2 Feet, 4 Paws & 1 God

So far the main dog featured in this blog has been Abbot my first ever guide dog but in 2009 both Abbot and I had to adjust to his retirement, a whole other story, for another time.

So in June 2009 I was introduced to Jarvis. Jarvis has a totally different personality to Abbot. Abbot was always in your face where as Jarvis is very placid and chilled. However he posses a kind of quiet confidence that I soon grew to rely on.

Most guide dog owners after having been at it for some time develop bad habits, short cuts, dodges, ways of dodging doing things by the book. Jarvis however, will have none of it, and quite right he is too because it is because the book is there to keep us safe. 

On the first day of training Jarvis taught me how it was going to be. A few doors up from my house there is a green BT junction box, I know it is there, a permeant feature that I pass several times on most days, so as Jarvis and I were approaching it I started to move out in order to avoid it. Suddenly Jarvis put the brakes on and sat down, refusing to move. I turned to Stig our trainer who was following, he was laughing. I asked him what was up. He told me that Jarvis would not allow me to anticipate obstacles, it was his job to guide me and he was insisting that he was in charge. We set off again, Jarvis walked me right up to the box, then moved round it and back in again, once we'd done that he turned and gave me the stare, the stare that says "you won't do that again will you dad". Lesson learned.

Both Abbot and Jarvis have taught me many lessons that cross over in to my spiritual life but here is one that Jarvis continually reinforces. When your dog thinks you have made a bad decision, a decision likely to put you in danger, your dog will simply sit down and refuse to move un till you give him what he considers a safe command. Jarvis has a stubborn streak a mile wide and takes this rule very seriously. Guide Dogs refer to this as intelligent disobedience. Jarvis has developed this to an art form.

And so it has often been in my prayer life, I pray prayers making demands on God, decisions that God knows are unsafe and so like Jarvis he applies the brakes, he applies the principal of intelligent disobedience.