Heaven’s hounds
Do dogs go to heaven? Well, it wouldn't be paradise without them, says Angelo Stagnaro

12 February 2010

Dogs offer an example of God's unconditional love which we can access on earth

Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one sparrow is forgotten by God - Luke 12:6

There are only three physical examples of God's unconditional love which we can access here on earth: the love from one's mother, the love from one's grandmother and the love one receives from a very large dog. Only a large dog will suffice. It has to be of sufficient mass to be able to knock you down to the ground and lick you against your will.

I'm a big city boy and though I don't mind nature I prefer it keeps its distance. Keeping companion dogs, however, is my reluctant nod to Creation. My family shares our home with a male cane corso, a female ca de bou and a male chocolate lab; I call them my "three angels". Like the angelic beings who are commissioned by God to watch over us, my three dogs watch over me. They each weigh between six and eight stone, so they're difficult to ignore. Actually, I won't keep a dog less than six stone. I want dogs large enough to hold their own just in case I get out of line. It should also be mentioned that all large dogs think themselves the tiniest of lapdogs while all small dogs think themselves the fiercest of war dogs.

Everyone has a favourite Twilight Zone episode. Mine is the one where Hyder Simpson, played by Arthur Hunnicut, and his hound dog Rip suddenly find themselves dead and walking down a long road. A man behind a gate pretending to be St Peter, played by Robert Foulk, is trying to convince Simpson to abandon his dog and enter into his heavenly reward. Rip, however, understands the man to be Satan and refuses to let his master enter blindly into hell. Simpson, on his part, refuses to abandon Rip and decides to forgo heaven because heaven wouldn't be heaven without Rip. As Simpson explains: "A dog's got a right to have a man around just the same as a man's got a right to have a dog around. If'en he wants to be anyways happy."

A dog will love you whether you are rich or poor, male or female, educated or not. They offer perfect, unconditional love for which we are completely undeserving. They shame us with how they thoroughly and unbegrudgingly lavish their love on us and anyone else of good will. They are faithfulness, loyalty and love personified. I recall being at home with my dogs as they lounged on their respective favourite pieces of furniture. (The shed hair is out of control but I don't have the heart to deny them this little pleasure.) I was absorbed in my thoughts, worried about what the future held for me and felt overwhelmed by my circumstances and my mind wandered from one sad thought to another. I awoke from my thoughts, startled by how silent the room had become and looked up to find my three dogs, as if conspiring amongst themselves, all staring at me. expectantly, concern apparent in their eyes. I could even detect a certain sadness as if they shared in my sorrow just as they share in my occasional joy and exuberance. At that, my ca de cou, an enormous beast in possession of the gentlest spirit I've seen in a canine, lifted herself from the ground and lumbered towards me. She gently laid her massive head upon my knee and looked into my eyes. I was so moved that I didn't realise I was crying until after I threw my arms around her thick neck.

I've lost many dogs over the years and have often wondered if they await me at the pearly gates watching the horizon and anticipating my eventual arrival. St Francis of Assisi, the best advocate for a holistic and integral Christian theology of Creation, would leave wine and honey out for the bees during the winter for fear they would starve. He would stoop to pick up the occasional slug, worm and stray snail and carry them to the other side of the road for fear they'd be stepped on. He would scatter grain outdoors on Christmas so that birds and other animals would join him in celebrating the Incarnation. He even confronted and tamed a vicious wolf which terrorised Gubbio by preaching to it. St Bonaventure, in his biography of St Francis, included the famous story of him preaching to the birds. Thomas of Celano, an earlier biographer of St Francis, told this same story about St Francis and, interestingly, added a extra telling sentence: "From that day on, [St Francis] carefully exhorted all birds, all animals, all reptiles and also insensible creatures, to praise and love the Creator." The question raised is: why would Francis care for living creatures as he did? Certainly he saw the Creator's handiwork in them. I feel assured that it is God, the Author of Love, who has blessed me with my three companions.

It's been often said that we should try to become the kind of people that our dogs already think we are. There's truth to this. My dogs prove themselves to be mediators of God's grace for they've taught me many Christian values over the years. They've taught me to be liberal in my displays of affection, compassion and kindness to others. To share my toys. To be grateful for generosity shown. To forgive others for small sleights. To be attentive to the needs of others. To listen carefully as some people don't always speak their minds. To be generous to those in need and to never let a day go by without letting those around me know I love them dearly.

It is for greater theological minds and profounder and more virtuous hearts than mine to determine whether or not dogs go to heaven and I will abide by their pronouncements. I'm not asking so much for myself but my dogs have been bugging me about it as of late...