earthquakes despite it all real sweet loyal memories of him our front door got jammed because of the EQ/aftershocks so I remember I have this memory of him jumping up through the partially open/ jammed window and trying to get in he was cutely hanging there so I/ we had to pull him in as we wanted to be with us haha lol cute! #Aww# and on the day of the first Earthquake a few hours after in daylight my parents and I were all in the same bed listening to the radio so my cat jumps up on the bed and joined us - we just wanted to be with each other and comfort reassure ourselves of course Silva had to be there. That was long ! Praise God for my cats and all of your pets great memories thru the sad and pain but love too!

Because God breathes life into all that "have breath," it has come to me that of course animals do not have souls, but as long a they are alive, God has not returned His Breath to Himself, and it is that attention God gives them that I love........no, heaven will not be filled with ev erything we see here, it will be much better.......eye hath not see etc.

I am the first to be suspicious of anyone who loves animals more than his fellow man, meanwhile, my Ella is from God to teach me that He will use anything to shine light on what Love truly is..... Ella's devotion is admirable. God bless you always..........in the love of Yeshua.........jack

ha...

one of the very best dogs anyone could ever have...I had found him when out for a walk with my other dog...he came out of a drain pipe in the middle of fields down a long country road with no houses on it

I tried to find who he might belong to, but was not able to

I decided I would not spoil him...I would go to sleep at night and tie him to a chair so he could not get close and I would not pet him too much. He would sit on the chair...a big rocker...and stare at me and then just lie down

he became the most wonderful dog...I could write many pages of how great he was....right down to protecting other animals

we say we will not spoil them and they look at you with those trusting eyes and it's all that stern stuff out the window

my husband is worse LOL!

we have dog beds upstairs and downstairs and they have been known to occupy the sofa too

I have two Cats age six born on the 4th of July! My wife and I got them from Battersea Dogs and Cats home an old and famous rescue center in the UK, when they were age 11 months. They are Japanese Bobtail crossbreeds Although 'Brothers' they are completely different from each other. Monty is a cuddly home loving fellow but Dylan is a very independent and spends a lot of his time outside. They are both fascinated by my computer and watch television. My wife and I think the world of them

Now this is deep; someone who truly understands my (pleasant) ordeal. Of course you will understand when I say "those eyes" and "that stare." She, my girl, can stare at me for an hour if she wants something. It depends on where I am physically to know what she wants at agiven moment. Mine is the black and white version. She is quite amazing. I have never nor wuold I ever let her off a leash when away from the gated house because she is adopted, and I do not know if she may have gotten lost before from perhaps following a scent. Some dogs will do that, and she is a sniffer. It is true; there is no way to be stern with this dog, at least not for long. She seems to respond (respond, HA!) best to a raised voice, no yelling just raised a bit. God has blessed you with a drain pipe, can you imagine just how wonderful He is to use a drain pipe to give you more comfort. Love in Jesus Christ........jack you are special, yup, you are.

You also are blessed with these family members. It is impossible to understand completely God's love for each of us, but He truly shows Himself in His creatures and those who care for Him.

There is a connection betwen many pets (extended family member) because as LaurenTM pointed out, my dog also is protective of my stray cat visitor whom I feed and care for. Ella, my pup, chases other cats away from her. Noe Ella does chase Isca (the kitty) once in a while, but playing only.

People who love the family in Christ and love animals are the best ever.

Pro 12:10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

All my believing life I have been aware that mans has been given to command over all of the earth and all it contains. This mastery over the animal kingdom does not even approach a right to abuse animals, because this gift is given with the knowledge that mankind can reason and should have this right exercising reason and responsibility.

Unhappily many humans do not appreciated teh gift of God in this regard and spit in His face instead of observing the responsibility that comes with the gift of mastery.

What do we do........?.............praying is good.

I would hate to see any animal in the hands of a cruel lperson, and I know all who truly believe God and appreciate what He gives us believe the same.


(I posted this for my Ella's saek; there is no one else to speak for her. )

oh for sure...best drain pipe ever! He was a Great Dane/American Staffordshire mix...found that out at the vet...and a few years later someone thought I had their dog...they had one of his brothers and someone stole it (very sad)..and they knew where the litter came from...but of course when they met my guy, they knew it was not their dog...someone had told them they had seen me with their dog...they were very nice...I would have followed up on that lead too...

anyway, he lived to be over 16...and when one morning he could not get up anymore, we had the vet come to our home and we said good bye and my husband buried him and I honestly think I will see him again one day...I will have a house full of pups haha!

hold on to your hat now...we have 6 dogs and at one time we had 8...long story...but we live in the country...dogs are my favorite animal...then horses, then birds. Love the birds too. We feed them all year long.

even though we have 6 dogs, every single one of them wants to be with the people in the house...except for one, we have had them all since they were born...literally...but that's a long story!!