Today at 6 am, Ruby and I went to the Big Dog Park. It’s really a baseball diamond, but the elementary school lets us use it before and after school hours. It is our daily routine to go there most evenings, just before sunset. The dog park is our church. It is a holy place, complete with a congregation of harmonious and well-matched humans and dogs. God is with us and we are with God. No one ever asks for a donation and everyone brings their own chairs.
I came to quickly learn that God only went to the dog park in the evening. I know this for a fact, because this morning God was not there. It is entirely possible that God was just taking a day of rest. After all, it is Sunday and resting is in the Bible as something that's important to do. God was on hol-i-day.
As we approached the park, strange dogs began to bark as strange dogs will do when an intruder appears on the scene. Ruby began to bark too. “Woof, woof.” “Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!” We made our way into the dug out, opening the first gate, still one gate separating us from the strange new dogs. Upon opening the gate, the dogs rushed at once toward Ruby like red-bellied piranha swarming around fresh meat. Ruby, being super smart, turned her head to the side, then to the other side. She did not look one single dog in the eye, avoiding all contact. She took not a step forward, but remained solidly in place. I shooed the dogs back, stepped out of the dug out on into the park and summoned Ruby to come. She followed. Big mistake. Owner stupid. Dog smart. More barking. One dog attacked and grabbed her by the neck, pinning her down. The others jumped in as well; they were a pack Ruby was not part of. My 15 pound Min Pin under the weight of at least 3 large dogs! It did not sound good. It did not look good. I immediately grabbed the neck of the dog at Ruby’s throat and pulled him off, allthewhile screaming at the others. I was finally able to free her. The owners came strolling up to see what had happened, yelling at their dogs, apologies in hand. “Our dogs have never been aggressive before.”
Ruby tried to be brave, to be tough. Those who know her know she’s a pit bull in a little dog body but bluff can only take you so far in life. Assessing her for damage, I lifted her up in the air, the strange dogs still champing on the bit. I expected blood and gaping wounds, or maybe even a dead dog. Instead, she was alive and miraculously uninjured save a little fur removed.
I guess God wasn’t taking the day off after all.
