Why God Created Dogs

[question everything]

Just after 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4, Little Bit, the world’s greatest dog, passed from this life to the next. She apparently had an arrhythmia from birth and despite the best efforts of Dr. Julie Page of Palisade, Colo., and her Valley Emergency Pet Care colleagues in Basalt, Little Bit’s loving heart gave out. She’d have been three in November.

(snip)

When we arrived at Joshua Creek Ranch, the cages on the hunting trucks were filled with a dozen or more dogs that the guides let out so we could see them all in action. From the scrum of animals, a sleek black English cocker spaniel emerged, running straight for us. She jumped on me, her little white tail wagging eagerly, as if to say “Nice to meet you! We’ll have fun today! If the rumors are true you’re looking for a dog, keep me in mind!” The issue was settled. So Little Bit traded up, moving from a crowded kennel and the converted barrel in which she slept to a suburban home with doting parents. It was February 2020, just before we were all locked down and separated from family and friends. Little Bit’s arrival was fortuitous. Who knows what our mental health during Covid would have been like without her?

(snip)

Little Bit loved long walks, especially at the ranch where she’d match each of our miles with two or three of her own, zigging and zagging over hills and pastures. She wouldn’t get into our pristine swimming pool but jumped enthusiastically into every scum-covered cattle trough. A great traveler, Little Bit loved riding in cars—any car, actually, which proved to be a challenge. Every open car door was an invitation to jump in. While riding in the back seat, she did two things with equal delight: observe the scenery and then fall asleep until delivered to her destination.

(snip)

For 18 months this loving, joyous spirit was a big part of our family. On vacation the Saturday before last, we slept in, Little Bit wedged right up against me for warmth. We went for her morning business, then she ran cheerfully through the hotel to report to Karen and snuggle more, rising after a while for breakfast. A few minutes later, she went into convulsions. She recovered somewhat on the frantic ride to the vet’s but was gone within the hour.

I’m no theologian, but believe God grants us pets to encourage us to give and receive unconditional love—to see loyalty personified and to remind us that we must balance joy and delight with loss and grief in this transitory life.

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I know we don't like him, but this loving memorial that left me in tears appeared in the WSJ by.... Karl rove



https://www.wsj.com/articles/little-bit-karl-rove-dog-loss-passing-pets-joy-grief-cocker-spaniel-11631740732 (subscription)

[hlthe2b]

1. They say there is some good (however large or small) in all of us. If so, I'd say that might be

the result of our dogs (other pets too, but especially our dogs). So, in this, I'm not surprised that someone so transactional and seemingly self-serving as Karl Rove could still find the appreciation for a loving dog.


I once attended a St. Francis event at a somewhat "off-shoot" Catholic church where everyone brought their dogs or the photos of the ones they'd lost seated beside them on the pews. For almost two hours every one of those animals was "introduced" to all by their owners and blessed by the Priest for the joy they bring or brought in their lifetimes. And at the end of the service, the Priest simply stated that the answer to "why God created dogs, was that God could not be everywhere at all times." Honestly, I think even the less religious and areligious among the guests were all nodding along as they considered that thought.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. It is hard to say goodbye to a family member

May your family member rest in peace