Man's Best Friend

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Lost_Sheep

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Now here’s a question that has probably never been asked on CAF before…

I was on travel last week and took my big Collie dog, Samson, along with me for companionship. I woke up early on Sunday morning to attend mass at the local Catholic Church. Since I was not allowed to leave Samson unattended in the (dog-friendly) hotel, I was forced to take him with me, figuring I’d have to leave him in the car while I was at mass. 😦

The weather was cool so he would be in no danger of him getting too hot and suffocating from the heat, and I would leave the windows down half way to give him some fresh air. Still, the thought of leaving a 65-pound dog cooped up alone in a car for an hour was unsettling to me.

So I went into the church, found the head usher, introduced myself and explained my dilemma. I asked if I could bring Samson into the church provided I sit in the vestibule. I further explained that Samson has been professionally trained (which he has been) and was extremely well behaved (which he is). I promised that if he caused any commotion at all I would immediately take him back to the car. Turns out that the head usher is also a dog lover and he had no problem with me bringing Samson into the church.😃

Later, when mass was about to begin, the priest, the altar boys and readers gathered in the vestibule for the entrance processional. The priest saw Samson, leaned over and gave him a friendly scratch behind the ears and asked me about him. I knew then we were in like Flynt. I did ask Father if he had a problem with me bringing Samson up with me at communion time and he was OK with that too.

(Amazingly, as mass went on, Samson would stand when I stood, he would sit when I sat, and would go into a down-stay whenever I knelt. 👍 But that’s another story.)

So communion time rolls around and as I approach the altar, everyone smiled as they admired my fine looking Collie. No one seemed offended or acted like there was anything wrong with bringing a dog to church. After all, they are God’s creatures just like we are, and I never thought it was coincidental that “God” spelled backwards is “Dog.”

Now the weird part. Since I had my hand pre-occupied with Samson’s leash I decided to take communion the old-fashioned way - by mouth. As the priest prepared to give me the Eucharist, I noticed that his hands were visibly shaking like he might have been in the early stages of Parkinson’s. A harrowing thought came through my head: What if he dropped the host??? :eek:

Now anyone who has ever owned a dog will tell you that if something edible falls on the floor, odds are the pooch will get to it and gobble it up before you have a chance to retrieve it yourself; sometimes catching it in mid-air. And my fear was that if the host was dropped, my dog would eat it. :rolleyes:

Fortunately, this did not happen, but it raised a question in my mind: What would be the proper protocol in the event of such a situation? Seriously, it could theoretically happen if a communicant was blind and had a seeing-eye dog with him, or a disabled person had some other kind of assistance animal.

Just wondering… 🤷
 
There wouldn’t be much one could do if a dog were to grab a hold of the host. In a perfect world, a paten would be used and the host would never come near the dogs mouth.

We have a blind man in my parish. His dog stays in the pew and he walks up for communion with someone else.
 
Well, I’m not sure what one could do. There would have been no intentional sacrilege on anyone’s part as nobody had fed the host to the dog with the intention of the dog consuming it.
 
Undesirable but unintentional. I would not think it would be a major issue. But can not say for sure.
 
nicolep said:
There wouldn’t be much one could do if a dog were to grab a hold of the host. In a perfect world, a paten would be used and the host would never come near the dogs mouth.

We have a blind man in my parish. His dog stays in the pew and he walks up for communion with someone else.
Click to expand...
Adding to this: perhaps an usher might stay with your dog when you receive?
 
That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.
I don’t think since he is so well trained that you’d have a problem. And you’re absolutely right. Dogs are God’s creatures too.
 
nicolep said:
There wouldn’t be much one could do if a dog were to grab a hold of the host. In a perfect world, a paten would be used and the host would never come near the dogs mouth.

We have a blind man in my parish. His dog stays in the pew and he walks up for communion with someone else.
Click to expand...
I agree. The loss of the use of patens is horrible!

As to seeing eye dogs, they should not eat food which is not given to them by their owner. Seeing eye-dogs I’ve come accross would not be an issue if a Host were to be dropped… not that there’s anything wrong with this man’s solution either though!
 
promethius said:
I agree. The loss of the use of patens is horrible!

As to seeing eye dogs, they should not eat food which is not given to them by their owner. Seeing eye-dogs I’ve come accross would not be an issue if a Host were to be dropped… not that there’s anything wrong with this man’s solution either though!
Click to expand...
I don’t think he leaves his dog behind because of any behavior or communion issues. It’s more of a “the kids want to pet the dog and I’d rather have my wife take me” issue.
 
Lost_Sheep said:
Now here’s a question that has probably never been asked on CAF before…

I was on travel last week and took my big Collie dog, Samson, along with me for companionship. I woke up early on Sunday morning to attend mass at the local Catholic Church. Since I was not allowed to leave Samson unattended in the (dog-friendly) hotel, I was forced to take him with me, figuring I’d have to leave him in the car while I was at mass. 😦

The weather was cool so he would be in no danger of him getting too hot and suffocating from the heat, and I would leave the windows down half way to give him some fresh air. Still, the thought of leaving a 65-pound dog cooped up alone in a car for an hour was unsettling to me.

So I went into the church, found the head usher, introduced myself and explained my dilemma. I asked if I could bring Samson into the church provided I sit in the vestibule. I further explained that Samson has been professionally trained (which he has been) and was extremely well behaved (which he is). I promised that if he caused any commotion at all I would immediately take him back to the car. Turns out that the head usher is also a dog lover and he had no problem with me bringing Samson into the church.😃

Later, when mass was about to begin, the priest, the altar boys and readers gathered in the vestibule for the entrance processional. The priest saw Samson, leaned over and gave him a friendly scratch behind the ears and asked me about him. I knew then we were in like Flynt. I did ask Father if he had a problem with me bringing Samson up with me at communion time and he was OK with that too.
**
(Amazingly, as mass went on, Samson would stand when I stood, he would sit when I sat, and would go into a down-stay whenever I knelt. 👍 But that’s another story.)**

So communion time rolls around and as I approach the altar, everyone smiled as they admired my fine looking Collie. No one seemed offended or acted like there was anything wrong with bringing a dog to church. After all, they are God’s creatures just like we are, and I never thought it was coincidental that “God” spelled backwards is “Dog.”

Now the weird part. Since I had my hand pre-occupied with Samson’s leash I decided to take communion the old-fashioned way - by mouth. As the priest prepared to give me the Eucharist, I noticed that his hands were visibly shaking like he might have been in the early stages of Parkinson’s. A harrowing thought came through my head: What if he dropped the host??? :eek:

Now anyone who has ever owned a dog will tell you that if something edible falls on the floor, odds are the pooch will get to it and gobble it up before you have a chance to retrieve it yourself; sometimes catching it in mid-air. And my fear was that if the host was dropped, my dog would eat it. :rolleyes:

Fortunately, this did not happen, but it raised a question in my mind: What would be the proper protocol in the event of such a situation? Seriously, it could theoretically happen if a communicant was blind and had a seeing-eye dog with him, or a disabled person had some other kind of assistance animal.

Just wondering… 🤷
Click to expand...
Where do I get one?
 
Thank you all for your replies. Keep them coming.
nicolep said:
We have a blind man in my parish. His dog stays in the pew and he walks up for communion with someone else.
Click to expand...
Good idea to avoid the possibility altogether. But my question is more after-the-fact. What happens if the dog does eat the host?
Miserissima said:
Adding to this: perhaps an usher might stay with your dog when you receive?
Click to expand...
That would probably work with my dog, but not all dogs are comfortable being left with strangers.
promethius said:
As to seeing eye dogs, they should not eat food which is not given to them by their owner. Seeing eye-dogs I’ve come across would not be an issue if a Host were to be dropped.
Click to expand...
I’ve seen a lot of seeing-eye dogs in my day and not all of them are well trained. Most are. Some aren’t.
Dakota_Roberts said:
Where do I get one?
Click to expand...
He’s not for sale. 😃

http://forums.catholic-questions.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=11377&stc=1&d=1313016624
 
Lost_Sheep said:
Now here’s a question that has probably never been asked on CAF before…

I was on travel last week and took my big Collie dog, Samson, along with me for companionship. I woke up early on Sunday morning to attend mass at the local Catholic Church. Since I was not allowed to leave Samson unattended in the (dog-friendly) hotel, I was forced to take him with me, figuring I’d have to leave him in the car while I was at mass. 😦

The weather was cool so he would be in no danger of him getting too hot and suffocating from the heat, and I would leave the windows down half way to give him some fresh air. Still, the thought of leaving a 65-pound dog cooped up alone in a car for an hour was unsettling to me.

So I went into the church, found the head usher, introduced myself and explained my dilemma. I asked if I could bring Samson into the church provided I sit in the vestibule. I further explained that Samson has been professionally trained (which he has been) and was extremely well behaved (which he is). I promised that if he caused any commotion at all I would immediately take him back to the car. Turns out that the head usher is also a dog lover and he had no problem with me bringing Samson into the church.😃

Later, when mass was about to begin, the priest, the altar boys and readers gathered in the vestibule for the entrance processional. The priest saw Samson, leaned over and gave him a friendly scratch behind the ears and asked me about him. I knew then we were in like Flynt. I did ask Father if he had a problem with me bringing Samson up with me at communion time and he was OK with that too.

(Amazingly, as mass went on, Samson would stand when I stood, he would sit when I sat, and would go into a down-stay whenever I knelt. 👍 But that’s another story.)

So communion time rolls around and as I approach the altar, everyone smiled as they admired my fine looking Collie. No one seemed offended or acted like there was anything wrong with bringing a dog to church. After all, they are God’s creatures just like we are, and I never thought it was coincidental that “God” spelled backwards is “Dog.”

Now the weird part. Since I had my hand pre-occupied with Samson’s leash I decided to take communion the old-fashioned way - by mouth. As the priest prepared to give me the Eucharist, I noticed that his hands were visibly shaking like he might have been in the early stages of Parkinson’s. A harrowing thought came through my head: What if he dropped the host??? :eek:

Now anyone who has ever owned a dog will tell you that if something edible falls on the floor, odds are the pooch will get to it and gobble it up before you have a chance to retrieve it yourself; sometimes catching it in mid-air. And my fear was that if the host was dropped, my dog would eat it. :rolleyes:

Fortunately, this did not happen, but it raised a question in my mind: What would be the proper protocol in the event of such a situation? Seriously, it could theoretically happen if a communicant was blind and had a seeing-eye dog with him, or a disabled person had some other kind of assistance animal.

Just wondering… 🤷
Click to expand...
If the host did fall on the floor accidently and Samson or another dog gobbled it up, I do not see any issue. It would not be deliberate on the part of anyone. What if it was a child who picks it up and does the same? Same answer. I do not think anything would have to be done. I do not think Christ would have any issue
 
If it fell by accident and the dog ate it, it wouldn’t be too good, but it’s not a sin. It would be if you purposely fed the dog a Host.
 
Dittos that nothing would happen.

It is worthwhile to mention that most service dogs are trained not to pick up or accept food unless told to do so. Properly trained ones, at least.

Title of this thread reminded me of Barf, who was a Mog; half man, half dog. He was his own best friend. 😃
 
Lost_Sheep said:
Thank you all for your replies. Keep them coming.

Good idea to avoid the possibility altogether. But my question is more after-the-fact. What happens if the dog does eat the host?

That would probably work with my dog, but not all dogs are comfortable being left with strangers.

I’ve seen a lot of seeing-eye dogs in my day and not all of them are well trained. Most are. Some aren’t.

He’s not for sale. 😃

http://forums.catholic-questions.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=11377&stc=1&d=1313016624
Click to expand...
What a beautiful doggie I can see why you don’t want to put him up for sale he looks like sweetheart oh by the way our priest who is also a bishop loves dogs also’
 
thequeen said:
What a beautiful doggie I can see why you don’t want to put him up for sale he looks like sweetheart oh by the way our priest who is also a bishop loves dogs also’
Click to expand...
A former preist in our parish was an animal lover. He even had one mass in which eveyone could bring their pets. So there were ferrets and cats enjoying the mass.
 
fbl9 said:
A former preist in our parish was an animal lover. He even had one mass in which eveyone could bring their pets. So there were ferrets and cats enjoying the mass.
Click to expand...
I’m not so sure about a mass for pets, but my KofC council does a Sunday afternoon get-together once a year, around October 4th (the time of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi) to have their pets blessed. They have punch and cookies (and pet snacks, of course), pass out St. Francis medals for pets to wear on their collars, and one knight in our council is a veterinarian who sets up a little tent and table and lets people bounce questions off him about their pet’s health.
 
What an understanding Priest! And yay YOU for trying to balance your need for mass along with what works for your best friend. Samson is lucky to have you!
 
My parish has, once a year, bring your pets to get blessed day. By the way, nice dog. I’m more of a skunk person:D

God bless

jesus g
 
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