Former American Press staff writer Sunny Brown Farley writes "Naked Faith," a look at faith in its natural form: lived out in the day-to-day lives of ordinary people.

My dog, the PP

Posted September 18, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Filed Under Faith & Religion | 4 Comments

Most everyone who is clergy and has kids has heard of the term PK.

Apparently, there is this theory that preacher’s kids (or PKs) are somehow more ill-behaved than the rest of the kids out there.

I don’t know if this is true or not, but I decided today that my dog is a PP – a preacher’s pet.

Today, I brought our yellow lab Sally to our son’s school for bring-your-pet-to-school day.

I had little choice in the matter because as soon as our three-year-old found out Sally could come to school with him, there was no convincing him otherwise.

So I brought the dog.

I put her on the strongest leash we own and we entered the carpeted gym at the church where our son attends day school.

There were lots of dogs, a hamster, two rabbits and a cat. The parents all stood near their pets and we waited for the kids to arrive.

Sally barked and wagged her tail. Harmless enough I thought, but her barking completely disrupted the blessing-of-the-animals part of the event, making me wonder if she might need more of an exorcism than a blessing. I mean how rude! Our dog comes form a clergy family, she should know better!

From there, things only got worse. At some point I noticed that Sally was shedding profusely. The veterinarian explained to me once that dogs shed a lot when they are excited. They also slobber a lot. She did that, too.

So I stood in a pile of white fur and slobber and tried to keep her from jumping on the children as they paraded through the gym to pet the animals.

My little boy was in one of the last groups to come into the gym. I was so excited to see him. He waved and I waved at him and we blew kisses at each other and I took some pictures of him.

I guess I was too distracted to notice that Sally had to poop.

I never saw her bow up in the poop stance. Nothing.

I just know that I looked down at some point and there it was – the biggest pile of poop I had ever seen in my life. The parents in my area heard me gasp in horror.

I thought I would die of embarrassment. One offered me a poop bag and another offered some baby wipes. I cleaned it up best I could. All the while, Sally wagged and shed and slobbered and I’m not sure, but I think she was smiling.

My dog, the PP who did more than that on the gymnasium floor.

As we left the school, one of the moms said to me: “It’s a great story.”

I think she is right, so I decided to share it in this blog.

By the time we got home, my inclination to kick the dog had passed and I was reminded that I love that animal in spite of her sometimes ill-behavior.

Made me think of how God must feel about us.

Comments

4 Responses to “My dog, the PP”

Haley Koonce on September 18th, 2009 2:52 pm

I feel ur pain sunny but its a funny story and a nice way to look at it.
Rev. Richard Luna on September 18th, 2009 8:53 pm

Okay, some quick points to ponder:
*Usually outside, pet fair moved indoors. I am guessing that will be a subject of review.
*This didn’t happen on the Sr. Pastor’s watch!
*God DOES put up with a lot of our —-.
*The church is the one place we are told to “lay it on the line” and to be “cleansed”.
Thanks for a special memory!
sbrown on September 19th, 2009 6:34 am

ha ha ha ha ha ha
Kimberly on September 21st, 2009 6:41 pm

Oh my, that is too funny. I only have funny baby poop stories … but this is one I am sure you will NEVER forget.