Here she is... the newest edition to the family. Her name is Maggie. She is a Beaglier. That's cute-dog-speak for a cross between a beagle and a cavalier King Charles spaniel. She's been in the family for about 48 hours now, and my wife is in love.Maggie is what you might call an impulse buy. OK, she is an impulse buy. We had been discussing adopting a golden retriever who needed a home. Then, while killing time during our daughter's dance lesson, we stopped by the pet shop. Guess who was there? Our daughter was mighty surprised at what happened during her class!
The idea of cross breeds is kind of strange. They call them "hybrid breeds" and they come in all shapes and sizes. Want a schnoodle? A puggle? Just mix 'em and go.
Q: What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an agnostic, and a dyslexic? A: Someone who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog.
Q: What do you get if you cross an artist with a policeman? A: A brush with the law.
Q: What do you get when you cross a chicken and a pit bull? A: Just the pit bull.
Q: What do you get when you cross one dog breed with another? A: Apparently you end up with a hybrid breed with some of the characteristics of both breeds. Our beaglier has some of the coloration of a beagle and the facial expressions of a cavalier. We've already noticed that she follows her nose around like a beagle or any other hound.
The other side of the coin is that the hybrids end up with possible weaknesses from both breeds. Every breed of dog is succeptible to certain problems. Big dogs have heart troubles. Some terriers have weak livers. Check the list for a hybrid breed and it includes the weaknesses of both mom and dad's families. Not that every cross breed will have every weakness, but one side's weaknesses aren't cancelled out by the other side. There just aren't breeds with super-strong livers to counterbalance those with weak ones.
Into every relationship, each side brings its own set of baggage. With our relation with the Almighty, we bring in sin while God brings in perfection. Our sin is never fully counteracted in this lifetime. We continue to struggle with our sin nature. Yet, God brings to us the ability to overcome that nature. But we refuse to allow Him far too often.
Yet this hybrid of our sinfulness and God's forgiveness is infinitely lovable by the One who loves with an infinite love.
3 comments:
Oh, there's nothing quite like puppy love.
I, myself, am very susceptible to it. My husband wouldn't be happy if he knew I was ooohing and aahhing over a puppy (again).
What an adorable puppy! I wish I could ooh and aah over her in person!
Beagle blood?
Here's your new prayer: "Please God, we're pleading with you, let this puppy have the barking tendency of the spaniel and not the beagle. Amen."
Anyone who's had a beagle knows they bark like crazy and then bay/howl on top of that. Our neighbor has a beagle and that dog barks at everything. Leaf falls off a tree. Bark. Ant crawls by. Bark, bark. A car door three miles away slams. Bay and howl.
Oh man.
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