In Doggy Defense

Some people take issue with our dog “Ellie” having to have permission on some of her interactions with us. Although this is a defensive blog post, I hope it will also shine light on the bigger picture.
First of all, I treat Ellie in a way similar to people. I respect her species. She is an animal. In other words, she is an animal first and “Ellie” second. Similarly, people are people first and personalities second. So, at the basic level Ellie is an animal with animal instincts trying to coexist in a human world. To save her from having to be reprimanded for behaviors which are natural for her, it’s much easier for her to understand that man has dominion over her. That is the divine order. All that Ellie knows is that we are her pack leaders and thus she does what she would do in the wild: Follow the pack leader. That makes life very simple for her. I understand that for some of you, your animals are nearly co-equals in the household. They live in a world where they do pretty much what they want until they go too far. Then they get reprimanded for doing what is natural for them. Some love their pets as if they are human. In fact, I believe some of you would choose your pet over your spouse if you had to make a choice!! No, I’m not kidding!! Well, if that works for you then great.
Many households that I work with have similar relationships with kids. They treat little Johnny as a personality first and a human being second, thus ignoring or maintaining a blind eye to any negative human tendencies. Soon, the kids have the run of the house by merely doing what comes natural for them. Then the natural divine order is reversed. That might work for you, but for most families that is a living nightmare. What about marriages? Who is the shepherd and who is the nurturer? Is that order reversed too? We should look around and see that we aren’t winning the battle with divorce, emotional problems, or child misbehaviors. They all continue to get worse and tear this great nation apart.
We should think twice about reversing God’s divine order and living on the wrong side of His paradoxes. With Ellie, I’m just maintaining the natural order and balance for an animal. Besides, when our grandchild comes around, I want there to be little question in my mind that Ellie knows that she is to follow the rules, rather than do what might come natural to her with that grandchild.