leash

This is Dolly.

She is my Mom's dog.

Well, I guess technically she is Mom and Dad's dog, but when it really comes down to it, she is Mom's dog.

This week, Dolly was my dog.
Mom and Dad were out of town, so I was housesitting, and dogsitting. Cat sitting too, but the cat didn't do anything except lay in her bed.

I took Dolly out for walks twice a day, and we had fun. Yesterday we saw THREE bunnies on our walk! It was very exciting, and she almost pulled me all the way up the hill because dogs chase bunnies.

But one day, we were walking and there was someone out on the sidewalk with a blower. Dolly did not like the blower. I kept walking, because, well, it is a blower. But Dolly really didn't like it, and stopped. In fact, I think she backed up. And then, she pulled out of her leash. As the leash came zipping back to the leash handle, I realized that it wasn't around Dolly's neck anymore. I turned around, and Dolly was stopped still in the middle of the sidewalk. She didn't know what to do now that the leash wasn't attached to her anymore.

So I reached down and slipped the collar and leash over her head, and we were off as usual.

But as we finished our walk, it occurred to me that Dolly is fine while the leash is on her. But once it comes off, she doesn't know what to do. It is very disconcerting to be out in the wide, wide world with no leash on.

And isn't that what the Bible is for us? It allows us to roam freely and safely within a certain limits, but once the leash comes off, all bets are off and the likelihood that we will be hurt goes up exponentially.

I thought it was interesting that Dolly didn't like being off the leash. And that she KNEW when she was off the leash and it stressed her out. I guess it just goes to show that we all need limits.
K