Through the years we haven’t learned much about picking out a family dog.  Every time has been completely different and every dog has been completely unique. Knowing that some of us have  allergies hasn’t kept us from adopting the wrong dog either.    It seems that they have all adapted  to our home in their own special way.  
Lady was our first protector. Adopted when the girls were just four and two, she became the mama bear dog that we needed and never let a stray animal of any kind onto our property.  We introduced everything from cats to sheep to ducks into her care. And for fourteen years she did a great job.  

Dolly was her collie sidekick for about six of those years. They never ran the neighborhood.  Just kept us busy with late night noise fits to warn off coyotes or raccoons or the wandering deer. 

Furbie was a story of his own. He blessed our home with fur-friend power to everyone we knew.  His word knowledge was so good we had to be careful what we said or his interpretation could lead to serious disappointment.  The funniest character flaw was his two rows of bottom teeth.  The frustration of trying to get him to “come” was overturned by the fact that he would “Go!” wherever you might command. For instance “Go sofa,” or “Go Granma'” was met by immediate obedience!

Waldo was not a good replacement for such an intelligent fur-ball. But alas he was next on the adoption radar. He’s a very smart little firecracker. And that explains the problem.  He won’t shut up. I’ve tried everything, and have finally just resolved that if there is someone new, there will be an exuberant barking bomb that only ends when the ammunition is empty.  Good thing firecrackers have a short fuse. His energy doesn’t last too long. Probably should not have taken him to that Fourth of July fireworks show as a five month old as his first real social gig. He’s lived up to that explosion of excitement ever since!

Seymour. See more . 

We brought this big boy home July fourth 2015 in a car laden with construction equipment. That was the weekend my husband, my brother and my daughter built the an-elephant-could-walk-on-it deck at my mothers house.  Bringing an 80 pound Labrador home in such confinement probably tested my husbands patience more than I’ll ever know. 

This is our good boy. Just too bad he sheds.  He has only one fault. He will tear down the door on the house just to get in and be with us.  Be With.  That is his goal.  He has companionship bred in his blood.  

The other breeding mix-up is the hound dog blood. Recently I moved two of his favorite toys to safekeeping. Placing them inside the locked food bin has them ever handy for “playing” with him when I go out the back door. Today I decided to throw green ball for a few fetch -returns.  But alas my eyesight has gotten a bit troublesome on the pitch. So the green ball found the tree branch on its flight to the ground and was perfectly directed away from Seymour’s location. The next thing that happpened rather surprised me. Instead of watching or listening for the ball’s fall and whereabouts, he put his nose to the ground and proceeded to “find.”  This tracking technique occurred four more times as the branch location interrupted my pitch each time. Next time  I will use the word “find” when we play. I was pretty impressed with his ability inspite of the sub-zero temperatures. 

The Bible passage that settled on my mind follows: Jeremiah 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” (NKJV)

With the coming of the movie “A Dog’s Purpose” I was happy to exclaimed that I already read the book through my talking book library loan program. Seymour’s purpose is in his name. When we got him they had given him an awful three syllable name of Goliath.  Well no dog answers to such a long name. So I knew right away what name he would have. It took quite a few months to get him to listen.  My purpose for him is to use him as my eyes when I’m outside. He finds Dad, the greenhouse, the garage, the mail, the old house, the steps, the font door, the horse-Cocoa, the flower bed, the garden, and many other such places as I name them. We have done this with leash, with guide dog harness, with slip-collar, and with me just hanging on to his neck excess.  I have done this in broad daylight and in the blindfolded darkness of night. He never ceases to amaze me at taking me directly to my command. Seymour has allowed me to see more.  

One last story for the smile-factor. One night as he was taking me back to the house from our visit to the garage where dad was working, he ran right into the hitch on the vehicle with his shoulder. It was a pretty loud smack. Ever since that night Seymour steers way around the vehicles. We were laughing about this at his expense and decided he needed a doggie lamp for himself not me!

Blessings to all who enjoy a good game of seek and find. When you search may you always find the Lord’s gifts even in the mistakes and interruptions of life.