12/08/2025
"You can't teach an old dog new tricks" is a very old saying that we don't use much anymore, but there is still the tendency to treat dogs and people as though this were true. And with dogs, there are ingrained behaviors and phobias that seem practically impossible to change or fix, at least in any length of time that most people are willing to invest. But if you have an older dog that has some issues, I offer you a ray of hope!!! I posted about my 6 year Hosanna about a month ago. Hosanna has some "quirks", to say the least. We call her our broken Golden because, other than being golden and loving retrieving, she displays very few of the happy, friendly, social, loving Golden traits that we all adore! I have worked for 5 years trying to help her overcome her antisocial behaviors and I have seen some improvement. But this past weekend I witnessed an amazing and heart warming phenomenon! I took Hosanna on our road trip to Nashville to celebrate our grandson's 4th birthday. My son in law is from Mexico and all of his extended family lives in Nashville. Also, both he and my daughter are VERY social creatures, much like Golden Retrievers! Thus there was a huge crowd of adults and children at this party in a medium size house! When the people first began arriving, Hosanna went missing as usual. Of course everyone wants to pet the Goldens, and there were a lot of Golden lovers at the party. I found Hosanna and encourage her to say "hi" to her fans! Stella, my grand dog, was happy to demonstrate proper Golden greetings and begging, since there were plenty of snacks going around. Hosanna was cooperative and hung with me for a while. Then she caught on that there were treats to be had and most of the people were quite happy to share. Soon Hosanna was right there with Stella, engaging the audience and admiring their food items! By the end of the evening, I found Hosanna in the middle of the room surrounded by a crowd of adults and children petting her and talking over her. She was completely comfortable! I was amazed and overjoyed! I was reminded of the passage in Phillippians, "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." I sometimes feel that I am too old to change my old habits and attitudes. But God is powerful, and His Spirit working in me can accomplish everything that He planned for me. "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. You saw,my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." I want be open to whatever the Lord wants to do in and through me, even in my "golden" years! Hosanna is such an encouragement to me to never give up on dogs or people. God is not finished yet!
