Dogs vs. cats

In 2018 the General Social Survey for the first time asked people about their pet ownership.  They uncovered some interesting data:

The percent of people who said they were very happy by type of pet owned...

• 36% dog owners
• 28% of dog and cat owners
• 18% of cat owners 
• 32% of people who did not own pets

Now, I find these numbers interesting.  Obviously they tell us that a person has more chance of being very happy if he/she owns a dog.  So get a dog.  Or don't - you can still be almost as likely to be very happy.  But whatever you do, don't get a cat.  Cat owners are not very happy.   That's too bad.

But the point of today's read is not to talk about what makes people happy or unhappy - it's to talk about what makes dogs happy or unhappy.

26:17

Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is like a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

Dogs typically become unhappy when you pull on their ears.  They don't like it - and they'll let you know.  Sometimes by growling; sometimes by snapping or biting.  And then we're right back to not very happy people.

Read Proverbs 26 (there's another dog verse in there!)

The idea is very simple.  When we take up other people's offenses, we invite danger and pain.  It's easy to hear one side of the story, to make assumptions, and to try to straighten things out.  It's very typical to hear about our friends' injustices suffered and to want to fix them.  And it's really, really tempting to jump into our kids' conflicts and to make things right.  

But would you pull on a dog's ears?  Especially a dog that bites?  No.

So why are we so quick to jump into other folk's business?  When we make other people's business our business, we get ourselves in trouble.  Often we just make things worse.  And that can happen when all we do is throw in our two-cent opinions, too.  When it's not our fight, we need to stay out of it.  And not get bit!

Today's wisdom:

Don't take up others' offenses.

Brent Wood