Guideposts Editor-in-Chief Edward Grinnan lost his beloved golden retriever, Millie, to cancer. In this inspiring story, Edward describes a faith lesson he learned from Millie.
We all suffer from anxiety and worry from time to time, some of us more that others. I certainly have my own bouts of angst, and one thing I worry about is my golden retriever, Millie, and her anxiety.
I’ve written before about Millie’s phobia about riding in the car. When she was a puppy we rolled the Jeep and ended up in a lake. No one was hurt but the car was totaled and understandably Millie has never been comfortable riding in a car since. I mean, can you blame her?
She tends to pant the whole time with an anxious look in her eyes. Vet-prescribed doggie tranquilizers help but have never completely alleviated her panic. Still, she loves going up to the house in the mountains. She just hates getting there and I try not to take her horror at my driving skills personally.
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The other day Julee came home with something called a Thundershirt. (Full disclosure: This product was advertised in Guideposts magazine several years ago.)
I was skeptical. The pills we give Millie are very strong and are only somewhat efficacious. So why would this weird sweater-coat help? What if she got hot? Still, it always broke my heart to see her in such a state every time she got in the car. “Let’s try it,” insisted Julee.
Wonder of wonders, the thing seemed to help. It fit snugly around Millie like a safety vest and for most of the ride she slept, except for the occasional brief outburst of panting and glancing around waiting for me to drive into a lake again.
I ran into my vet in town today. She knew all about the Thundershirt and had a theory. “Most dogs, when they feel pressure on their backs, interpret it as dominance.”
So Millie felt dominated by the shirt? That didn’t seem right. I didn’t want her to feel cowed and oppressed. No, my vet explained, dogs feel secure when they know their place. They are hierarchical. A dog just wants to know where she fits in. “My theory is that the gentle pressure from above reassures the dog they are safe, protected by a dominant power.”
I thought about that later. Gentle pressure from above? Protected by a safe, dominant power? Isn’t faith a bit like that? I had a little laugh on myself. Maybe I needed to rely on my own Thundershirt when another bout of angst hit me.
