Monday, May 20, 2013

The Dog Whisperer and Me


So what did I do over my weekend?

I went to see a movie with Tom (Oblivion. Strange flick.), I worked in our yard and during my breaks, Tom and I watched lots of Fringe. I cleaned bits of the house, shopped for groceries, lugged more bricks and bags of soil home from Home Depot, fed the birds and oh yeah, absorbed wisdom lessons from the Dog Whisperer.

Cesar Millan has become my new Joyce Meyer. :) 

No really! And hey, I'm not even a dog person (sorry, but it's true) and will probably never own one this side of Heaven, although I'll not say never. And yet? Cesar, the best dog whisperer, ever, has re-confirmed for me lessons about the power of calmness in humans.

Ah, calmness! It's a sign that, over the years, we've come to a deeper level of trusting God (not just saying we do, then at home, worrying the hair off our heads, literally.). No, actually trusting that our lives are in God's hands and relaxing upon His palms, in total calm.

A calm spirit shows that we desire peace rather than worry--for we've realized we can't have both. 

Calmness is a sign to others that God is our 'pack leader' for real--fear and dread no longer control us, causing us to make foolish, panicky choices. God's ways control us, instead, and oh, the good we reap from them!

To be calm is to be strong.

Well, I could go on and on, but there's housework to do and more Cesar to watch. I long for wisdom, but seldom see it around me, so I've actually become thirsty for these shows which feel a bit like swimming around in a refreshing wisdom pool.

(Which sounds odd, but some of you will understand.)

Please do take a look at the photo, above. With all my heart, I believe those words and today I'll be putting them into practice. :)


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"For wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her."   ... Proverbs 8:11

 "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy."   ... James 3:17

"A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top ."   ... anonymous

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A very special thanks to Clarice for sharing that photo at Facebook.

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I've been using Cesar's dog advice on Daniel and Sammy the Cats. Wow! It works not only on dogs and humans but on cats, as well. Just call me the Cat Whisperer. 

You can watch The Dog Whisperer for free here. Be sure to wave if you see me there, cheering, splashing around in the wisdom pool.

"There is no common sense in fear."   ... Cesar Millan

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a good saying...indeed we must have "down time" if we are going to solve any problems.

As to a dog...well, there are dogs and then there are DOGS!! I had one of the DOGS last one....beyond wonderful...better to us than nearly all people, loyal and loving beyond belief. We still miss her a lot, though she has been gone 2.5 years now. She was 7/8ths blue heeler and 1/8 border collie...have met others who think this mix of breeds is the best too. She was SO smart and her goal in life was to please us...and she was quite the clown and helped us laugh so many times. She always stayed within sight of me in the house, if she could. Just like with cats, there is some training time when you get one...but a smart one learns quickly. We had a pet door when we got this last one and had 2 other older dogs...who knew how to use the pet door. Though we got ours at age 5.5 weeks (which is too young really) she had only maybe 5-6 accidents in the house from the day we got her until that last year when she was so ill. Someday I hope you do get to have a dog...a good one that is (and yes some of them are not good, and some are retarded...we had one of those too...and that makes it impossible for them to be house trained)...but I have never heard of a blue heeler being anything less than beloved by the owner.

Been so busy out here in WA helping daughter we are loosing weight...yippee! But you only think you are less busy when you retire from working...just ask hubby that one...ha!
BLessings, Elizabeth now in WA state

Debra said...

Hi Elizabeth! Glad you're having fun with your grandchildren in WA. And thanks for sharing about your special dog! Sounds like a treasure.

When I said I wasn't a dog person, it didn't have anything to do with how a dog behaves. In fact, after watching all these Dog Whisperer shows, I think I'd be a professional at training a dog. :) heh.

No, I'm just not into dogs, mostly because, for me, they require too much care, to much time, more than I want to give an animal. That's partly why I love cats--they're way less care.

It's almost like the thing with our farm--I discovered I'm not a true farm person--not because I *couldn't* do the upkeep--but because I didn't want to. I didn't want to give my life to farming and that's what it requires. I wanted to give my life to what God's called me to do.

And that's how I feel about dogs--they would require more attention than I'm willing--or even created--to give. There's grace upon me to keep cats, but I feel no grace to keep a dog... so even a perfect dog would feel like a burden.

Hope that makes sense! Thanks for commenting and keep having a good time there! :) Blessings, Debra

Anonymous said...

Yea, I do understand...just as I have never been a cat person...one place we lived however had a dog-like cat that came with the place and I liked him fine. I guess I prefer animals who want interaction with me. And I am allergic to cats so could not have an inside pet...and that is where I prefer pets to be...inside. We may not have another dog however...as if our lifestype stays as it is now, we won't be able to do that. Guess we all make do the best we can in life, eh?
Blessings, Elizabeth now in WA

Debra said...

Oh Elizabeth! Our cats love interaction with us. They have such fun when we play games with them, they curl up on our laps or take naps near us in our beds or in our rooms. Daniel rubs his face against mine when he's hungry (love that) and runs to Tom's bed each morning when I wake him. Sammy always greets Tom when he comes home and stands by the door to say goodbye each morning. They make us laugh and so much more! Many cats are this way and I'm thankful that we have two of them. :) Blessings, Debra

Judy said...

Just catching up on your blog Debra. I'm all for "calmness" with dogs. This has been VERY hard for me to do with our current dog. Sigh. But the calmness works!
I am both a cat and a dog person. Presently we just have a dog. I like cats in pairs.
But mostly I'm a little kid person.