Let’s take a look at the world of dogs, which includes their characteristics, abilities, and purposes they have in our lives. Keep in mind the following questions: What is a loyal, devoted companion? Is it an obedient dog that knows all of its boundaries or is it a dog that always gets its own way and rules the household? Are dogs a reflection of their wonderful Creator’s design or did they simply evolve from spontaneous generation?
A dog’s body structure and overall build, enables it to perform many marvelous functions. The dog’s body is very flexible, because of the muscles that connect the dog’s front limbs to its body. Therefore, swimming, jumping, running, and turning are easy because of its strong, flexible muscles. The amount of flexibility and strongness, however, of a dog mainly depends on its breed. For example, some breeds like the Newfoundland can tow humans out of the water, while Daushounds can hardly leap six inches off the ground. Another interesting fact is that female dogs have 310 bones, whereas, male dogs have 311 bones. The size and shape, on the other hand, notably differs from breed to breed, even though they all have the same amount of bones.
Among many wonderful characteristics of dogs, one of the greatest is their senses, which includes smelling, hearing, tasting, and seeing. These senses aid in locating and testing whatever might possibly be food, as well as, many other functions. All canines have the same muzzle arrangement of the mouth right below their nostrils, and the eyes and ears perched higher on the head. This creative design enables dogs to eat food on the ground, while sniffing varying smells, watching its surroundings, and listening at the same time. One means of communication for a dog is its sense of smell. The moment a puppy is born, it begins to use its olfactory organ, which picks up tiny scent particles and dissolves it with the moisture on the dog’s nose and inside its mouth. From there, it is absorbed by the sensitive lining or membrane inside the dog’s nose. The brain interprets the scent and allows the dog to recognize the smell. Similar to humans reading a newspaper, dogs can also “read” messages left by other dogs, which include information about the dog’s health, its gender, and its age. When a dog’s nose is cool and moist, it can pick up scent particles up to one million times better than a human nose can. The reason for such a greater ability to pick up sent particles is that dogs have two hundred million sent-receiving cells in their noses.
An adult dog can hear sounds up to four times farther away that a human ear, as well as, a great variety of high-pitched sounds that are out of human hearing range. In addition, some dogs have been able to recognize complicated sounds, such as familiar cars or the barks of certain dogs. Using muscles in the outer ear to guide the sound into the inner ear, a healthy dog can detect a sound in six-hundredths of a second. Dogs also have a special ability to shut off the inner ear, so they can listen for a specific sound. That explains why your dog sometimes seems not to hear you; they are simply concentrating on another sound.
Veterinary ophthalmologists through research have discovered that dogs aren’t color blind, but instead have red/green color blindness. Their eyes do not have the same cells and receptors for color vision, such as receptors for reddish shades. They only have receptors for bluish greenish shades. Instead, God made dog’s eyes to be sensitive to light and movement. Dogs can more easily notice a hopping grasshopper than if it was just resting on a blade of grass. In addition, they can’t see the outlines of objects as well as humans can. But again, some breeds of dogs can see better than others can, because they were bred for their better eyesight needed for hunting.
The canine’s excellent, well-planned design shows us how only a thoughtful Creator could have made them. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their own kind”; - Genesis 1: 24
And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them. And God blessed them [mankind]; and God said to them, “ Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” – Genesis 1: 27-28
As you can see from these scriptures, God specifically commanded us to subdue, tame, rule and command over every living creature on the earth.
We have followed His command by domesticating animals and training them to do tasks for our benefit. Evolutionists want people to believe that cavemen domesticated wild wolfs and took their pups to raise for hunting dogs. They also say that the appearance of the wolf gradually changed over a period of millions of years, finally resulting in the present-day companion dog. But the truth is, the evolutionists were never there to know for sure, so therefore we don’t really know the facts of how several hundred different breeds of dogs came to be. All we can do is guess and make assumptions. However, what we do know, is the Lord instructed us to rule over every living creature on the earth, even if we don’t know exactly how they were domesticated.
God has placed a servant’s heart in most dogs, and a willingness to obey and follow what their master wants them to do. What a great example to follow! Some dogs will do almost anything for their master, even if it puts their life in danger, while other dogs need prompting to obey basic commands. Others are so dedicated they do not want to leave their master’s side.
The activity and affection levels of canines differ with each individual dog and its breed. While energetic dogs enjoy playing games or working outside, other dogs simply enjoy cuddling on someone’s lap or just being petted. Affectionate canines enjoy licking or “giving kisses”, which is often misunderstood as a display of love. Instead, it is a means of communicating information about its dominant status, its motive for greeting, its morale, as well as, demonstrating its passive stance.
Dogs are great companions, encouraging us when we are feeling down, and enhancing our life when it is monotonous. Dogs have frequently demonstrated how much of a blessing they are, especially to physically disabled people. Serving as guide, hearing, service, and therapy dogs, purebreds and mutts have made it possible for many handicapped people to live rather active lives.
God has graciously given us second chances throughout our lives. Humans, however, are some times reluctant to give abandoned dogs and other animals a second chance. When they do decide to follow the Good Shepherd’s example of granting a “new start”, they are often rewarded with great love and affection. We often take being handicapped-free for granted, when in reality both humans and canines are “fearfully and wonderfully made”, whether they are disabled or not. I read a story about a “handicapped” dog has just as much ability and purpose as any dog, when it was given a second chance.
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