Collared
It was going to be a four hour wait.
I had to take my truck in for repairs that would hopefully enable it to pass the states emissions standards so I could get it licensed.
It wouldn’t be so bad…I had a book and the shop had a Keurig machine and I settled in to the waiting area.
Within a minute or two I had company…an older man and a dog.
A big dog.
It appeared to be a pit bull/boxer mix and it was on the end of a short leash and everything about that dog spoke of terror.
It wasn’t terrifying, it was terrified.
She looked at me fearfully and apologetically as she passed, as if she were ashamed to be seen in public.
It was disturbing to see.
One of the counter workers commented on how pretty a dog it was…her master replied that he had found her abandoned in the desert years ago and had rescued her.
He thought she might be worth something…
I asked if I could pet her as she seemed to be the loneliest dog I’d ever seen.
That’s when I saw the collar.
It looked like some piece of medieval torture equipment left over from the Spanish Inquisition.
I asked, (not very politely)…what in the sam hell was around this noble beasts neck?
“That’s her collar…if she gets frisky I just yank it and the problem is solved”, he replied proudly.
I couldn’t share space with Torquemada and his victim so I gathered my book and walked home to wait there.
Later I found out that the device on the dog is called a “prong collar”.
It’s a training device that is supposed to put even pressure around the neck and the dog will respond to gentle pressure to do or not do what the trainer desires.
I also learned that it’s meant to be temporary, for training only.
The dog at the shop had been wearing one for seven years.
There are some in the church who believe that God fits His children with similar collars…then waits from on high for them to make a mistake so He can yank the leash.
Each prong is a law of God or one created by men and the penalty for disobedience is swift and harsh.
Some men love to hold the leash, but they do not love what’s on the end of it.
The end of such training is joyless, graceless, fear based obedience to laws and men.
I wanted to take the collar off that dog and place it around that cruel fools neck while letting the dog romp and play…and yank the leash if the man objected to freedom and joy.
Sadly, that was not possible.
If you’re wearing one of those church made collars I can’t take it off for you either.
You can do it yourself.
Your Master loves you…and He didn’t make that collar.
He thinks you’re worth something…
Make your own application…
Does Miss Kitty know you wrote a post about a dog? 🙂
KevinH,
Not yet…she only blogs after lunch. 🙂
Wow. A-MEN! Great post and observational parallel…. amen and amen….. I love this story and have the neck scars to prove it. Thanks.
Reminds me of the illustration that Pastor Stanley Voke used speaking of the differences between a dog “owner” and The Master, with Whom, the dog walked close to w/o straying or needing to be yanked by the chain.
I’m sure Miss Kitty doesn’t mind at all.
Hmmm, THAT is what I’ve looked like for years now in several CCs.
I’m being “trained!”
I sure am glad Lonnie Frisbee, Mike McIntosh and many other screw-ups got to experience loving training.
Now, you don’t got perfect family (wife + 2.5 kids), no baggage, etc., you’re screwed, or at least feel the weight of all our made-up rules NOT found in the Bible.
Nice!
Used properly the collar is made to be uncomfortable and not possible painful.
My wife bought one of these several years ago at the recommendation of a friend, and tried it a few times with our crazy four legged friend. We saw some progress with her pulling whenever we would walk her, but much like yourself, she just couldn’t get over the look of the thing,it seemed so violent. It wasn’t long before it made it’s way into the trash.
To this very day that dog still strangles herself when we take her on walks, and it is a failing of ours because we mistook something meant to train with something meant to injure.
Much like that collar when we need trained, God is willing to make us uncomfortable. The problem comes in when people decide to use something that was intended to train in order to maim people.
dswoager,
Good word…
Thanks Paige, Jean…I’m out for the day.
Amen #6 dswoager. “Much like that collar when we need trained, God is willing to make us uncomfortable. The problem comes in when people decide to use something that was intended to train in order to maim people.”
I used a pinch collar on my Brittany all the time when we were out. He never once got hurt by it. He had a regular collar at home and in the car.
People are fools to leave them on animals all the time. So easy for them to get injured.
My neck hurts just looking at the picture. Good word, Michael!
dswoager,
Re: “To this very day that dog still strangles herself when we take her on walks, and it is a failing of ours because we mistook something meant to train with something meant to injure.”
Try a Gentle Lead, it goes around the muzzle instead of the throat. We have one for our boxer (85 lb.) and it’s hard for him to pull when I have control of where he’s looking.
everstudy, we actually have one, but it drives her insane. She was honestly a lot better with the prong collar than with the gentle lead. She would start thrashing about all over the place if we tried to use it. We moved to the ‘burbs and she has a back yard she can run around in as much as she wants, so it’s not as big of an issue as it used to be, but it does take a lot of effort to remind her of how she needs to behave when we do go on a walk with her. 🙂
Get one for Miss Kitty. That will show her not to stay out all night and expect to be fed at o dark hundred. 😉
If anyone gets dog and would like some easy tips to train a dog to heel on a loose leash, I can help.
Great parable, and glad to see you include us dog lovers. We’ve always had cats and dogs, and have one of each now. While I love them both, it’s a different kind of love, as I think cats are proof of extraterrestrials visiting earth at some point in the past…
I love animals period…..seeing them abused and mistreated burns my stomach lining.Children being abused…hard to put that one into words.
Love your teaching anecdotes Michael !! Keep em’ coming!
Trigger carries his own leash in his mouth, and heels beside me. He is the most social dog I’ve ever been around, but takes his cues from me. He is completely motivated by time with me, occasional treats (which he’ll balance on his nose until given permission to devour), and anything to play fetch with. I’m convinced he thinks he’s one of my kids. To read about the ‘rescued’ dog in your piece makes me ill. She was better off in the desert. Didn’t Jesus say something similar to those who loved Rules–that they would take a proselyte and convert him into twice the son of hell he was before?
Those collars are not as painful as they look.
I had my dog in obedience (like show level obedience) classes for a few years.
Loads of us used those collars in training and when we went anywhere in public with the dog.
But, we were also taught to take them off in the car or at home. A dog can get caught on something and rip themselves up with them.
Used in the proper context, they are great tools.
Dear weighted down,
Around 1974 One of the men you mention had a wife who would say to her son,” …Hear my voice and obey me!
(I have it on good authority from her neighbor who would cringe every time that statement was heard out there in Tustin way back around 1974 or so.)
I wonder if an emotional collar was being tugged 🙂
We eat something in the South called collard greens. Tastes good with vinegar on them.
Pete Nelson at Costa Mesa?!!!
I thought he was unofficially defrocked?
http://calvarychapel.com/collaborators/pastor/bio/pete-nelson/
Skid will probably never see a collar like that.
http://youtu.be/DxZ_7qlqKY4
Pete was never defrocked.
Pete left of his own volition.
He’s helping there part time, it’s not a permanent position.
“We eat something in the South called collard greens. Tastes good with vinegar on them.”
Had ’em last night with sweet potatoes, corn bread, and black eyed peas. #Merica
Oh sweet goodness, Jim. You throw in a pork chop, I’m in heaven.
There is only one story here… our mentor, blogger, guide…Michael is a caring and sensitive soul.. which is how he got here. He is also tough as rhino hide but that is evident most days.
Michael,
I read Pete Nelson’s resignation letter and it does not sound like he left on his own volition.
Unless it is a different Pete Nelson.
Q,
Petes resignation from ABQ was a different can of worms.
Petros is one of my favorite people and I’m not going to discuss his situation much online.
Thank you for the kind words BD…unfortunately my hide is getting softer as I age…
Michael,
I do not want to open a can of worms, he just did not leave of his own volition.
I’ll let it lie.
Q,
Pete was forced out of ABQ…but he was never forced out of CC…he was and is highly regarded by many and what he has done in the years since has been by his choice.
Sometimes Michael’s blog looks like this
http://youtu.be/N1CbwnFk3EE?list=UUTIP3vRjaX1hSlqH7bkSn0g
Sorry for the above, I posted the playlist, I meant this one
Sometimes Michael’s blog looks like this.
http://youtu.be/N1CbwnFk3EE
LOL..good one, Q.
And sometimes it sounds like this…
Thanks you Michael for the update.
I’ve never met Pete, but think his conduct was/in above board.
I sure hope the Skipper doesn’t find out he’s serving even part time, wouldn’t want him to whip out his “leadership style” on poor Pete.
Weighted Down,
Trust me, Pete is going to be just fine.
I don’t speak about Petros out of respect for his privacy and all he’s been through.
He was and is above board…Pete just lives for the Gospel.