As Thursday evening approached, I looked forward to my Friday. Oh, I would nap and maybe binge watch something stupid, but most importantly, never get dressed!
This dream crashed when I realized my house was the only one not receiving power. This meant calling the electric company and corralling my enthusiastic lab away from people who are terrified of him. But we did it.
This brings us to noon. I still had half the day to relax. I sprawled out on my bed and put on an episode of Psych, one of my favorite shows. I get ten minutes into the episode, when I hear Teddy barking at the gate. He is such a wonderful watchdog. He has different barks that I have learned, which help me to know if I should respond or not. He will give off a warning, but if someone pushes the bounds, he produces a sound so intimidating that even I want to hide! This was his serious bark!
I jumped up to see what was happening. By the time I got to the door, Teddy had a dead rat in his mouth. This thing had been dead for a while.
“Teddy,” I said, desperately trying to sound calm, “let me have that.” I slowly stepped toward him, as a devious plot formed in his brilliant brain. As I begin to reach for him, he takes off as fast as he can around the other side of the house. I called my watchman for reinforcements. Apallo was able to catch him, but not before Teddy swallowed the rat whole.
My heart sank! It is common for thieves to throw something poisoned over a gate of a home with dogs. The idea is the dogs will die and it will be one less threat for them when they come a few days later with intentions to rob. I have no clue where this rat came from, but I am aware this could be a strong possibility. My compound is small, and my watchman does a great job at keeping things clean. The rat had not been around before. And the way Teddy was barking, I knew someone had been by our gate. I couldn’t shake the thought of it being poison. Was it possible a bird might have dropped it? Absolutely, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
I reached out to some friends in the US that I thought would be awake and able to give me advice. They suggested I give him hydrogen peroxide to make him vomit. I didn’t have any at the time, and couldn’t find anything else on the internet that didn’t have a warning of possible complications. I praised the Lord there is a pharmacy directly across the street from me, and I prayed as I ran they would have some available. They did.
I looked up how much I should give a dog his size, mixed it with some milk to coat his stomach, and prayed it would work on the dog’s iron stomach!
It did.
Within five minutes.
He threw up the rat... and his entire breakfast... all over my bed!
I got him outside and cleared my bedding off for washing (oh, I so miss washing machines). He clearly didn’t feel well and wasn’t sure what to do with himself. I’ve never seen this dog vomit before, so it was a new experience for me too. He finally settled down next to me, as I stroked his head. Natud, my other dog with the sensitive system, was worried about her buddy and stayed close to us. “Sorry I had to do this to you, buddy,” I hoped speaking softly to him would help comfort my sick boy, “but I just didn’t know where that rat came from. Just like you protect me, I need to protect you.”
Within a half hour, he perked up and went back to his quirky nature. My heart was relieved!
I will never know where the rat came from, but I’m thankful I was able to take action immediately rather than watching him die and knowing exactly what happened.
Most of my stories can be summarized into some kind of lesson — something the Lord taught me through the experience. With this one, there are a number of ways I could go.
I could make the great big stretch and pull in Proverbs 26:11, “As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly”, but this is a story about making a dog vomit. And there was no way I was allowing him to have a second chance with that rat!
Or I could point out how often I can be like Teddy — running like a mad woman with my sin before God can take it away, and then suffering through the consequences of my actions. Although true, God often reminds me how much I am like Teddy. And I’m just not sure I’m ready to put those conversations out in a pubic forum.
But here is the main point — I’m grateful.
I’m grateful for Teddy. Like I said, he is an excellent watchdog. But beyond that, I’m grateful for how well he knows me. He is incredibly in tune to my emotions, and on difficult days, he is there to make me feel better!
I’m grateful for unconventional forms of help. In Moroto, I can’t just take my dogs to the clinic when they get sick. But I do have friends!
I’m grateful to have learned problem solving skills at a young age. Being able to critically think through this situation is why this story has a happy ending.
I’m grateful for Omo — laundry soap.
But mainly, I am grateful my Lord was with me the entire day. Not a single second of my day came as a surprise to Him. He knew what would happen, and held my hand the entire day. Part of me wonders if He chuckled when I first woke up saying, “I’m not doing anything today”. I’m so grateful He walks with us on our crazy days, never leaving us to figure it out on our own. Oh, how I praise Him for this truth!
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