We’ve had our dog for a full 4 months and he is now 5 and a half months old (3.5 years in people age). I am learning a whole lot and there have been some great growth moments and big wins, but it hasn’t come without stains, spills, and major mishaps.
In this short season, I have been the one who is really the student as being a dog owner has revealed as much about me as it has raising the dog. I’d like to share what I am learning and how this pet partnership is shaping me. So, humor me for the next 5 weeks as we DIG into the life and mind of a dog (through my perspective).
Sometimes I wonder if I’m cut out to be a dog dad. I see the way others are with their animals and even how they treat mine and I’m not sure I’ve got it in me. I’ve got 4 boys and the smells and disasters are canine caliber, so on one hand I’m used to it, but on the other I know I’m way off. I’m not putting clothes on my dog and it’s generally frowned upon to let me kids ride unbuckled hanging their heads out of the truck window going down the road.
Regardless, we’ve got this thing and there’s not much I can do about it now so I’ll just keep living in this new normal and learning as I go.
As much as we’ve let this animal disrupt our lives, live in our house, eat our food, and poop and pee on our carpet, Cocoa is STILL and will ALWAYS be just a dog. And this means we have to treat him like one or at least EXPECT him to act like one.
We constantly battle things like wet/muddy paws, digging, chewing, and smelliness. We constantly harp and correct him to NOT jump on Michael and push him down, to NOT get up on the kitchen table, to NOT dig, to NOT chew EVERYTHING but his toys, to NOT hump people, but the second he smells or feels the need, he’s back at it.
I know we can correct many of the things to the point of breaking him of it, and some things will stop with age (and getting his balls cut off), but he’ll never NOT smell like a dog or come in the house with muddy feet after it’s been raining. And, he’ll ALWAYS take a moment to grab a snack off someone’s plate when no one is looking.
He’s a DOG! He can’t HELP IT!
This is great for understanding life with a pet and even extending grace to him, but it falls short to use that same mentality on myself, the ‘it is what it is’ lie or ‘it’s just the way I am’ excuse.
To say ‘it’s just my nature’ is a copout and settling for less. I recently heard this thought from another pastor and have been chewing on it since. He said that “we were never intended to KNOW evil OR good, just live forever.” God gave Adam and Eve the commandment to not eat of the tree of KNOWLEDGE, but put the tree of LIFE for them to eat.
God made humans in his image (Gen 1:27), putting “eternity in the hearts of man” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), making us to live forever, but we were NOT to know evil and good. God never intended for this broken state to be the end game so made alternative provisions Gen 3:22-24).
Now we’re living and walking in paradox, stuck in this physical realm, knowing good and evil, but maintaining our divine nature and eternal connection. It’s what I’ll call the Shaggy Dog Syndrome.
It’s like the 2006 movie, The Shaggy Dog, where Tim Allen turns into a sheep dog and it’s still him, his mind and thoughts, passions and desires, but he’s also overcome by the canine within. He chases cats, obeys commands like ‘sit’, and likes to stick his tongue out the window while driving. (Also 1959 and 1994 versions are similar.)
Cocoa is NOT a human trapped in a dog’s body, so I can excuse his dog-like behavior and NOT expect a human response. But I am a divine spiritual being trapped in a physical human body (same as you), and I must learn to overcome this sinful nature.
Paul talked about this when he said, “I don’t do the good I want to do, and I keep doing the things I don’t want to do” (Romans 7:19). He recognized the Shaggy Dog Syndrome and gives the cure.
Like Dave (The Shaggy Dog), Paul, you and me, it’s going to take some real work, help from beyond ourselves. This is not just trying harder or doing better. We have to let something outside of us reveal and refine that thing within us. Paul identifies the remedy as Jesus Christ. He is the answer for you and me as well.
When I find myself acting like a dog (sinful, self-full ways in this case), I must go to Jesus and seek restoration in him!
Cocoa is expected to act like a dog, you and I were born for so much more!
#TheBeastWithin
#AnimalInstinct
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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