Close encounters of the four-legged kind

Thursday morning, we had to leave our house because the landlord had to terminate the termites. For two days, we are staying with friends. These friends have a dog and a cat. Since dogs are "unclean" in this culture, this was Josiah's first experience to see and play with a dog.

At first, Josiah was scared and nervous largely due to the size of the lab-golden retriever. After sitting in Daddy's lap and watching the dog chase his ball a few times, Josiah soon started to laugh at him. Pretty soon, Josiah starting throwing the ball for the dog to catch.

Sitting in Dad's lap again, Josiah was still unsure about touching the dog with his hands. Instead, when the dog came close, Josiah would put both feet on the dog's fur coat. Later in the afternoon, Josiah became bolder and crawled over the dog. He began to pet the dog on the head and played a game of dropping keys on the dog's head. The dog patiently endured this game probably enjoying our little son's attention.

I (Jon) began reflecting on how different Josiah's childhood will be from my own. I grew up around dogs, played with them on a regular basis and discovered that a dog is "man's best friend". A tinge of sadness crept over me because Josiah will miss out on those things as a result of our life choices.