Most People Love Dogs

Fr. Jim Donohue.

I remember when I was teaching first-year students at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg. It was Week 2 of the semester and the students in class seemed sad. I asked one young woman if something had happened. She told me that she missed her dog. (I am presuming that she missed her parents and siblings, but that is what she said!) This prompted me to ask, “How many people have a dog?” I was a bit taken aback because every single student had at least one dog at home, and many had a dog that was “his” or “her” dog.

I am probably just old, but I don’t remember missing Dino too much. He was our family dog, and he was a great dog. But when I was in my first year of college at the seminary, I did not think of him too much. Ouch!

Here in Tanzania, there are dogs. But they are not pets. There are many wild dogs around, but they are afraid of people. If you are walking and a dog sees you, it will flee. The other dogs are guard dogs. We have two guard dogs: Simba (Lion in Swahili) and Rex. Both are German Shepherds. Simba, the female, is older. Rex, the male, is a young adult. They had seven puppies just before I arrived at the end of September.

It is amazing how fast they grow. These photos are a few weeks later.

This is Rex. He is a beautiful dog, and he loves it when I rub behind his ears. But, of course, then everyone wants the same treatment!

Gervas and Audax are in charge of washing and feeding the dogs. It is not easy, as they do not like the washing one bit!

At this point, we have sold three of the puppies. The four remaining are driving us crazy. They are young and energetic and never stop barking through the night. The Carmelite Fathers are interested in buying three of them. Fr. Daniel and I agreed that we will give them a discount…and even a better discount if they take all four!

No blog, of course, is complete without some kind of complaint. Apparently, equal time was not given to all. This face says everything.

More to come on www.resurrectionists.ca

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