Hello and welcome to another Thursday Update! The other day I witnessed something that until now I thought was only in cartoons.
I got up and let the dogs out while I made my coffee, as I do most mornings. Merlin went to the bathroom immediately, but Lucy needed some persuading. Every now and then Lucy won’t go to the bathroom or even leave the back patio steps unless I go out there with her...baby.
The coffee was doing its thing so I had some time and decided to sit out on the patio. It was actually a beautiful morning listening to the birds chirp, the nice calm light cresting over the houses around me. It made me get really excited for fall when most mornings will also be brisk rather than thick and humid.
Anyways, back to the cartoon.
Lucy has a lot of toys in the backyard (they are not allowed to play with toys in the house) and she is very protective of them. She will even take her toys and pile them in the center of the yard and then guard them against Merlin. She hasn’t actually played with her toys in months, but she definitely won’t let Merlin play with them either...not that he likes to play with toys so it works out.
Sometime after we moved in Lucy found a toy bone in the yard left by the previous resident’s dog. She loved that bone mainly because it was a new toy. I feel like everyone can relate to that.
I noticed the other day that the bone was sitting against the house halfway covered with mud. Whenever we get a lot of rain, it doesn’t drain well on that side of the house, so I figured when it rained the other day, the bone got buried.
That morning Lucy showed me the truth.
I looked over to Lucy and she was using her nose to throw more dirt and sticks on her bone. Like, literally, burying her toys! I never knew dogs actually did this. I always thought it was a cartoon thing, but no, it’s legit. I’ve definitely seen dogs (ours included) dig random holes. But never to bury a toy.
I paused life and just watched her for a while. I felt bad because her nose strategy was not really doing much. She got a good pile of sticks and leaves once that actually hid the bone really well, but it wasn’t good enough for her so she kept piling dirt on which knocked all the brush off.
Poor puppy.
Eventually she was satisfied with her job (which looked the same as when she started) and we all went inside to start the day.
I started to wonder why dogs do this, though. The answer was pretty obvious, but I looked it up and found this quote from petmate.com.
“Dogs sharing a space with other dogs may feel the need to compete for food or toys and, thus hide or bury their prized possessions.”
This made me think about how silly Lucy was acting. First of all, Merlin doesn’t even like toys, so he’s not going to take them. Second of all, her prized possession is this used bone she found? Does she not trust that if it went missing we would buy her a new and better toy? Does she not trust that we will always feed her and take care of her?
I’d like to think the answer is no but It’s in her instincts to bury, protect, and prepare for the worst.
In the midst of my judgment towards our pup, I then thought about myself.
It’s not even comparable; not even on the same spectrum how much more God loves us and cares for us than I do about some dog. Even when we have actual children, it will just not even be comparable. We will never be able to fathom how much God loves us until we are with Him. Yet, how hard is it for me to trust God too? I’m like a dog in that way, taking matters into my own hands, trying to protect and bury my treasures so I don’t lose them. All the while, God offers promises over and over that He will take care of us.