Why God Created Dogs
I’m a dog person.
I’ve known it since I was little that whenever a dog caught my sight, I melted to goo and my heart was filled with mixed feelings of affection (because of how cute it was) and fear (because the dogs that I had stumbled upon in most cases were unfriendly mutts who had taken the fun of chasing me around the streets).
Nevertheless, the urge to own one had never faded away, as it got stronger when local TV stations decided to play dog movies with friendly canine figures such as Lassie, Benji and that huge-ass Saint Bernard, Beethoven. In my mind, owning a pet dog would be like having a friend who would love me unconditionally, no matter what.
I craved for the canine companionship so much that I’d made constant whining of “Can I have a dog mum? Can I please?” to my mother to put up with, in which she always grimly replied with, “No. It’ll dirty up the whole house and make it smell like turds.” And even when I begged her to differ by saying, “But muuuum…” whilst displaying child-like cutesy-ness in order to melt her cold-hearted resolution, she’d stop me, as quick as lightning would, by saying, “No. End of conversation.”
So to fill such emptiness in my heart that only the presence of a dog could, I had to do regular visits to friends who owned dogs as pets. Yes, it was shameful, yes, it was selfish, but I was desperate, and besides, I honestly think they didn’t mind it at all.
Take my friend Syl, for example. I got acquainted with her during my university years, in which she had to endure being interrupted during dinner time because I turned up at the door of her apartment, totally uninvited, just so that I could have a squeeze on Ashley, her Pomeranian-Maltese pup. Yes, I had no shame, so sue me.
When I finally entered adulthood (haha!) and realised that I was like any other grown-up people who had to get up in the mornings and went to work to earn money, and coming back home feeling depressed and bullied (office politic, enough said), I really thought I was fooling myself because the child in me still, after all those years, yearned for the presence of the furry canine companion.
The feeling grew stronger as years went by, and I still cooed at the sight of dogs. So when one of my work colleagues told me she owned a chihuahua, I went to visit her place and even though it wasn’t the type of dog I would prefer to have, it was still one nevertheless. Beggars can’t be choosers, right?
At the late age of 25 I finally had the courage to rebel to my mother; I brought a dog home without her permission. We got into a huge fights, say things we didn’t mean to each other, and I threatened to leave home when she finally caved in with a final warning that I had to take care of it properly because otherwise my head would be on the chopping block.
After eleven months of ups and downs in raising a little mini dachshund pup, I sincerely have to say that adopting Micah as my dog was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. It was through him that I learnt a great deal of patience, careness and love.
There were days when I felt like giving up when Micah had not yet learnt to master the art of housebreaking, and yet there were also days when I felt so in love with him simply because of the way he looked at me. No matter how many times I’ve yelled and spanked his little furry butt for being naughty, he always pounced back, happy as Larry to see me, licking me all over and displaying his love to me in such a matter-of-fact way that I didn’t have the heart to stay angry for more than five minutes.
Owning a dog is one of the best essentials in life, and thus I know perfectly why God created dogs; it’s to teach us human how to love unconditionally.
February 10th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
esp when the dog is giving you the puppy eyes so you won’t punish her T_T i melt into pieces
February 10th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
hiks pengen bgt punya doggie. kmaren tuh pengen beliin buat di rumah si lisan, eh dia sampe berantem ama bonyoknya, akhirnya kita ngalah aja deh. kita nunggu beli rumah ndiri dulu deh. T_T
February 10th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Hi Therry,
Blogwalking from Anita’s. Your posting reminded me of my own dog who lived till he was 13 (he passed away last year on Feb). Fatso was the sweetest, most loveable dog you could ever meet. He was so popular in the neighborhood that children on often called and asked him out to play or have themselves photographed with my dog. Losing him was like losing a family member. To this day I still cannot get myself to adopt another dog to replace him. Now I own a cat who behaves like my late dog…LOL! My niece said, she believed my dog Fatso guided Suneo the cat from the pet heaven. Thanks again for sharing your joy. Your dog looks so cute.
February 10th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
You are right of course about the reason why God created dogs (or for Darwinists: why natural selection did so): lessons of love.
But the other reason may be punishment. By having us stepping into dog’s shit once or twice a day, He has made it clear to us that He is very displeased about the human negligence of the public domain.
February 10th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
@Cn:
Exactly! It’s a manipulative trick and it works everytime, ha3x!
They probably don’t even realise it, it’s probably in their genes to let out pleading faces whenever they get scolded off… but they DO have definitive facial expressions, that I’m sure of!
@Ivan:
Sabar ya … lebih enak punya guguk kalau udah punya rumah sendiri sih, jadi lebih leluasa buat ngurusinnya. Nanti kalau udah siap mau beli guguk kasi tau gw yaa
@Elyani:
Ooo… your dog sounds really sweet… they do feel like a part of a family, don’t they? I often think of Micah not as a dog but simply as Micah, another member of the family who happens to have a tail and fur all over his body
Could it be that Fatso wasn’t ready to leave you yet so he reincarnated into your cat? What a funny name for a cat by the way ha3x.
@Colson:
Ha3x…It really pisses you off when someone doesn’t pick up after their dogs, doesn’t it?
Well unfortunately such act of ‘civilisation’ is not properly introduced in Indonesia (picking up after their dog?? They can’t even be bothered to pick up their own rubbish and put it in the rubbish bin!), that’s why seeing dog poos everywhere has become a normality in our lives…
February 11th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Aaaaaaa Therry, kau membuka luka lama dan merobeknya kembali hiks…
Iya Ther waktu itu aku ampe ribut mo punya anjing, kesel banget padahal aku udah janji mo urusin hiks…
Micah lucu banget yah, matanya kasian banget kurang ajar…
Anyway bulunya bagus banget mengkilap, kamu kasi makan apa Ther?
February 11th, 2008 at 4:46 am
@LiSan:
Aku juga sempet ribut kok gede kok, tapi bokap sih belain, cuma nyokap yang terang-terangan ngga setuju. Sampe kepikiran pengen nge-kos segala karena nyokap pake alasan “Selama kamu masih tinggal di rumah ini kamu ikut aturan mami.”
Sebenernya dia takut aku cuma anget-anget chicken shit doang, jadi nanti kalo udah bosen guguknya ga diurusin, tapi kan skrg udah dibuktiin kalo itu gak bener.
Malahan sekarang nyokap demen bgt sama Micah, sering diajak bercanda.. bah ha3x.
Waktu Micah masih kecil, penampilannya itu sungguh mengenaskan sekali, karena kupingnya itu ketombean, bulunya pitak-pitak ngga jelas, kurus dan baunya… kaya terasi! Ha3x. Karena breeder-nya ngga sanggup ngurusin dia saking banyaknya anjing-anjingnya.
Lucunya adiknya Micah yang cewek itu bagus, agak gemukan dan bulunya bagus.. tapi aku entah kenapa milih Micah aja.
Dia kukasi makan dogfood biasa kok, dulunya sih Science Diet, tapi sekarang pakai Pedigree, cuma karena dalam rangka penggemukan badan, dikasih bubur bayi plus nasi juga.. he3x.
Kalo dimandiin, pake sampo baby Johnson & Johnson! Waktu aku main ke tempat breederku dia juga kaget sih ngeliat bulunya Micah tebel banget, dan pas kukasih tau dimandiin pake sampo bayi dia terbengong2… hi3x…
February 11th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
jadi inget anjing g, hobby sama kek g, makan dan tidur hahaha ^^ ihiks…
February 11th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
@Pitshu:
Anjing gw juga…. kebiasaannya jadi sama persis! Kalo lagi mo bobo ampe siang dia ngga ngeluh loh… kalo kita makan ya pasti dia ikut makan juga secara ngiler ha3x…
February 11th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Therry, Suneo the cat was named after one of the character in Doraemon movie. The reason I name him Suneo because it rhymes with his meow when I call his name. Whenever I call … Suneoooooooo….he will respond…meooowww…LOL!
February 11th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
@Elyani:
When I call Micah, he turns his head to me and two seconds later looks back to whatever got his attention earlier. I then proceed to squeeze plastic bags (he somehow relates this to snacks) in which he will immediately perch himself right next to me, tail wagging, eyes gleaming and tongue swapping and all. What a dog…
Your Suneo must be ten times smarter than my Micah he3x…
February 12th, 2008 at 2:50 am
I love doggies… all kinds of dog. Big, small, tall, short, hairy, no hair, good, naughty, even scary ones. I love training them too. DOG is GOD spelled backwards.
February 12th, 2008 at 7:10 am
@Jennie:
Dog = God spelled backwards < — that is so true! He3x. They’re the best animal in the world…