My dogs and I have an easy life together. We simply respect each other and follow the rules of the household. They never make a mess in the house or damage anything. Night is a time for sleeping downstairs inside the house, and that's what they do. In return, they have a dog door to come and go as they please, water and food when they want, and a large fenced-in yard to run around in. I try to respond to their fears and needs. That takes some doing sometimes, because communication is mostly nonverbal. My main job is cuddling them. Because we follow the laws of the household, we are happy together and free of stress.

Once in a while, I'll let them run around in the forest. One day, Frodo ran into a tree and cut herself quite badly. It was a clean cut. I took her to the vet and she got stitched up. That night, unfortunately, she ripped out all of her stitches. I had to take her back to the vet and they redid the job.

A new law had to be enforced. Frodo was not to lick her wound. But she's a dog, and she could not understand the new law. The elizabethan collar was torture to her. So I found it necessary to put a muzzle on her. While that was the best and only solution, she could not understand this enforcement, and I could not tell her the problem.

For several days, she felt as if she were being punished. Her nonverbal communication clearly told me she felt oppressed -- that she was restricted from her own doghood. She never became angry, but she was deeply unhappy. She could not follow the laws of her being.

Frodo told me that there are two laws: the law of the household which she could understand and accept, and the law of her own doghood. The first was good to her, for in that law she could live life and be happy. Nothing was taken from her. The second was also good for her, for it showed her the way to live to her own potential. Making a new law contrary to the law of her doghood meant taking away part of her doghood. She could not be what she was meant to be. The contrary law was oppressive.

It seems to me that the laws of the household, fair civil law, is good, for it helps us live happily together, free of stress. God's law, however, is created to help us live to the greatest of our own personhood. If we enforce laws contrary to God's law, or if we choose to not follow God's law, we are in danger of stifling our own potential. We live a life of freedom if we follow God's law.

Frodo finally healed and got the muzzle off. After several days of intense cuddling, she became a happy dog once again.

Copyright 1999 Debra Bruch