Shiloh, Dee’s Peacemaker Dog

Excerpt from Chapter 2 The ultimate life lesson that Shiloh taught me in what it means to be the creature in life and not the Creator of life is that while striving toward perfection is a noble goal for mankind and beast alike, we all need to keep it real and live honestly with ourselves and with all other creatures so that we make the most of this present life together and remember that we are all creatures made out of the dust of the Earth, and to dust we must return. Dogs and humans both have a soul. But no dog ever has a thought about, not even a dream about, living in another life to come that is beyond this present world. This truth and reality of a world and life view that believes in and behaves according to acknowledging the creature not being The Creator’s equal, gave me the personal insight into the human and canine connection. You can spell “dog” backwards all day long; but you will never be able to turn a “D-O-G” into being THE TRUE AND LIVING “G-O-D!” Dogs bear no image or likeness to their Creator, GOD! But because the human being, as a creature, bears the image and the likeness of God, The Creator, so being human we are given the ability to be creative! We, in some limited sense, create! We are creative; our mind creates new ideas, new ways to work smarter, not harder. We work with materials creating them from out of the rough into refined functional and worthy objects to operate and to own. So, I have a saying about being a human who owns and operates a dog! “Whether intentionally or not, we create the dogs we have.” Someone else might say it this way; “there are no bad dogs, just bad dog owners!” A dog does not create itself into a functional or dysfunctional creature; we humans make or break a dog! Unlike God, who creates “ex nihilo,” out of nothing, we humans must have the stuff of life to work with to create material and energy into something. The kind of dog we are blest to work with gives us a certain body and soul to shape and mold into the character and skill sets that we desire in a dog. Shiloh taught me not to expect out of his set of skills as a German Shepherd that he would be perfectly suited as a creature for human companionship. Or that he would be every other dog’s flawless friend. Shiloh did not measure up to perfection; but he wasn’t a good for nothing dog either! Then again, how many dog owners or human handlers of dogs are heard saying to their four-legged furry friend, when the dog does something worthy of praise, “Perfect Dog!” If I’m not mistaken, of course nobody’s perfect, don’t you hear yourself like I frequently hear myself saying to an obedient and well-behaved dog, like my Shiloh, “Good Dog!” Good isn’t “perfect” but I’ll take it any old day with my “Good Ol’ Dog!”