Straight back, tail at attention, front paw raised, slight twitch in the nose, and eyes LOCKED IN!
When Ribby sees a bird, his instincts as a hunting dog kick in, even though he has not hunted a day in his life.
Ribby is my rescue pup. Before the DNA came back, I started to guess he had GSP (German Short-Haired Pointer) in him because of how he acted. From the day he came to our home as a foster pup, he was obsessed with birds! He can be full-on sprinting with my beagle in their game of chase, and he will stop dead for a bird that sits on the fence to watch. Any time he is ‘locked in’ on a bird, he will stay in his stance until the bird flies off, or every once in a while, he will stalk it and then scare it off.
I started to think he had to be a ‘bird dog,’ and I had heard of GSPs before, so I started to research, of course. The more I read about them, the more I was convinced he definitely had GSP in him. Our hound rescue team does DNA on all their dogs, so when we got back the results, I was not too surprised when it came back over 50% GSP with another big chunk of chihuahua. Now, the chihuahua was a bit surprising, but after seeing those results, his little ears say “chihuahua” to me.
Ribby is uniquely made, but deep in his bones, he is all GSP, and it’s easy to see in his actions. I hope and pray I am the same way as a Christian and a child of God. Being able to identify his breed by his actions, even before the test results were in, shows me how important our actions are; they identify who we are. When I show the love of God through my actions, people will start to guess I’m a Christian, which opens the door a little more when I start conversations that I am 100% a child of God; they will be more willing to listen because they can see that is who I am, not just who I talk or pretend to be.
It is not always easy to take the steps as a child of God because the world is typically going in the opposite direction. Today, I encourage anyone reading this to start with a small action to show others who you are: you are a child of God.
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8 NIV)
With lots of faith and a little fur 🐾
Melanie Drews
Paws on God’s Path
Paws on God's Path 
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