Yeah, well consider the source:
Posted on 06/30/2011 3:29:04 PM PDT by NYer
Dogs are often given the title “man’s best friend.” I get that. However, a new title has surfaced which turns one’s dog from friend to family. These days people address their dog as “baby.”
Last December, I received a Christmas card in the mail with someone’s dog in the spotlight posing as Santa. Cute? Sure… until I read the caption which read, “Baby’s First Christmas.” This was just the beginning of my observations.
More recently, I met a rather chatty woman in the post office. She was in the process of picking out a Father’s Day card for her son. Her only requirement was that the card include a dog in its design. At first, I thought this to be an innocent request. After conversing longer, she shared that her son’s ex-girlfriend (who I gathered used to live with him) left her two dogs with this man after her departure. The mother was duly impressed with her thirty-year old son’s ability to take care of these creatures. So much so that that was in fact the motivation behind purchasing a Father’s Day card for him. So, would such a mentality make her a grandmother?
I found that encounter bizarre enough, and did not think it could be topped. I was wrong. In my neighborhood, it is not a rare sight to see folks taking advantage of trails that line the roads. On one occasion, I came across a woman roller-skating. As I passed in my car, I glanced over to see that she had a baby carrier strapped to the front of her chest. I expected to see a child. Instead, a dog was strapped in with its legs dangling and its ears blowing in the wind. I passed in shock.
A few days later, I ran a 5k in some brutal heat. Surely, if anyone had offered me water, I would have happily accepted. That didn’t happen, but I did overhear someone ask the couple behind me if their dog could use some water. I glanced behind me to see a bottle of water being held up to the dog’s mouth.
It is not just water alone that is being offered to dogs these days. The options are endless from doggie cones at the ice cream shop to the best beef in town in the dinner dish. With so many occurrences of dog doting, perhaps in this culture I am the one who is seen as odd. Minority belief or not, dogs will never be humans, and therefore we should stop pretending that they are.
After so many extreme episodes of canine care, I began to ponder why dogs have been promoted from pet to person. I believe it reveals a truth that is written on the human heart. The truth I am referring to is that humans are wired for self-donating love. Scripture reveals each person is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 2:27). And who is God, if not Love? (1 John 4:8) The Triune God is a communion of Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Call it a family of three. Richard of St. Victor explained that a requirement of perfect love is sharing with another person, and perfect love between two requires loving for the sake of a third.
All persons are made in the image of the Trinity, and therefore, are also drawn into communion. In marriage, God invites man and woman to model this triune love in their human family. We hear what is written on our soul echoed in God’s command to husband and wife: “God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it’” (Genesis 2:28). The love of spouses continues outside of themselves in the flesh of a human person. “For conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to the mutual love of the spouses, but springs forth from the very heart of that mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfillment” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2366).
What does this truth have to do with dogs? If in marriage, husband and wife do not heed to God’s command to be fruitful in the begetting of children, then this hunger to love something outside of themselves, in union with each other, will find false expression. As seen, one example of this is in the adoption of a pet, where an animal gains the privileges of a person. They are seen as the “third” in this communion of husband and wife. It is a twisted truth, a pacifier. What these couples truly desire is a child. “Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the begetting and educating of children. Children are really the supreme gift of marriage and contribute very substantially to the welfare of their parents” (Gaudium et Spes 50).
Yeah, well consider the source:
“I prefer to think of all the money I’m saving not having to send my dogs to school :-)”
The cost of vet bills is catching up with that expense fast.
I see many young women who have dogs, more than I did in the past. I believe they don’t want to have the responsibility of raising a child, but do want to have a baby. So they have dogs, which will always be dependent on their owners and will never grow up. Hence, they won’t have any of the worries associated with raising a small child or an adolescent.
Fair enough!
I love my dog,but come on,thats a hell of a dammed stretch
Ask a greenie how much pollution and waste we generate taking care of our pets and watch them recoil. Ask them the same question but substitute the word children, and see how fast they suggest birth control.
“Yea, I’m guilty of treating them like one of the family.”
“”Me, too. One of our recent family photos included the dog””
Yep, after reading this I would not have shared my water with her either. At least the pooch would have appreciated the kindness and not given me a sermon.
This really is much ado about nothing. I see this as having very little impact on society.
There are some people, like Casey Anthony, who shouldn’t have children.
People who don’t want children should not be made to feel guilty for preferring the reduced commitment of owning a pet to parenting a child.
Dogs won’t take care of you in your old age if some disaster wipes out everything you have.
The family is the stable retirement plan created by God.
When things get realy really bad, it is still the only one that works.
“I know several individuals who match this description. With legalized same sex marriage, how much longer before states recognize bestiality?
I love my dog,but come on,that is a hell of a dammed stretch””
yeah, especially since the Church can’t even seem to recognize pedophilia.
Better to treat a dog like a baby - than a baby like a dog!
I’m bettin’ she’s never had a dog and I don’t much care how she perceives my affection for them.
So far: no orthodontia, college tuition, car insurance, soccer practice, crappy mini vans, bail, spring break girls gone wild, pregnant teenagers, etc and etc and ETC!!
Most of the people I know would gladly trade me their kids for my dogs.
At least the social ramifications of a dog spoiled rotten to the core are nowhere near that of spoiling a child. Just look at Obama and imagine how much better the world would be if his mom had just bought a poodle.
Seriously, my dog IS a valued family member, and dog people understand this.
I agree and glad you said “dog people” instead of dog owners.
Unfortunately there are too many owners who don’t appreciate their dog’s unconditional loyalty and love when accepted as a member of the family and treated as such.
Far too many dog owners are not dog people. Go to any shelter to see the evidence.
What about cat owners? What if they treat their cats like dogs? How about bird owners?
What if you own a bird, a dog & a cat?
a guy who trained his dog to fetch beer from the fridge
I had a mutt when I was a teen who was trained in one word commands to fetch:
slippers
paper
leash
He was easily trained to do almost anything given a time commitment and appropriate treats
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