I lost count how many times I tried to sell my parents on a pet as a child. I’d beg and persist for all that was good, why I thought I needed a four legged friend and every time it was no, not yet or not now.
Looking back I remember watching my dad lose his best friend and favorite pet, that’s likely when I stopped asking. I understood then that it’s great having a pet, but when they are no longer around, it’s very hard to.
Then I became the parent and believe me when I say it was me all over again, times three. I was a lot softer than my parents so we would try often, but it was never a good fit, ending in rehoming more than I care to admit.
Eventually though I did something totally unexpected on Valentine’s Day of 2012, I picked up a tiny little ankle biter from a facebook post, stuck him inside of one of those tiny little gift bags and walked into the house that day with a treat in the bag that everyone would share, whose name would become “bear bear” because that’s what you name a chihuahua right? It’s a play on “Valentine Bear”.
So bear-bear would grow up and prefer to be an outside dog truthfully because he hated baths and loved the sunshine. He also really wanted to be the first to announce any visitors, and make sure the family was safe from the wildlife eating the grass. And of course he had to run off the daughter’s cats and any other neighborhood cats that looked like it might threaten his kingdom porch hood. He has really been the best fit for our family. In all this time he only ran off for a minute or two to sow his seeds and then only visited the vet once when we learned he was a dad twice over in a very short time. Bear bear has been the best, now that he only has one good tooth, he gets fresh homemade food every day, soft blankets and still enjoys the sunshine on his porch. When I am outside working he is right there watching, when I swing on the front porch, he is perched right in front looking out nearby guarding.
Now that the kids are mostly gone, one of the kids pet’s named Juno, she came as a puppy also. I was a pushover for her blue eyes. She is very gentle and loves to chew everything up and talks often when she yawns, a very weird thing but I think shes saying, I’m bored. High fives and sits pretty and doesn’t’ mind a good spa day. She follows bear around and lets bear- bear be the leader, unless she’s hungry then bear-bear is outta luck. She doesn’t care about all the growling he does, she will eat around all that fuss and not break her tempo. She’s still learning the ropes, likes to play king of the hill “porch” with the cats. Chases off any wondering deer when I drive up .. and has a very deep voice that isn’t one you’d want to meet in the dark.
So now that I look back at this question, I have one very good reason it is good to have a pet.
They teach you about loyalty.
A pets loyalty comes in many different ways, and I promise that you can name something they are very loyal to their masters about.
Maybe it’s in their response to your voice or the way they look for you to come home. It could be how they like to tell you every time someone comes near because they are protective of you.
If you are their human, you will always know they are happy to see you.
Seriously, pets especially dogs are a rare kind of animal. And I believe that God made sure to include them in the animal kingdom as a very special breed that would give comfort and teach us loyalty.
The fact that dogs are trainable and very perceptive to the needs of their masters/owners in various ways proves this.
They teach us a very important lesson and that is, no matter how small or great, the most important role we have is to love The Master and offer our devotion to Him. Without complaint no matter what the cost.
What an example, only the kind a loving Creator could make into something so so good.
