I love you like a dog...

There are two new faces on the farm…Woodrow and Marley. Blackmouth Yellow Cur brother and sister. Barney was our introduction to this breed and I fell in love with their loyal tender hearts. Often misidentified as a boxer mix or as mutts, these dogs range in size from 70 to 100 pounds, square muzzles or pointed, red, yellow or beige. Bred in the south as farm helpers, family protectors and hunting dogs, they are so tenderhearted they often will protect their family children from being disciplined. Woody and Marley were rescued from a kill shelter in Georgia and brought to us by their foster mom, Lois, on Friday. In one of those happy coincidences that so often seems to happen in the dog rescue world, Lois’s son lives in Asheville so she visited her son and us at the same time.
Forging a relationship with a rescued dog can be an interesting proposition. Their life before you is largely unknown and the influences of other people show up in strange ways. Barney was afraid of men in baseball hats and anybody with a camera. Where did the camera come from? Woody seems to be an open, friendly fellow with lots of bounce, a canine Tigger. Marley is more fearful, stays close to her brother and is protective of him. She loves to be loved. Lois did a wonderful job with them and they are beginning to settle in.
Saturday morning, Michael took all three dogs, Rufus, Woody and Marley, walkabout on the farm. He leashed Woody so Rufus wouldn’t take them on a runaway mission. After an hour they came back tired and ready for breakfast. When I went to muck stalls and feed Ferdinand, they walked down to the stable with me. The horses hung their heads over the half doors trying to figure out these new dogs while Woody and Marley approached warily. Shirley and Kate, the donkeys, have a more straightforward approach. They stretch out their necks much like an angry goose and rush the dogs. Woody and Marley take the commonsense response and get behind the fence where they are safe from donkey nips. Cats are being treated with respect since old Daisy hissed, swelled up and popped Marley on the nose when she didn’t like being barked at. And last night was the first ride in the Kubota to the pond to visit the ducks. Farm dogs here have two choices for locomotion…run by the Kubota or ride in it.
As I watch these dogs adjust to a new home, strangers, strange animals, different rules, scary experiences, I am struck by their ability to give and receive love even as they struggle to settle in. Marley comes to me, sits and snuggles her head against my knee, asking for physical reassurance of loving intentions. Woody comes and sits beside her, pushing into the magic circle of love. Soon Rufus comes and asks for his share. I am bathed in love just because I am there, I am safe, I love them back.
I wish we had the kind of world where we could share love with other people the same way these dogs do. When I was tired, or afraid I could rest my head on someone’s shoulder and feel a loving pat. If life was overwhelming me and sadness weighed me down, I could find someone to hold me up until I was able to stand on my own again. When anger caused me to lash out and bite the hands that feed me, there would be instruction on the way back into the good graces of those I had hurt. Love would flow for no other reason than the presence of the other. Perhaps this is the world the prophet Isaiah glimpsed, a new heaven and earth where the wolf and the lamb shall lie down together, where God answers us before we cry out our need, a world where love between those who are different creates peace and harmony of being. Loving like a dog might be closer to God’s way of loving than our own. Makes you wonder if the bumper sticker is true… Dog is God…