Ritzy | Daily Devotions with Dawn

Abby

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Proverbs 12:10

Animals help us to learn about compassion and caring without getting monetary rewards. In fact, animals can be messy, and try your patience.

They can be like little children who want things right now, like when our dogs hear the word, ‘walk’, they will run over anyone, or anything, to get out the door.

The word, ‘ride’ can have the same effect.

Most of the time they are good dogs.

I guess I should start by saying we had two dogs for over fifteen years. We got Blacky and Foxy from the pound. They were cell mates. One was a black retriever, and the other, an Australian Shepherd.

We loved them and treated them like family. When my son was born, just like in “Lady and the Tramp”, our dogs could be a handful, and had to take second and third place, sometimes. I would get tired, and it was a chore to have so much to do. But, they were still family, and went everywhere with us, and my son grew to love the dogs.

At first he had an allergy to them, and instead of finding the dogs a new home, I kept the house spotless, more mopping, sweeping, dusting, but worth it! Those dogs protected my son, and they showed him love, and he grew out of the allergies.

Then, when the dogs got old, and Blacky couldn’t see too good, and had a stroke, and Foxy could no longer get up, as her hips bothered her, we had to let them go. That was so hard. I missed them so much.

I couldn’t bring myself to have more dogs.

Then, along came Abby, a stray, and she stayed and would not leave. It was winter when she arrived of her own accord. She would sled down the hill on her belly and back when my son and I would go sledding. She was so cute. I put up signs with her picture, trying to find her owner. Then we brought her to the vet to see if they recognized her. They found a microchip in her, and told me who to call. We found her owner, and she refused to take her back.

I tried to give Abby to a friend of mine, who lived a mile away. My son cried, and wanted her back. I took a walk with my son, telling him that he was older now, at ten-years-old, and I wanted to be able to travel more, and take him places, but if it was God’s will, He would send her back to us.

Abby was waiting for the us on the driveway before we even got back from our walk. My friend said Abby ran away the minute she got out of their car at their house. She said Abby wanted to live with us, and we better keep her. So, that’s how we got Abby.

That was February, and by May, Abby had eight puppies! Little Husky/ Aussie mixed ones. They were a handful! Five of the puppies were not near Abby’s body after they were born, and were cold and hard when my son, and I, found them. We rubbed their bellies, like on “101 Dalmatians”, and they all lived!

At almost eight weeks old, the puppies were old enough to give away, but we kept one, and gave one to my neighbor.

My neighbor had a medication reaction, and passed away when the puppy was a couple years old. We took “Ritzy” back to live with us.

Now, we have Abby, Ritzy, and Lucky. Abby is about ten years old, and the puppies are almost seven-years-old.

Life had had its modifications, and maybe it isn’t what I would have chosen, but God answered my son’s desire for Abby, and the affection and love that the dogs give us on most days make up for the hectic times, when they tip over the water, scratch the door, throw up on the furniture, and wake up early, expecting everyone else to be up.

We have grown to love each other, and to regard the lives of each other. I do have to say that Huskies use mind control, and you have to be a strong person to rule the house. I am not, so the dogs have ruled me at times.

It has been fun and interesting, and I would be sad if any of the dogs left us.

Lucky has been very ‘lucky’ and interesting. He ran through the woods, and got a stick in his eye. We ran him to the vet. When he removed the pencil-sized stick, he found that it had gone under the eye-ball. His eye was fine!

Previously,I had been praying all the way to the vet that Lucky would not lose his eye or his sight, and this was an answered prayer.

Then Ritzy and Lucky harassed a porcupine in the woods, and the porcupine won. It was over $600.00 later at the vet that most of the quills were pulled out, and the dogs were “no worse for wear”.

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about Abby and the Cougar. So the animals make our life very interesting!

We do regard the life of our beasts.

Dear Lord, I am thankful for animals. They do help us hone the skills of patience, goodness, mercy, and love. To care for a living thing that cannot give us monetary rewards makes us better people. Thank You for putting all these amazing creatures on the earth. Thank You for Your care for us, too! In Your Name, Jesus, Amen.

-Dawn-