Last week, I took care of the pets of my friend Vida while she and her family went on a vacation. I took care of her fish and her dog Pugsy. My husband, Roy, and I alternated together with RJ but most of the time, I did it. I went to her house and fed her fish once a day. However, on the third day, I noticed one of her gold fish was floating. That prompted me to feed them twice daily because I don’t want to have another fish casualty. I might lose my job and never get hired again (Just kidding! The owner is a good friend of mine.). Fortunately, my dog story turned out to be the opposite.
Pugsy
Pugsy, as his name suggests is from a breed of dogs called Pugs. True to his breed, Pugsy loves to run a lot and show his enthusiasm for me. Every morning when I came, I would open the garage door and there he was yipping in his cage with his tail wagging. After feeding him, he would either jump happily on my legs asking to be petted or he would quickly go around in circles about three or so meters away from where we stood in order to relieve himself. Then, it was petting and playtime again for about 15 minutes or so especially in the grassy area. However, I noticed as the days went by that he was not the only one excited to make connections. I was also looking forward to our interactions. And so was my son. We were laughing and running with him.
However, on the fifth day Pugsy had an accident. I opened the garage door and the stench just made me breath through my mouth. Pugsy was not wagging his tail. He was quiet as a mouse. I let him out of his cage and fed him. I noticed something different with Pugsy this time. Instead of defecating close to where I stood, he went farther away and hid for several seconds behind the storage. Later, I cleaned his cage. I wanted to clean his hind legs, too because they had become light brown. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that because he quickly ran upstairs away from me. However, I could not pet him unless he had his legs cleaned first. So, that morning I left the place hardly ever touching him. After I locked the door behind me, for the first time, I heard Pugsy howl. One, two, three times. In the Philippines, nobody wants a howling dog because old folks believe that they can sense a ghost or something supernatural. Pugsy continued howling. Each howl that he made broke my heart. I felt his sadness through the repeated sounds that he made. He missed our interactions.
When my friend came back I told her my story. In return, she shared me hers. She said, one time she was going through this very difficult moment in her life. So she sat down in one of those stairsteps and started crying. Pugsy, on the other hand, instead of being his usual perky self, just sat down quietly beside her like a good caring friend. If he could just speak, I bet he would have said, “Just let it all out. I am here for you.”
It’s been more than two decades since I had formed a close relationship with a dog. My husband and I had Cleo several years back but he did not stay long with us because I was the one with the issues. I wasn’t ready to have a dog stay inside our house because of a recent traumatic experience that I had with flea bites from possibly a dog or a cat. Still, Pugsy seemed different. I don’t see him often. I think the last time I saw him since last week was a year ago and yet I was able to make a strong connection with him.
Experiencing being with Pugsy made me think of God’s unconditional love and faithfulness. All that he wanted to do was to please his owner and make her happy. In Proverbs 8:17 God shows us His love: I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me and in Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. Pugsy’s love and dedication was outstanding. He was afraid when he had an accident. He probably thought that I was going to get upset at him. But I know that he was so remorseful about the entire situation. I was not even upset at him. Sometimes, we make mistakes in life and we feel that God will not forgive us. However God promises that this could not happen. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37 -39).
As for Pugsy, my son and I came back the following day and he welcomed us back with indescribable energy and joy. So, on days when I feel depressed or stressed out, I guess I should visit him again —play with him, run with him, and chill out with him. But above all else and when everything else fails, there is a God who ALWAYS listens and cares. God alone is enough.
