November 7, 2008

We have a huge, vicious, ferocious attack dog. Or so everyone thinks. And his name is Buddy.

We got Buddy, a German Shepherd, a few years ago when he was around one year old. He has that classic German Shepherd look to him, like you would see on television or in the movies. Nice looking dog. With a big bark.

That big bark is sometimes nice, other times not so nice. It is particularly not nice in the middle of the night when all sensible people and dogs are sleeping. A deer might walk through the yard, or the coyotes in the distance might start howling. Or mabye it's some other reason. Whatever it is, Buddy will start barking. Loudly. I'm sure he's trying his best to protect us and keep unwanted critters away. At least critters that to his judgement are unwanted. So we keep him in his pen at night, because we have learned our lesson of having him bark right outside our window at 2:00 AM in the past. When he is in his pen, he is on the other side of the house from our window, and we can't hear him much at all.

But then sometimes he is barking at something legitimate. Such as one night when he was trying his best to let us know that the horses had broken through the fence and were standing out in the yard. But as in the story of the boy who cried wolf, we figured he was just barking at some random animal or sound as he usually does. Only when we got up the next morning and looked out the window did we realize what was going on. Now, on occasions when he keeps on barking, we do try to make sure everything is like it should be. If we can wake up enough to check it out.

Buddy's bark, along with his general presence, serve to keep others away as well. Some of the service people that come to our home - meter readers, satellite guy, delivery people, and so on - are afraid of him. Sure, he's a relatively big dog with some good sized teeth and a strong bark, but all he will do is lick you to death, or roll over so you can rub his belly. But strangers to our house don't often know that. We have had phone calls before from people saying, "I'm in your driveway with a delivery for you. Can you come get your dog so I can get out of the van?" So Buddy has them all fooled, but we know the truth.

But the FedEx guy has it all figured out now. He carries a big box of Milk Bone dog bones in his truck with him, and he gives a bone to the dogs at each of his stops. So whenever buddy sees the FedEx truck coming, he starts wagging his tail and barking excitedly, because he knows something good is on the way. We get a delivery, and so does Buddy.

I guess the FedEx guy has it all figured out - making friends of your (perceived) enemies has its advantages.

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." - Luke 6:35

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