The following selection was written by myself almost two years ago on an old blog of mine! I decided to republish because it is a lesson I continue to need to learn! :)


God's lessons through my Puppy

So we have a new puppy, we named him Rufus! Rufus is a chihuahua mix... He weighs about 14 pounds ...He's absolutely adorable! I can't take any personal credit for the selection of our pup.. all blame, I mean all credit goes to my husband and youngest son! One Saturday morning they went to the local Petsmart to their "adoption day." No sooner did they get out of the car when Sam spotted and fell in love with Rufus!

As they were going through the process of completing the paperwork the woman who was handling the process said, "now, I have to warn you, this dog has resource guarding issues." In other words Rufus's philosophy in his thus far 4 months of life was this, "EVERYTHING IS MINE! IT ALL BELONGS TO ME." haha! oh boy this was going to be fun! Sure enough once Rufus was home he snapped and growled and protected everything from his food, to his toys, my son's bed, he even started protecting certain rooms, not letting us near those things he decided were his! I did some quick internet research on chihuahua behavior.

Apparently resource guarding is very typical behavior for a chihuahua. I found out the way to fix this behavior is to teach the chihuahua that NOTHING belongs to him and that EVERYTHING comes from his master, you must train the dog that his very life depends on his master. The way it's done is for 2 weeks you only let the dog ear a few nibbles at a time ONLY from your hand. After 2 weeks you let the dog watch you put the food in his bowl and you keep your hand near the bowl... Eventually the dog learns that his sustenance comes from the master and this transfers to other things that the dog regarded as hisown. IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In just 2 weeks Rufus learned to stop growling and snapping.. He began to trust me and the other members of the family ... he realized that we have his best interest at heart and we will provide all he needs.

I thought to myself, "wow! in just 2 weeks my Rufus learned what God still tries to teach me!!!!" I think of how peaceful and at rest my puppy is now... how muchmore so are we, as believers, at rest when we trust inour Lord and Master Jesus!? How must more at peace I am when I realize that nothing is mine! Not my house, my work, my husband, my children, my car, my ministry, my friends, my health, my LIFE!!! How much more content are we when we realize and live out daily the truth that our God provides for our every need, our very sustenance and to let him have HIS way in our life!

God took care of our biggest problem, which was our sin by sending Jesus to live, to die as payment for our sin and then be raised up from the dead! If He took care of our biggest problem won't God take care of our lesser problems? Of course he will! I know that when I walk by grace and trust in the full promises of God I am not "growly and snappy" like Rufus! Most of all , when I walk in trust, satisfied that at all that I have is not my own but from God's hand and when I am satisified in Jesus alone as my highest treasure GOD is glorified!!!

How kind of God to give my a puppy to teach me lessonsof His Kingdom!

An update on Rufus: He has been with us for almost 2 years now and he is the sweetest dog ever! He is affectionate and loyal.. yea, he barks alot but he's a sweetie. We can even let him out the front door and he won't bolt! I guess he realizes that it's best and safest near his master. Do you realize that today?

Blessings Christian. May God remind you and me that it's best to stay near to Him.

James 4:8 "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded."