Learning to Kennel
Over the last two days, I’ve been learning (through trial and error) to crate train Scout. She’s a mixed breed, but part of that mix seems to be border collie, which means she’s smart and learns quickly, and that helps, as I’m not much of a dog trainer at this point. But it’s interesting to read on the dog psychology behind kennel training and how it works.
“Crate training uses a dog’s natural instincts as a den animal. A wild dog’s den is his home, a place to sleep, hide from danger, and raise a family. The crate becomes your dog’s den, an ideal spot to snooze or take refuge during a thunderstorm.”
(taken from the Humane Society’s Website)
Interestingly, the first time I saw a person using crate training, I didn’t understand why an animal would willingly crawl into such a seemingly confining space with such joy. The crate seemed like a small and confining box, a cage that kept the dog controlled. And in some ways, it is that. But to the dog, the crate becomes a refuge, a safe haven, a place of identity and nurturing.
Sometimes I wonder if spiritual disciplines are understood and even experienced in similar ways; from the outside they look confining and controlling, but the depth of identity and nurturing found within them is profound and needed in this world. That perspective is only found as we see ourselves differently. As the dog and not the person (and I use that to illustrate difference, not hierarchy of created order or some form of self-desecration or deprecation). If we have been made new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17), we relate differently to the disciplines than the rest of the world…
thoughts?
